Racing Toward Change

From teen go-karting prodigy to sustainability CEO, when Ivonne Bojoh (Class of 1992) sets her mind on something, she pours 150% of her dedication into the pursuit. For Ivonne, her goal is not just a passion; it becomes her calling.

When she decided to balance schoolwork at JIS with go-karting, she not only became one of Indonesia’s first female go-kart racers but also dominated competitions — and she has the trophies (and photos) to prove it. And when she decided to devote her career to sustainability, it quickly turned into a lifetime mission that propelled her to where she is today: living in Amsterdam as CEO of Circle Economy.

The realization came early in life, and it all started with her childhood in Indonesia, which she credits for bringing her “closer to nature”… followed by a vision.

“I remember when I got my first period and my mother explained sanitary napkins to me; how to use them and how to discard them. And I remember very clearly that I thought, ‘But if all girls have periods every month for a very long time and use a number of sanitary napkins every day that they have to discard, how big of a mountain of waste would that be’?” she recalls. “Then I linked it to baby diapers all over the world; I just thought about all that waste.”

Several years would go by, filled with schoolwork and go-kart racing, but those concerns about mounting waste lingered in the back of her mind.

“Until one New Year’s Eve, I was flying from Bali to Hong Kong when I was between sleep and being awake, I had this idea that one day when I grew up, I would be in waste management, teaching people about waste, and valorizing waste. It was like a vision,” she describes.

Though it would take some more time to manifest, Ivonne’s vision gradually took shape in the form of impact start-ups dedicated to such important issues as financial inclusion and STEM for girls. This journey, fueled by that same dedication that clinched her one trophy after another as a teen go-kart racer, took her across Southeast Asia.

“And I saw firsthand what the growing economy had done. On the positive side, it has brought benefits to people, schools, safety, and prosperity. However, there were also negative impacts, such as clogged cities, waste in rivers and seas, air and water pollution, and a widening gap between the rich and the poor,” she says.

“That was when I started questioning what was happening. As our global population grows, we consume more goods. I noticed avocado toast in every café I've ever been to, in every country — something that doesn't seem normal. We drink oat milk to save the cows, but we grow soy fields that destroy rainforests to produce soy milk. What's wrong with us?”

After an "inward journey" in Bali to clarify her goals, Ivonne and her husband moved back to the Netherlands in 2020. Unbeknownst to her, this decision brought Ivonne even closer to the sustainability mission she had been gradually shaping, because it was in the Netherlands that she found herself connecting with Circle Economy.

"Circle Economy was founded 13 years ago with the goal of transitioning the current linear economy to a circular economy. It began as a cooperative of like-minded businesspeople [...] to research circular strategies that should be implemented to advance toward a circular economy."

She explains that a circular economy is deeply rooted in “nature’s own wisdom [and] focuses on designing out waste.”

“This means that whatever is made is designed to ensure it can be used as long as possible, repaired, refurbished, or repurposed. This approach is not something humanity invented; it's how Earth has functioned for billions of years. The entire Earth system is circular — nothing is wasted. In nature, even if a tree dies, it becomes a nest for birds, a habitat for insects, and contributes to the food chain."

Under Ivonne’s leadership, Circle Economy has grown from focusing on circular strategies for the Netherlands and Dutch companies to becoming a globally recognized organization that measures the circularity of the global economy. 

“We don't just highlight how non-circular the world is — we're all aware that the house is on fire. Instead, we focus on finding solutions, showing where the fire extinguisher is, where the emergency exits are, and how to rebuild a house that won’t burn down again," she says.

 "For the past few years, we’ve published the most relevant circular solutions that can be applied at various levels — policy, business models, financing, urban cities, and education systems. Our goal is to not only identify how non-circular we are but also to present actionable solutions.” 

It’s safe to say that Ivonne has well and truly accomplished the goals she set for herself during that fateful flight many years ago. From a young girl with a vision to a leader in the circular economy movement, Ivonne is a testament to her unwavering commitment to everything she sets her mind to.