Kinsey and her husband moved from London to Jakarta in 2025. At first, it was something of a culture shock.
“The culture is super, super different and for someone that's worked their whole life in a more kind of western individualistic environment, it's taken a little bit of time and it's continued to take time for me to get used to the working environment here.”
Kinsey took four months to write, but without a job at the time it didn’t take long for boredom and loneliness to creep in.
“I was desperately trying to find things to do because the book was part-time and then I still had a lot of time on my hands and I feel like, ‘Oh, what am I going to do with this time?’,” she said.
“In an attempt of relieving some of those anxiety, I started kind of getting connected with expat groups, trying to help out on some certain charities or going to different events. And one of the ideas I had back then, I think one day it just hit me – ‘Does RMIT have a presence here?’.”
Kinsey was central to establishing the chapter, helping to bring together what was already an active community into the RMIT Alumni Indonesia Chapter. At first it was setting up a WhatsApp group and now, as chapter lead, she plays a greater role in organising informal networking events right through to panel discussions.
The chapter’s first event was held in late 2025, and the next gathering was in May 2026.
“That first event involved a lot of work in terms of just reaching out to alumni and I was very active on LinkedIn trying to connect with them, and then trying to get them to come to the event because it's just something that's pretty new, so we do need time for people to get engaged,” she said.
“We're trying to make sure that we get the community together and make it really feel like a community as well.”
Kinsey landed a role as an advisor with global consultancy firm PwC in December last year and although she’s now busier, she said her involvement in the alumni chapter has improved her working life and experiences in Indonesia.
“For me, it's like less lonely and I hope others might feel the same,” she said.
“We can find a community where everyone can just connect and over a chat, over a few drinks, and just meet the school, meet the school leaders when they come over and just feel like you're a part of a bigger community that you can always go and seek support.”
