A friend who is always there to handle a crisis

As the founder of La Tofi School, La Tofi has long recognized a persistent imbalance in how companies identify risks and implement mitigation efforts. The true alarm bells have already been ringing, yet many corporations have tended to overlook them. National business leaders need not lose heart, however, because there is still time to make the necessary corrections—so that Indonesian companies may rise as global players, resilient across generations and eras.

There is no need for national companies to look back with regret to a time when sustainability infrastructure was not as established as it is today. More than twenty years ago, references and guidance on CSR were extremely limited. Against the background as both a journalist and a public relations practitioner, La Tofi made important breakthroughs through various initiatives that bridged the correct understanding of CSR—bringing companies closer to communities and government institutions.

Fully aware of his academic foundation as a professional social worker, La Tofi established the La Tofi School of CSR, which is now known as La Tofi School of Social Responsibility. In its very first year, he launched the Journalist Conference on CSR as a strategic effort to prevent public misunderstanding—where CSR was often perceived merely as “community money” demanded from corporations. Numerous seminars involving key stakeholders were held across different communities and regions. Eventually, La Tofi discovered an intelligent and impactful way to elevate CSR understanding nationwide: creating national environmental awards—Indonesia Green Awards and Nusantara CSR Awards—both built upon a broader and more inclusive concept of CSR. These awards were first introduced in 2009. Every initiative undertaken by companies and stakeholders in the realm of social responsibility has always been appreciated and positively recognized through such honours. Yet through this platform, La Tofi also introduced CSR concepts that are deeply rooted in Indonesia’s unique context—without losing their fundamental structure: social responsibility as a disciplined commitment to addressing operational risks, so that the Earth and humanity do not lose their capacity to sustain life.

Alongside the birth of these awards, La Tofi also launched a monthly book-format magazine titled Bisnis & CSR. This publication quickly gained remarkable popularity, positioning La Tofi School as the country’s leading—and at the time, the only—true reference point for CSR. By then, La Tofi frequently delivered public lectures on CSR at many of Indonesia’s most respected universities. He also became the first Chairman of the National CSR Forum, officially established through a decree of the Minister of Social Affairs in 2012. This role brought him to nearly every province across Indonesia, where he not only delivered CSR addresses but also inaugurated provincial leadership structures.

Through these intensive interactions with companies operating in regional areas, La Tofi gained a clear and undeniable picture of how urgently stakeholder understanding needed to be corrected. It was from this experience that he wrote a book with a shocking title. How could someone who helped build the very architecture of social responsibility in Indonesia name his work KILL CSR? The answer is simple: read the book, and you will discover seven breakthroughs designed to make social responsibility truly become the lifeblood of corporate culture.

At that time, the reality was stark: merely invoking the term CSR allowed almost anyone to “rob” companies without shame. Yet this CSR pioneer remained deeply committed to sharing knowledge. Anyone was welcome to visit his office in Tebet, Jakarta, to exchange stories and insights about CSR. From these conversations, he often said, he learned invaluable lessons—lessons that enabled him to produce works aligned with the demands of each new era. In today’s digital age of relentless disruption, companies must remain firm and resilient in fulfilling their social responsibility. For this reason, supported by a strong and dedicated team, La Tofi developed the La Tofi ESG Rating Methodology—a framework designed to ensure everything is measurable, from risk identification to the verified alignment of mitigation actions. Launched internationally during the Asian Impact Awards 2025 in Malaysia, the methodology was initially built upon four pillars: LRMI (Local Risk Materiality Index) – RSAI (Risk–Strategy Alignment Index) – AMS (Action Mitigation Score) – FVS (Field Verification Score). It is further strengthened by CEPI (Corporate Economic Protection Index), enabling companies to quantify the financial value preserved through effective risk mitigation—measuring not only actions taken, but losses prevented.

For La Tofi, however, companies must never stop at comforting numbers alone. The human dimension must also stand as a critical indicator within risk mitigation. Beyond the pillars of the La Tofi ESG Rating, he introduced humanitarian preparedness training for employees through HWR (Humanitarian Workforce Readiness) and HCR (Human Communication Readiness). All of these are integrated within the national correction systems developed by La Tofi School to respond to emerging challenges across industrial sectors, including Mining Correction System (PRANATA Tambang), Palm Oil Correction System (PRANATA Sawit), Energy & Electricity Correction System (PRANATA Energi & Ketenagalistrikan), Finance Correction System (PRANATA Keuangan), Waste Bank Standard (PROPER Bank Sampah) designed for companies implementing EPR and Communication Correction System (PRANATA Komunikasi), serving all corporate and institutional public relations functions.

Through this ecosystem of assessment and correction, La Tofi envisions La Tofi School of Social Responsibility as an institution that actively helps navigate Indonesia’s transformation—guiding companies and stakeholders toward a more resilient, responsible, and globally credible future.