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n today’s world, China remains the giant in the east, but lately investors have been watching the rising economic power of the 10 Southeast Asian countries that make up ASEAN.

Hence, the need to have talent come out of ASEAN has been rising as Southeast Asia is taking over as the region’s growth leader. To meet the demands, some organizations have established programs to create future leaders. They include the ASEAN Business Advisory Council’s ASEAN Global Leadership Program and the ASEAN Foundation’s ASEAN Leaders Program. A similar motivation spurred the Society of International Business Fellows in 2013 to create the Southeast Asia Leadership Academy (SEALA), which was based on previous projects in Central Eurasia and the Middle East.

Metta Murdaya, a member of the SEALA board of directors, said that Indonesia is among the new countries on the program list. However, she said that it was important because there were not many programs in the country that aimed to develop a person, as the common mindset was still “how to comply with the order.”

“I don’t think we have invested enough in talent and actual people. We need to do that now instead of still focusing on traditional way,” she said.

Metta said ASEAN would need people to lead nations for the good of the people. When ASEAN was established in 1967 most member countries were still recovering from colonization and still reconstructing their economies. However, as the region turns 50 this year, it has started to show its power. With a combined gross domestic product in the first half of 2016 of US$2.55 trillion, ASEAN has the world’s sixth largest economy and is predicted to move the fourth place by 2030.

SEALA’s flagship event is an annual leadership workshop that serves as the gateway to members and as access to a rich program of follow-up events. The program is a 10-day bootcamp for professionals 28 to 45 years old and already in business and civic leadership positions. Participants join various courses and learning groups that focus on the real-life applications of leadership skills. The program charges $6,000.

One participant, Sophia Hage, a sports medicine specialist, said it had given her the courage to focus full time on an NGO set up to help sexual violence survivors, Lentera Sintas Indonesia, which she had co-founded in 2011. It holds monthly closed meetings for survivors to share experiences with others and with a professional counselor.

“SEALA has taught me to be compassionate, non-judgmental, to not overthink and most importantly for me to be more accepting of myself,” she said.