Steve Rhee works on securing access for rural communities to land and forest resources from the foundation's Jakarta office. His grant making supports efforts to increase the well-being of poor Indonesians in fragile rural areas. His work promotes policies that give poor and marginalized groups more control over natural resources. 

Before joining the Ford Foundation in 2009, Steve's development work focused on international natural resource management. He has held research and policy posts at several institutions, including the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the U.S. Department of State. In these roles, he collaborated with a range of stakeholders from villagers in Indonesian Borneo to senior government officials in Washington, DC. He has lived in Indonesia since 1996, working on community-based natural resource management issues. He has also worked in mainland Southeast Asia, Timor-Leste and Nepal.

Steve has had several transformational learning opportunities, including serving in the Peace Corps, the Fulbright-Hays Research Abroad Program, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellowship. He received his PhD and Masters’ degrees from Yale University, where his training focused on governance, institutions and trade related to sustainable development.

Recognizing his commitment to evidence-based policy, AAAS selected Steve as one of 40 Science & Technology Policy Fellow alumni demonstrating “exemplary dedication to applying science to serve society.”

Hosted by Southeast Asia Studies at Yale.