Alva K. Lim

Co-Founder & Director, Agora Food Studio, Timor-Leste

Alva K. Lim is Co-Founder and Director of Agora Food Studio by the Timor Leste Food Lab, a gastronomic social enterprise based in Dili, Timor Leste.  

A practitioner in food systems transformation and creative business mentorship. Alva is a connector of people and ideas, bringing together people with unconventional points of view, exploring social and microbiome connections through food and stories, and finding different ways of thinking that can produce innovative solutions to sustainability issues.

Alva has 15 years’ experience in community development, public policy and project management. She was an Australian Youth Ambassador and an economic policy adviser and Australian Treasury Graduate. Alva has worked across the Asia-Pacific for the Australian Government and for German Government funded programmes, international NGOs and UN organisations.

A Monbukugakusho (MEXT) Scholar with a Masters degree in Public Policy from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo, Japan, Alva obtainerd her Bachelors of Economics (Honours, majoring in Econometrics) from the University of Sydney, Australia.

Passionate about mentorship and food as a development tool, Alva has been a speaker at the EAT forum and has been interviewed on multiple platforms such as DFAT’s InnovationXchange blog, the ANU Development Policy ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ podcast series and the UN SDG2 Advocacy Hub’s Chefs Manifesto’s podcast season 1 episode 6.

Alva has co-authored policy submissions and research papers on fiscal sustainability in the APEC region and green technologies in Asia. She is also co-founder of the Dili Slow Food convivium and a sensory judge for the Australian National Olive Oil Competition.

Alva is excited about nurturing inclusive communities and enabling genuine connection between people through shared values, interests and sensory experiences. She loves colour, photography and is endlessly curious about the plant world.