Tanzania

JamiiAfrica

How to stop reporting on your community and start working with them (feat. JamiiAfrica)

Maxence Melo is an economist-turned-information architect. He leads JamiiAfrica, a regional non-profit entity on a mission to create a well-informed citizenry, promote responsive governance, and encourage active citizen participation. He has played an enormous role in revolutionising digital democracy while promoting transparency and accountability. Maxence was recognised by the African Union as one of the top 3 Leading African Innovators for Change in 2018 for strengthening the viability of whistleblowing policy tools in Africa.

United Kingdom

climateXchange

Why media needs advanced tools to re-shape climate coverage -- and that's where tech comes in

Shereen Daver is Programme Director and Innovation Lead at ClimateXchange (cXc), where she leads product and services at the intersection of journalism, technology, and data. With over 20 years in global communications and a focus on sustainability strategy, she led the creation of Maai, the world’s first Climate Narrative Intelligence Platform. Her work focuses on redefining climate storytelling through evidence, empathy, and systems thinking, empowering journalists to create reporting that informs, inspires, and drives real-world change.

Indonesia

Pulitzer Center

What the vanishing Thai mackerel taught us about rethinking journalism, action, and art

Intan manages the International Education and Outreach team at the Pulitzer Center, connecting journalism with audiences in the Global South. Before joining the Center, she led communications projects in Indonesia across gender equality, public health, and cultural relations. She is passionate about making information and knowledge accessible to build empathy, solidarity, and informed action.

Thailand

Multidisciplinary artist and curator

What the vanishing Thai mackerel taught us about rethinking journalism, action, and art

Pongpan Suriyapat is a multidisciplinary artist and curator known for transforming investigative journalism and community stories into immersive installations, including the acclaimed “I Miss You Pla Too Thai” project on Thailand’s vanishing mackerel. His exhibition work spans museums, public spaces, and world expos.

Indonesia

Tatkala.co

How a literary community in Bali survives the media apocalypse

Kadek Sonia Piscayanti is a writer, producer, playwright, lecturer, and researcher. She established the Mahima Community and the Mahima Indonesia Foundation to actively promote literacy and literature in Singaraja, North Bali. Her diverse literary contributions include the poetry anthology Burning Hair, the short story collection The Woman Without a Name, and the play Jayaprana Layonsari dan 11 Kisah Ibu. Expanding her influence globally, Piscayanti has spoken and performed at international events, such as the Oz-Asia Festival and cultural programs in France and the Netherlands, and founded the Singaraja Literary Festival in 2023.

India

BehanBox

Saumya Kalia is an associate editor at BehanBox, where she reports on labour, care, and communities. She has previously worked with The Hindu and The Swaddle, and as a reporting fellow covered issues of health rights and civic liberties. Her work has been recognised by the James Beard Foundation and Laadli Media Awards, among others. Saumya is drawn to experimenting with new forms and futures of storytelling. 

Pakistan

TCM News

Talha is a founder & CEO of The Centrum Media, Pakistan's first digital news network. He is based between Islamabad and London.

India

Report for the World

Preethi Nallu is co-founder and executive director at Report for the World, part of the Groundtruth Project. She was a founding editor at News Deeply. Born in Iran, raised in India, Preethi's career spans 14 countries across the global north and south. She has researched, reported and campaigned about humanitarian and media development issues. Her films and reports won multiple Webby awards, Migration Media awards, and the Human Rights Press Prize.

India

Independent Consultant

Chitranshu has over a decade of experience in product and subscription roles in media. In his most recent role, he led the product and subscription business at Newslaundry — one of India’s leading reader-funded independent media organisations—where he oversaw teams that designed, built, and scaled forward-thinking products. His work was recognised with the WAN-IFRA Global Media Award for Best Innovative Digital Product. In 2024, he was among 25 media leaders globally selected for the AI Journalism Lab at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.

India

Newslaundry

Jayashree Arunachalam is Executive Editor and Chief Community Officer at Newslaundry, an independent, reader-supported website in India. She’s been a journalist and editor for over 16 years, working at publications like The Hindu and Fountain Ink. In her current avatar, she works at the intersection of partnerships, community and events to drive a successful subscription model at Newslaundry.

Syria

Lighthouse Reports

Bashar is an investigative journalist with a specialisation in digital investigations. He has participated in different teams that have produced groundbreaking reports on various issues such as the violation of human rights of asylum seekers at EU’s borders, Europe’s secretive phosphates trade with Syria, and tracking EU arms in conflict zones. In the past he has collaborated with The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Forensic Architecture, BBC and Channel 4.

Myanmar

SOZO LAB

How to use AI to create testable prototypes for your community

Linn Htet is a digital product leader with over 12 years of experience turning ideas into human-centred tech solutions. He is passionate about education and digital development in emerging countries, and has led multiple innovation projects that helped organisations transform and digitise during the pandemic. At SOZO LAB, he designs and manages tools and platforms that help communities, startups, and nonprofits prototype faster and smarter.

Myanmar

SOZO LAB

How to use AI to create testable prototypes for your community

Kyaw Tun Sein is a creative technologist and education innovator with over 10 years of experience building full-stack digital solutions for social impact. At SOZO LAB, Kyaw leverages his decade of expertise to deliver scalable, user-centred digital products designed to solve complex social challenges. From ideation to implementation, he combines technology, pedagogy, and community insights to create responsible, impactful tools that enhance learning, inclusion, and digital resilience on a global scale.

Thailand

Production, Splice Beta

Thailand

Production, Splice Beta

Myanmar

WIN WAN-IFRA

Producer, Splice Beta

Nyi is a Project Coordinator at WIN WAN-IFRA. She has more than ten years of experience in Communications and Project Management, cultivated through diverse roles in PR agencies, corporate environments, and NGOs. Nyi is doing her master's degree in Mental Health in Thailand. Besides her studies, she is passionate about helping young people and making positive social changes.

Myanmar

Asian Institute of Technology

Production, Splice Beta

Khant earned a Master's Degree in Social Science (Development Studies) from Chiang Mai University in 2022. She has been conducting studies on labor rights issues, notably the rights of female workers, as a labour rights researcher in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone. Currently, she works as a Project Officer at the Asian Institute of Technology, SERD, where she helps organise events and coordinate projects.

Philippines

Amber Studios

How I dropped out of traditional media to build my own creative lab

Jacque Manabat has transitioned from a celebrated, decades-long career as a senior multi-platform journalist at the Philippines' largest broadcasting network to becoming an independent producer and creative entrepreneur. Jacque is the co-founder of Amber Studios, a vibrant post-production hub and creative lab dedicated to shaping the next wave of Filipino content.

Italy

Code for Africa

How to recalibrate your grant work in the post-USAID era

Jacopo Ottaviani is a computer scientist who works as Code for Africa’s Senior Strategist. As an ICFJ Knight Fellow in 2016-2019, Jacopo built teams and programs funded by the World Bank, Google News Initiative, GIZ, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His mix of technical skills, as a computer scientist and data journalist, has resulted in a series of projects published by, among others, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, El País, and Internazionale.

United States

Lighthouse Reports

Global funders come with agendas. We avoided those, and used our funding for community-driven investigations

Eva Constantaras is Data Editor at Lighthouse Reports. She has spent most of her career as an itinerant data journalist, setting up data teams in newsrooms in Global Majority countries. She is also a Google Data Journalism Scholar, a Fulbright Fellow, and a winner of the Sigma Data Journalism and Philip Meyer Award. She is currently based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.