Community manager, Splice

India

Mili Semlani is a new-media professional who enjoys working at the intersection of content, product, and community.

Co-founder, Icarus Media

Myanmar, Thailand

Lachmi Baniya is a media entrepreneur and fitness enthusiast who, through her company Icarus Media, has created five digital publishing products, cornering the women's market in Myanmar with a monthly reach of 11 million through positive and empowering messages.

Audio + tech, PumaPodcast

Philippines

Marc Casillan is the Audio and Tech Head of PumaPodcast, and bassist of its company band, The Light Snacks.

Project manager, Boomerang

Myanmar, Thailand

Nang Nyi is a full-time project manager. She has an art background, loves writing, and is an environment enthusiast.

Media investing, Media Development Investment Fund

India

Koreel is the Investment Director for Asia at MDIF. He has more than 15 years’ experience in media investing, strategy and editorial, and has served in senior investment, strategy, and operational roles in various large Indian media organisations.

Founder, We, the Citizens

Singapore

Kirsten Han is a freelance journalist and activist who covers Singapore from a rights-based perspective via her newsletter, We, The Citizens. The only authoritarian regime she willingly submits to is the one run by her three cats.

Founder + editor, Media Commoner

Philippines

JP Campos is the founder and editor of Media Commoner, a media start-up based in Makati, Philippines. He is interested in digital media literacy, media innovations, and disinformation research.

Co-founder + CFO, The Kyiv Independent

United Kingdom

Jakub is a co-founder and Chief Financial Officer at The Kyiv Independent. He runs research and advisory projects with a focus on media business, distribution, and media tech. He also advises and invests in impactful media start-ups.

Data, Code for Africa

Italy

Jacopo Ottaviani is a computer scientist and senior strategist who works as Code for Africa’s Chief Data Officer.

News partnerships, Google News Initiative

Singapore

As part of the News Ecosystem Relations and Development team at Google, Filip leads programs and partnerships (through the Google News Initiative) focusing on news startups and early-stage publishers across the Asia-Pacific region.

Co-founder, Nest Center for Journalism Innovation and Development

Mongolia

Duuya Baatar is the co-founder of Nest Mongolia, an NGO that helps Mongolian media organisations establish sustainable business models to serve the needs of niche audiences.

Co-founder, Center for Investigative Reporting

Sri Lanka

Dilrukshi Handunnetti is a lawyer and investigative journalist. She co-founded the not-for-profit Center for Investigative Reporting based out of Colombo.

Founder + writer, Campuccino

Cambodia

Darathtey Din writes Campuccino, a fortnightly newsletter on all things Cambodia.

Product marketing, Meta

India

Charmaine Fernandes is a Product Marketing Manager for news at Meta. Charmaine has held content strategy and planning roles in the TV broadcast industry in India with companies like Star India, Disney India, and Viacom18.

CEO + podcaster, PumaPodcast

Philippines

Carl Javier is the CEO of PumaPodcast and picked up the guitar as a way to cope with the pandemic, during which he launched the podcast Chino and Carl’s Guitar Picks.

Co-founder, Boju Bajai

Nepal

Bhrikuti is the co-founder of the Boju Bajai podcast, which she started with Itisha Giri. Boju Bajai strives to share authentic and uncensored voices of Nepali women.

Founder, BehanBox

India

Bhanupriya Rao is the founder of BehanBox, which reports on women and gender diverse persons in India.

Co-founders, Splice

Singapore

Hi, we’re Rishad Patel and Alan Soon, and we’re Splice. Splice is our media startup, and we work with the global ecosystem to help you build viable media businesses.

Freelancer journalist + researcher

Philippines

Beatrice Go is a freelance journalist and researcher, and used to work with Rappler in the Philippines.

Be tuktuk. Be Beta.