Semafor

Singapore

Gina Chua is Executive Editor at Semafor, a new global news startup, and previously Executive Editor at Reuters. She transitioned in late 2020 while at Reuters.

Gram Vaani

India

Sayonee Chatterjee has been a development practitioner for more than 15 years working with grassroots communities, especially women in rural India, across a range of issues, including micro-finance, maternal and child health. At Gram Vaani, she handles engagement strategies, partnership, and content.

queerbeat

India

Ankur Paliwal is an independent queer journalist, founder, and managing editor of queerbeat.org, a new media startup focused on accurately covering LGBTQIA+ communities in India. He was a fellow at the Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program at The City University of New York.

Exile Hub

Norway

December Khaing is Communications & Advocacy Manager at Exile Hub. She has seven years in the international NGO sector with organisations such as ActionAid, WorldVision/VisionFund, and Partners Norway.

YouTuber

South Korea

Alpago Şinasi is a Turkish-born journalist, YouTuber, and stand-up comedian based in South Korea. His videos, mainly in Korean, have almost 5 million views on YouTube.

Creator

Philippines

Your Tita Baby is a hilarious drag content creator from the Philippines with a following across Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. She works with journalists against disinformation.

Open Society Foundations

United Kingdom

Mary Fitzgerald is the Open Society Foundations’ director of Expression. Prior to joining the Open Society, Fitzgerald was editor-in-chief and CEO of the global news outlet openDemocracy.

Sifter

Ethiopia

Maya is a freelance reporter based in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, and runs a weekly newsletter called Sifter. She covers human rights stories with a special interest in women and labour rights issues.

The Gender Beat

India

Ankita Anand is a cross-border journalist, co-founder of The Gender Beat, and an editor with Unbias the News.

Luminate

Egypt

Alexandra Buccianti is Principal at Luminate’s Global Programmes team, focusing on information ecosystems. She has over 12 years of experience in designing and implementing media support and development projects. She previously worked at BBC Media Action and Search for Common Ground.

International Media Support

Philippines

Roby Alampay started PumaPodcast three decades into his journalism career. He is also currently the Asia program adviser of Denmark-based International Media Support.

Newsworthy

India

Anubha Bhonsle is the founder of Newsworthy, a media startup creating social impact for businesses, the planet and people through strategy, design and storytelling. An author, journalist, and filmmaker, Anubha has a body of work intersecting rights, gender and politics.

Thibi

Myanmar

Yan Naung Oak is the founder of Thibi, a consultancy working in the space between data and design. He works with media and civil organisations across Southeast Asia to help them use data for storytelling and advocacy.

The Gender Beat

Singapore

Tan Hui Yee is a co-founder of The Gender Beat, a collective of journalists supporting gender-conscious journalism around the world. She's also a bureau chief of The Straits Times, helming its coverage of Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Probe

Philippines

Jen Aquino oversees production at Probe, which works with content creators in fact-checking campaigns. Jen was formerly a senior producer at CNN Philippines, where she ran daily newscasts.

Boomerang

Myanmar

Nyi has a strong foundation in art, loves writing, and is an environment enthusiast. In addition to her role at Boomerang, she is a dedicated co-founder of Doh Zat, a platform where they publish stories about mental health challenges, actively contributing to various projects in the mental health sector.

Studio Zainal & Zainal

Singapore

Zakaria Zainal works with photographs and text. His practice straddles commercial and editorial assignments in the region. He is best known for the Singapore Gurkha trilogy.

Josh Talks

India

Varun Khera leads the partnerships division at Josh Talks, an impact media platform. He works with partners such as Meta, Amazon, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to drive change.

Hong Kong Free Press

United Kingdom

Tom Grundy is the editor-in-chief and founder of Hong Kong Free Press. He has contributed to the BBC, Euronews, Al-Jazeera and others.

Kiripost

Cambodia

Tharum Bun is the co-founder of Kiripost, a modern media startup that covers business and tech in Cambodia.