Media & Journalism

Yery M García has been working as a researcher and practitioner in communication, development and social change for more than five years. She holds an M.A. in Media Practice for Development and Social Change from the University of Sussex in the UK and a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Havana. She has worked as a communications consultant in several international cooperation agencies such as UNICEF, WFP and Oxfam. Since 2014 she has been working as a journalist in Cuban and international media outlets covering issues related to transparency, participation and accountability. She is also a non-formal educator and has been a member of several citizen capacity building projects using new information and communication technologies.

Host Organization: Transparency & Accountability Initiative

Role at Host Organization: At the Transparency & Accountability Initiative, Yery will serve as a Communications & Knowledge Sharing Fellow. She will focus on developing and implementing strategic and digital communications for TAI, managing all of its social media platforms, growing its digital presence, and providing innovative ways to communicate TAI’s unique role as a thought leader and knowledge resource for practitioners leading change around the transparency, civic participation, and accountability field.

Mita Puspita earned a Medical Doctor’s degree from Padjadjaran University. She has seven years of experience in clinical trial vaccines. She is responsible for the bacterial vaccine clinical trial, which handling the clinical trial from the very beginning to the end. Her main responsibility is; literature searching as the background of clinical trial design, developing clinical trial protocol, clinical trial site identification, coordinating vaccine clinical trial with the trial centers, monitoring the clinical trials, reviewing the reports, and responding to the feedback from the National Regulatory Affair about a clinical trial in the licensure process. She also has experience in managing vaccine safety data and analysis. Since graduated from medical school and was then involved in dengue research in Bandung. She also had experience as a physician in very remote areas in Yahukimo District, Papua, Indonesia. After she was involved in INA-RESPOND, Indonesia Research Partnership on Infectious Disease as a Research Assistant. She now focuses on preventive medicine and public health. Her passion to support immunization programs, that can decrease the morbidity and the mortality of communicable infectious diseases in Indonesia.

C Novika Maharani was born in Malang, Indonesia. She completed a Bachelor’s of Law in International Law at Sebelas Maret University. Passionate in the international field, she is currently working as an Analyst in the Deputy of International Economic Cooperation – Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs of Indonesia. Her main duties are to analyze matters related to building and maintaining economic partnerships between Indonesia and countries in the American continent countries. The analysis is not limited to trade agreement negotiation, bilateral forum meetings, and dispute settlement in World Trade Organization. Through working in her current unit and institution, she began to learn the importance of partnership as it is stated as 17th SDGs, whether it is between inter-ministries or agencies, and partner countries. Inspired by the importance of cooperation and collaboration between ministries and agencies in Indonesia, she joined a community called Abdimuda Indonesia, with other young Indonesian Civil Servants. Abdimuda Indonesia aims to promote young Indonesian public servants to have a smart mindset to contribute to their work, encourage social movements, also prepare them as the future leader of Indonesia’s government. Other than that, she is also a member of Think Policy, a think-tank for young professionals that undertakes brainstorming and research of Indonesia policy. By joining Abdimuda Indonesia and Think Policy, she contributes and encourages collaboration for young public servants and young professionals to build critical thinking patterns towards various policies and help them to reach self-development opportunities.

Ayunda is a communication professional with years of experience working for both for-profit and non-profit organizations. Currently, she is focusing on the communication for development (C4D) field where she is interested in any work related to behavioral and social change. She believes that communication plays a crucial role in helping social change in the community. She is currently working for the International Labour Organization and involved in several projects related to labor issues. Prior to joining the United Nations, she worked as a Public Relations and Communications Manager at SOS Children Villages, an INGO that provides care for children who lost or at risk of losing parental care. As a communication professional, Ayunda does not dedicate herself to a particular development issue, but she is very interested in children, public health, and equality topics. Before dedicating herself to non-profit organizations, she used to work at Public relations firms where she developed her skills at developing and executing communication strategy plans for multinational and technology companies. She is now pursuing her calling as a C4D expert and wishes to explore opportunities and collaborations with more international development organizations. Ayunda holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Indonesia majoring in Communication. She later awarded by Chevening Scholarship to pursue a Master’s degree in Communication for Development (C4D) at the University of Reading, the United Kingdom.

Patrya is the Founding CEO of INSPIRASI, a non-profit with goals to build innovative continuous professional development for school leaders in Indonesia. With only 2% of school principals already have professional training, the lack of support for school principals contributes to Indonesia’s learning crisis where quality remains low although 89% of children are in schools. Patrya studied Public Policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and London School of Economics for his Master’s degree. He was once a teacher for Indonesia Mengajar and had policy-related and research-related posts such as the World Bank, Ministry of Education, and J-PAL Southeast Asia

Priscilla Omebere-Iyari has nearly ten years of experience as a Brand and Consumer Marketing Professional, providing branding solutions to local and international brands across various industries. In addition to this, she has four years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Finance from the University of Ilorin in Nigeria. In the past four years, she served as the Co-Convener of the annual Open Your Heart Camp, a Bootcamp for underserved teenagers living with autism and down syndrome in South-Western Nigeria. So far, over 75 teenagers have been positively impacted. She also currently volunteers as the Communications Manager and Volunteer Engagement Lead at MEDIC Nigeria (Mental and Environmental Development Initiative for Children), an environmentally and socially conscious nonprofit organization established to cater to the mental health and environmental cleanliness of Nigerian children, helping them to be socially responsible. Here, Priscilla manages beach clean-ups, volunteer engagement, and anti-plastic pollution and recycling campaigns. As a Brand Manager, she now works at Advans La Fayette Microfinance Bank, promoting financial literacy and adoption at the grassroots level. Previously, she worked in Wema Bank, where she created the Bank’s first corporate social responsibility framework and coordinated over 4,000 employees in various community projects. Through these experiences, Priscilla developed strong project coordination and implementation skills. Priscilla enjoys focusing on the topics of financial literacy, and environmental sustainability.

Oyenike Oyewo has four years of experience in the nonprofit sector and earned a Bachelor’s degree in General Medicine from Vitebsk State Medical University in Belarus in 2018. She completed her residency practice in obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive health, with a specialization in obstetrics & gynecology in 2020. Oyenike is an ambitious entrepreneur, highly skilled in health care administration, communications, and social media marketing. She also has experience in student educational management, fashion design, hair styling, and catering. Oyenike uses her skills of media and healthcare to communicate with young ladies and single mothers like herself through personal experience to educate them on women’s health and personal hygiene. She further uses her skills in business development to train young females in Nigeria and Belarus. Oyenike volunteered as a peer educator on women’s rights, child abuse, women’s health, and reproductive health for several groups. Through these experiences, she developed strong project coordination and implementation skills. Oyenike is passionate about the value of maternal/ child health and female/ youth empowerment.

Fasiha Sharif is a Media & Communication sector professional with 10 years of working experience in Pakistan. She remained associated with different international organizations designing communication and outreach strategies in the area of good governance, rule of law, youth engagement, and post-crisis communication. At the beginning of her career, she remained associated with different media organizations as a freelancer and has worked on youth and women issues in conflict-affected areas of northwestern Pakistan. She is an accomplished radio & television host and digital media influencer. Her freelance engagement with radio has enabled her establishing the first-ever audio recording setup owned and managed by any female in northwestern Pakistan. She has demonstrated skills in content writing, audio & video production, interviewing, and social media management. Having a solution-oriented approach, she is a great team leader and player. She is a multi-tasker and is flexible to adapt to any multi-cultural environment and challenging situation. With qualifications and experience in media and communication, she is enthusiastic to work for the promotion of the industry at all fronts. She is also an alumnus of the US-Pakistan Journalist Professional Exchange Program.

Evgeniya Dolina is a creative professional with a diverse background in media, marketing, and international NGOs. For over six years of her career, she accumulated the best practices of journalism, commercial content writing, and editorial management. She is currently working in a medical startup that contributes to fighting cancer. While still completing her degree in Journalism, she already worked at her first Olympics. Shortly after that, she made her first appearance as a news reporter on TV. After almost two years on screen, she paused her career to earn a Master’s degree at Goldsmiths University, London. In 2018 she started working as a Project Coordinator at the Japanese Broadcasting Company, NHK. Within the next two years, she helped produce numerous programs addressing Russian social and political issues. She eventually left to step into the role of Creative Editor at Movavi, an international IT company. Next, she took up a volunteer position as the Copywriting Team Lead at an international charity organization, Health & Help, which delivers medical help to some of the world’s poorest regions. Having gained some experience in medical content, Evgeniya joined MedTech, so she could expand her impact on the world.

As Senior Communications Manager, Courtney Calardo oversees the overall development and implementation of BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative’s (UPGI) communications strategy. Prior to joining BRAC UPGI, Courtney was the Communications Manager at Family Planning 2020, where she worked to promote greater access to and information on sexual and reproductive health for women and girls around the world. Courtney brings 10 years of experience in strategic communications with a primary focus on international development. Courtney has provided strategic communications and partnership development support to social entrepreneurs with innovative, evidence-based solutions for major global issues, as well as key implementing partners, and worked to promote the integration of innovation in development programming overall during her time at USAID. With additional experience in the private sector as a consultant, Courtney has supported the development and execution of communication strategies for academic institutions, international governments, NGOs, and the private sector. Courtney graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with a B.A. in Journalism and International Studies, focusing on human rights and photojournalism.

Paige Duskie resides in Huntsville, Alabama. At Florida State University, Paige earned a Bachelor of Science degree in International Affairs and French. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Global Governance, Politics, and Security from American University’s School of International Service in Washington, DC. Paige is the Communications and Administrative Manager for HelpAge USA. HelpAge USA advances the well-being and inclusion of older people globally through research, advocacy, and programs. She has two years of experience in working with nonprofit and non-governmental organizations. Paige manages marketing and communications for all projects and campaigns at HelpAge USA. She additionally maintains the organization’s website, manages individual giving, and assists in research efforts. Previously, Paige worked with the Center for Leadership and Social Change at Florida State University. In her role as a Social Change Peer Educator, she facilitated dialogue with students, faculty, and staff on identity, leadership, and service. She interned with La Voix de la Femme Amazighe, an indigenous women’s rights group in Rabat, Morocco. She worked with the organization for three months while authoring a capstone paper focused on the forms of structural violence against indigenous Amazigh women. In this capacity, she was able to put her French language skills to use. The social issues that Paige finds herself drawn to are gender and women’s issues, journalism, and humanitarian relief.

Zunaira Ali is a communications expert with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Graphics from the University of Engineering and Technology in Taxila. She has over three years of experience in the development and public sector of Pakistan. Under her recent role as a Digital Media Expert at Pakistan’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene unit with the Federal Ministry of Climate Change, she led the digital initiatives for community participation in the national level “Clean Green Pakistan” movement. Previously, Zunaira worked as a digital media assistant at Alif Ailaan – a DFID funded political advocacy campaign for education reforms in Pakistan, where she developed the campaign’s communication strategy for advocacy with politicians, communities, education department officials, and journalists on the post-elections education reform agenda.