Gayathry Venkiteswaran is a journalist and activist and sits on the Governance committee of the International Board of ARTICLE 19.  She is a lecturer at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, where she is also a PhD candidate with the focus of her research on media reforms in Southeast Asia.  Prior to this, she was the executive director of the Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance, working on press freedom and access to information in the region. Before joining SEAPA, she headed a Malaysian press freedom organisation, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), worked as a journalist and taught media history and journalism in a number of private colleges and universities. She was curator of the freedom of expression content on Asia and the Pacific for the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) based in Toronto, and is co-editing a book on the media in transition in Burma with two other editors, scheduled for publication in 2019.

Gayathry has authored a research paper for the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) on Freedom of assembly and association online in India, Malaysia and Pakistan: Trends, Challenges and Recommendations (2016), and has presented extensively in international fora on issues related to media freedom and freedom of expression in Southeast Asia. She has an MA (International Relations) from the Australian National University and a Bachelor of Mass Communication from University Sains Malaysia.

Gayathry Chairs the Governance Committee of the International Board

Arturo Franco is an economist, writer and entrepreneur. His career combines high-level positions in Fortune 500 corporations and global organizations, with public policy and international development experience.

In 2008, Arturo became a Global Leadership Fellow at the World Economic Forum with a focus on Latin America. In 2011 he was a Resident Fellow of the Center for International Development at Harvard University, focusing on economic growth and industrial policy. 

Holder of an MPA in International Development from Harvard, a Masters in Constitutional Law and Governance from Mexico’s Autonomous University, and an Executive MBA in Global Leadership, Arturo is a visiting professor at Tec de Monterrey, his alma mater.

On a pro-bono basis, Arturo has founded and advised several social enterprises and NGOs, including Causas.org, the largest interactive platform for civil society in Mexico. He has served on the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Board of Directors, the Advisory Board of Teach for Mexico, and as a Trustee for the UK’s Fatherhood Institute.

Arturo is Chair of the Major Gifts Committee of the International Board.

Nadezda Azhgikhina is an experienced journalist, writer and human rights activist and currently Director of PEN Moscow. She has worked in mainstream independent Russian media, including Ogonyok magazine, the famous symbol of Gorbachev perestroika and democratization. She has contributed to a range of national and international media including The Nation weekly (USA) since 2017 and national outlet, Business Tuesday.   Her many and numerous activities with journalist and media organisations include: as a board member with the Russian Union of Journalists between 2003-2016; holding the vice presidency of the European Federation of Journalists between 2013- 2019, and leading work on the Gender Council of the International Federation of Journalists 2001-2019.  She is co-founder of the Association of Women Journalists; a board member of  Global  Alliance of  Media and Gender –Europe ( since 2015) and was Russian coordinator of Russian- Ukrainian journalist organizations ‘Two Countries – One Profession’ under the OSCE umbrella from 2014-17.   Nadezda has also taught at Moscow State University, Tampere University (Finland), and Barnard College, Columbia University ( USA).

Aparna Ravi is a corporate and finance lawyer with nearly two decades of experience, having practiced law in New York, London and India.  She is currently based in New Delhi, where she is a Partner at Samvad Partners Advocates, a pan-Indian, full-service law firm. In addition to representing clients in financing, mergers and acquisitions, and investment transactions, Aparna regularly advices a number of corporate clients on corporate governance issues as well on compliance and advisory matters, including implementing policies to make working places safer.

Aparna has also worked with a legal not-for-profit organization in Bangalore, India where she was involved in research and litigation on women’s rights and the right to education, and has been a visiting faculty at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore.  Aparna was a member of the Bankruptcy Law Reform Committee constituted by the Indian Government that prepared the initial draft of the new legislation and continues to research and write widely on insolvency law reform in India.

Aparna also has a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from New York University School of Law (2003) and a Bachelor degree in Government from Harvard University (2000). She is qualified to practice law in India and in New York.