Paddy Coulter is a specialist in media and development with over 30 years professional experience of international communications. Hailing originally from Northern Ireland, he is currently based in Oxford as a Director of Oxford Global Media, a UK consultancy working on a range of communications strategy assignments for international organisations.

His previous experience includes responsibility for the Reuters international journalism programme of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University where he was Director of Studies between 2001 and 2007.  From 1990-2001 Paddy was Director (and from 1987-1990 Deputy Director) of the International Broadcasting Trust, producing over a hundred television programmes on global development and human rights for BBC TV, Channel 4 Television and other leading international broadcasters.   He was previously and Head of Communications at Oxfam (1982/1987).

Paddy is a Fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford. He has maintained a strong interest in media and civil society, having had lengthy involvements as a Trustee with UNICEF UK, Comic Relief and the Media Trust as well as Oxfam. He won the Gold Award from the United Nations Correspondents Association in New York for the IBT television documentary series ‘Under the Blue Flag’ and in 2000 Paddy was awarded OBE by Her Majesty’s Government in London for “services to development awareness”.  He is also a Trustee of the Geddes Trust which seeks to promote Oxford student journalism and is a Visiting Fellow of the Bournemouth Media School, University of Bournemouth.

In addition to being Chair of the International Board of ARTICLE 19 (since 2014), Paddy sits on the Finance and General Purposes Committee, the Governance Committee and is also a director of the regional affiliate ARTICLE 19 East Africa.

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.

David Kaye teaches law at the University of California, Irvine. From 2014 – 2020 he served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. He is also the author of Speech Police: The Global Struggle to Govern the Internet (2019). Since October 2020 he has been serving as the Independent Chair of the Board of the Global Network Initiative. He has also written for international and American law journals and numerous media outlets. David began his legal career with the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is a former member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law.

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.

David Viney is a digital technologist with more than 20 years’ leadership experience across the public, private and third sectors, including six years building a digital consulting business.

He is currently Director of Enterprise Platforms at the British Standards Institute (BSI), having previously undertaken similar roles at Arup and at the BBC; where he delivered business systems across news, television and radio.

David is professionally qualified in both IT and Finance, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Passionate about international development and human rights, he has served on the Finance Committee and main Boards of both SciDev, a global news media NGO, and Privacy International (‘PI’).

Whilst David was at PI, the board oversaw a complete overhaul of the vision, strategy and branding of the organisation, to maintain relevance in the post-Snowden era; addressing not only fundamental privacy rights, but also emerging concerns such as data exploitation by large corporates and the protection of democracy from malign actors.

David joined the ARTICLE 19 board in December 2020.