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.

Robert P. “Bob” Latham has had a distinguished career spanning three decades, as a trial lawyer with recognized expertise in the areas of media law and intellectual property litigation. He is currently a Partner and Chair of Jackson Walker L.L.P.’s media law practice group, and his trial practice also involves complex commercial disputes, international, and class actions. He is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Virginia Law School.

In addition to his practice at Jackson Walker, Bob serves on the International Board of ARTICLE 19 and the Governing Committee of the American Bar Association Forum on Communications Law. He is also a former president of the Defense Counsel Section of the Media Law Resource Center.

Bob has served on the Executive Committee of World Rugby for seven years, and chairs the World Rugby Regulations Committee.  He is a former Chairman of the Board of USA Rugby as well as a former President of Rugby Americas North. Bob is also a published author and columnist, and a much sought-after speaker nationally and internationally. He has spoken on matters related to the rights of free speech, technology and intellectual property litigation, advocacy and litigation strategy, dispute resolution and sports – from Antwerp to Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro to Glasgow, and Melbourne to Yangzhou.

Bob also sits on the Major Gifts Committee of the International Board.

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 sits on the Governance Committee of the International Board