Anna Bayasgalan Battulga
Mongolia
Anna Bayasgalan Battulga is a communications and social impact professional with eight years of experience in the business, nonprofit and international development sectors. She has worked with U.N. agencies, including UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization, and previously led sustainability projects in Mongolia’s private sector. Battulga has a background in sustainability, policy research and advocacy communications. She creates human-centered stories and multimedia content, and hosted the UNICEF Mongolia Podcast, highlighting changemakers and development leaders. She holds graduate degrees from the United Kingdom and Taiwan. As a 2025 Humphrey Fellow, she plans to explore how artificial intelligence can enhance digital advocacy, social impact storytelling and inclusive public engagement.
Atina Bregvadze
Georgia
Atina Bregvadze is a multimedia storyteller, feminist activist and co-founder of GrlzWave, a youth-led platform promoting gender equality and challenging systemic oppression of marginalized communities. Through GrlzWave, she uses media, art and activism to amplify underrepresented voices. With experience in content creation, social media strategy and project management, Bregvadze leads campaigns at the intersection of gender rights, civic engagement and art. She has collaborated with local and international partners on creative projects addressing labor rights, queer visibility and more. Bregvadze believes storytelling is a powerful tool for resistance and healing. As a Humphrey Fellow, she aims to explore how media can drive positive social change.
Eunjee Wi
South Korea
Eunjee Wi is an award-winning journalist with nearly 10 years at The Dong-A Ilbo, one of the country’s leading newspapers. Over the past five years, she has helped lead the paper’s digital transformation by developing digital strategies and producing interactive stories with designers and developers. As project manager and interactive storytelling producer for the paper’s flagship investigative team, Wi has earned major honors, including the Korean Journalists Association Award and multiple Society for News Design awards. She also produces short-form videos for the paper’s official YouTube channel. With her experience, she has been invited to give guest lectures to junior reporters and university students, contributing to the growth of the next generation of Korean journalists.
Eva Frantova
Slovak Republic
Eva Frantova is a reporter at SME, Slovakia’s leading news outlet, where she hosts the economic video podcast Index and the daily podcast Dobré ráno—the country’s most listened-to podcast with nearly 2 million downloads per month. She also moderates conferences hosted by NGOs on politics, green transition and economic diplomacy. In 2024, she received the Novinárska cena, a prestigious journalism award from the Open Society Foundation, for an Index episode on the end of the lignite mining era. Frantova is an alumna of several journalism fellowships, including the IJP program, during which she reported for Germany’s Die Welt. She holds a master’s degree in applied languages from the Bratislava University of Economics and Business.
Fathia Elsisi
Egypt
Fathia Elsisi is an award-winning multimedia journalist and filmmaker with more than a decade of experience telling human-centered stories. A graduate of Cairo University with a degree in mass communication, she focuses on amplifying the voices of women and marginalized communities in rural Egypt. Her films and reports have been featured at national and international platforms, including COP27, the Chouftouhonna Feminist Film Festival, the OIC Youth Capital Award and the American University in Cairo. El Sisi has produced content for organizations such as Oxfam, AJ+, UNFCCC, GIZ, and several embassies. In 2021, she was named Middle East winner of the Sheikh Hasina Youth Volunteer Award for her advocacy on environmental issues through video storytelling.
Jad Shahrour
Lebanon
Jad Shahrour is a seasoned communications expert, public policy adviser and senior journalist with more than 15 years of experience across the Middle East and North Africa. He specializes in media strategy, content development and advocacy on politics, human rights and digital rights. Shahrour has collaborated with international organizations, tech companies and government institutions to shape policy and promote free expression. Fluent in Arabic and English, he is known for his strong public speaking and stakeholder engagement skills. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets such as Foreign Policy, BBC, Al Jazeera, France 24 and Sky News Arabia. He is committed to amplifying voices and driving positive change through storytelling, strategic communication and policy engagement.
Olga Usenko
Ukraine
Olga Usenko is a legal market analyst, communications adviser and editor with nearly 20 years of experience. She leads Ukrainian Law Firms. A Handbook for Foreign Clients, the country’s largest English-language legal directory, and served as editor-in-chief of The Ukrainian Journal of Business Law until February 2022. Usenko holds a Ph.D. in international economics and has a strong background in legal research, strategic development and media project management. She has played a key role in shaping Ukraine’s legal sector by developing legal media infrastructure, setting research standards and advancing communication within the legal community. A graduate of the Ukrainian School of Political Studies, she also completed a postgraduate program at the UK-based Sympodium Institute for Strategic Communications.
Ramesh Kumar Neupane
Nepal
Ramesh Kumar Neupane is news chief at Himal Media with 15 years of experience in journalism. He specializes in reporting on corruption, economic affairs, social justice and environmental issues, and has recently focused on data journalism. A member of the Centre for Investigative Journalism–Nepal, Neupane is also a 2019 alumnus of the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program. He has trained journalists across Nepal and co-authored Sweat of Foreign Lands, a Nepali-language book on the socio-economic impacts of labor migration. Neupane holds a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication from Tribhuvan University. He has received several national journalism awards and fellowships, and is passionate about using OSINT, data storytelling and digital tools to advance accountability.
Farayi Machamire
Zimbabwe
Farayai Machamire is co-director and managing editor of Kukurigo Information Services, a social enterprise transforming news delivery in Zimbabwe. Through WhatsApp, Kukurigo reaches more than 400,000 people daily, encouraging civic engagement and promoting accountability. Machamire and his team have built a trusted platform that appeals to audiences often disengaged from traditional news by prioritizing creativity, integrity and accessible delivery. In an era of widespread misinformation, Kukurigo stands out as a credible news source. Machamire aims to scale the platform to 1 million daily subscribers within three years. Through the fellowship, he seeks to deepen his understanding of international frameworks and expand his perspective on governance, diplomacy, public affairs and policy to further his mission.
Suzgo Chitete
Malawi
Suzgo Chitete is an award-winning investigative journalist with more than 16 years of experience in radio, television, print and online media. He is the assistant bureau chief in Lilongwe at Nation Publications Limited and previously served as a senior reporter at Malawi Broadcasting Corporation. A partner of the Platform for Investigative Journalism, Chitete’s work has appeared on BBC, Al Jazeera and CGTN. His Al Jazeera report on albino killings in Malawi inspired the book Out of the Shadows. He also produced an award-winning documentary on intersex rights that is now used by advocacy groups. He is a media trainer and holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and cultural studies, as well as a diploma and certificate in journalis.
Vanessa Gomez
Ecuador
Vanessa Gomez is a journalist and corporate communications specialist with more than 12 years of experience across the public, private and international cooperation sectors. At the United Nations Development Programme, she has led communication strategies promoting adaptation to climate-related risks. Previously, she was national communications coordinator for the Ecuadorian Red Cross, where she managed national campaigns on health, human mobility, livelihoods, blood donation and disaster risk reduction. Earlier, she served as public affairs coordinator at Corporación GPF – FEMSA Salud and worked as a journalist for the Ministry of Tourism and HOY newspaper, as well as a programming assistant at Teleamazonas. Gómez holds degrees in journalism, communication and marketing from UDLA, UASB and PUCE, respectively.
Zineb Haddaji
Djibouti
Zineb Haddaji is a multimedia journalist, documentary photographer and communications specialist focused on migration, health and youth in the Horn of Africa. She began her career in 2018 after earning a master’s degree in cross-media journalism. Haddaji has reported for Raseef22, Geeska Afrika and the women-led agency JINHA. She has designed evidence-based social and behavior change communication campaigns for USAID, Caritas and the World Health Organization. As a student fellow at the Counter Academy for Arab Journalism, Haddaji values critical, nuanced storytelling. Her photography gained recognition in 2020, with two images featured in the Mastercard Foundation’s “African Art in Context” exhibition and one winning “Best Photo of the Week” in the “African Resilience” series. Through the Humphrey Fellowship, she aims to build a digital platform to share untold regional stories.