Disha Mullick | Co-founder
Disha is the co-founder of Chambal Media, a company that produces feminist media for rural audiences. Chambal Media hosts the iconic rural news brand, Khabar Lahariya. She has a masters degree in Gender Studies from the University of Warwick, and is an Acumen and South Asia Speaks writing Fellow. She has worked in publishing and as a journalist before her journey with Khabar Lahariya.
Kavita Bundelkhandi| Co-founder & Co-CEO
Kavita Devi is the CEO at Chambal Media & Co-Founder of Khabar Lahariya, and her primary responsibilities include working closely with the Chief Reporters' network on conceptualising, planning and execution of stories. A Banda local herself - she likes to call herself Kavita Bundelkhandi, having chosen to drop her last name deliberately many years ago - she is also the region's first Dalit woman anchor to host her own news and views weekly, The Kavita Show. The only Dalit member of the Editor's Guild of India, Kavita brings with her several years of field reporting, having started out as a reporter herself, and often reports on special stories even today. Viewed as a formidable figure of inspiration and empowerment locally, especially for women, Kavita is also a TED speaker.
Pooja Pande | Co-CEO
Pooja Pande is a writer whose passion for intersectional feminism led her to Chambal Media, home to Khabar Lahariya, India's grassroots, feminist news network and IWMF Courage in Journalism Awardee 2021, where she is currently the co-CEO and is part of the core leadership team at Chambal Media.
Priya Thuvassery | Director
An independent documentary filmmaker and television producer based in New Delhi, Priya’s body of work has focused on women and gender, her stories windows into myriad experiences of the body, the environment, the community, mapped from a gender and feminist perspective. Priya has been directing, producing and editing documentary films & television programmes for New Delhi Television, Fox Traveller, CNA, National Human Rights Commission of India, Films Division of India, Public Service Broadcasting Trust & Khabar Lahariya for over a decade now. Priya is currently a Director at Chambal Media.
Lakshmi Sharma| Senior Producer
Lakshmi Sharma, a native of Madhopur chhata village, from the Sheohar district of Bihar, joined Khabar Lahariya in 2010 as a reporter. She went on to run the Bihar edition of the print newspaper before moving onto the production side of things in the Delhi newsroom, where she headed the production desk and became Senior Producer at KL in 2015. Since 2019-20, Lakshmi has moved up as core leadership at Chambal Media, KL's mothership, where she currently leads the production of special features, including shorts, documentaries, podcasts, and animations. Through the years, Lakshmi has also garnered experience in the areas of anchoring, editing, and in voice-over skills.
Meera Devi | Managing Editor
Meera Devi is the Managing Editor at Khabar Lahariya. With 12 years of reporting on rural issues, Meera specializes in investigative journalism and policy reporting. Her special reports have included lifting the curtains off the administrative apathy around the broken healthcare systems combating T.B.in the rural hinterland of U.P. She also hosts a show on local politics, titled Rajneeti, Ras, Raay.
Sunita Prajapati | Local Coordinator
Suneeta Prajapati, 24, is one of the many young reporters in the Khabar Lahariya team. A passionate print journalist, Suneeta has embraced Khabar Lahariya’s digital/video avatar. Suneeta is from Mahoba district, around 100 kilometres from where Khabar Lahariya first put down its roots. Over the years, Suneeta has taken on the nexus between politicians, media and mining contractors, and in exposing the conditions of work in the mines. In her video reports, viewers are suffocated with the fine dust in the air; the circularity of the testimonies; the feeling that the space between death by hunger or tuberculosis or fatal accident are all too close, and too inevitable. She is currently a local coordinator at Chambal Media.
Umra Khan | HR & Admin Lead
Umra is HR and admin in Chambal Media private limited, she has a couple of years experience in teaching, she completed her graduation in Commerce from Allahabad university, belongs from Banda, Bundelkhand .
A strong believer in the power of positive thinking in the workplace, Umra regularly develops some internal meets to assist employees with effective mental health and team building. Umra enjoys a good web series binge but can also be found on short vacations on mountains.
Guneet Narula | Tech Consultant
Guneet is an information technologist with experience in web development, design, data processes and information visualization. His core focus is effectively communicating technological concepts and ideas to improve collaboration and work. He has an active interest in internet freedom, free and open source software, open data and the sociopolitical ramifications of information technology in governance.
Harshita Verma| Outreach and Comms Lead
A Digital Marketing professional by education & training, Harshita's passion for creative marketing and social media landed her a gig with Khabar Lahariya at the time the revolutionary newspaper was finding a new lease of life as a digital platform. A few years of experience in the field, coupled with her ambition, creative energy, and passion for technology, has earned her a place in the leadership team at Chambal Media today, the youngest! A great team player, self-confessed legit Kanpuriya, Harshita's love for photography, deconstructing influencer cultures, and understanding impact are also key value add-ons.
Chinmayi Arakali | Consultant
Chinmayi Arakali is a communication design consultant and educator. She founded Kitki - a creative communication design studio based in Mysore. She works on design assignments and is a visiting faculty at Amrita School of Arts and Sciences. Chinmayi has deep experience working in the area of communication for change in the non - profit sector, particularly on gender issues. She currently consults with IT for Change on a field project called Namma Maathu, Namma Jaaga.
Chinmayi’s education has been in film and video communication design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She loves film, birdwatching and reading to her son. She lives and works out of Mysore.
Nidhi Thachankary | Advisor
Nidhi has 10 years of experience in education and skilling in the Hospitality & Tourism sector. She works as an independent consultant and is also a second-generation Entrepreneur. Nidhi joined Chambal Media as a consultant to lead the Pilot launch of Chambal Academy. She worked on setting up the e-learning platform, designing the structure of online assessments and virtual community spaces, and leading the team to mobilize and train 270 women and girls from rural UP, MP and Bihar.
Nidhi is also a Director in her family’s business - Munnar Catering College, a private hotel management institute that trains nearly one thousand students a year from middle and low-income families.
Nidhi holds an MBA from Oxford University, where she focused on social enterprises. After studying at Oxford, she worked on creating sustainable vocational training models and new training pedagogies with Pratham Education Foundation in Mumbai. Nidhi is an IBL@Oxford (Impact Business Leaders) Fellow, Oxford Leading for Impact Fellow and an Acumen India Fellow.
Shalini Joshi | Co-founder
Shalini Joshi is a Program Director for Training and Network at Meedan. As a regional lead, Shalini is involved in expanding Meedan's work and its global network in the Asia Pacific region. Shalini provides support to fact-checkers, newsrooms and academics involved in addressing and researching misinformation.
Shalini is also the co-founder of Khabar Lahariya, India's only independent, digital news network available to viewers in remote rural areas and small towns.