Core Team
Phet Sayo – Executive Director
Phet builds and oversees EngageMedia’s strategy, develops fundraising opportunities, creates and sustains partnerships and collaborations, and provides top-level oversight of finance, operations, programs, and technology.
Phet brings decades of experience in information, communications, and technology for development, and Internet governance. Prior to joining EngageMedia, he served 15 years as a Senior Program Officer at the International Development Research Center (IDRC). At the IDRC, his portfolio included work on access to connectivity, access to knowledge, digital rights and the right to privacy, field building for communications policy, platformisation and the future of work, and Artificial Intelligence for development.
While based in Asia, his scope included Africa and Latin America, also. Prior to his post with the IDRC, he led ICT for development initiatives as a programme specialist with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), including work on fostering the Free and Open Source movement in the Asia-Pacific.
Phet brings vast stakeholder engagement experience, including engagements with national level policy- and decision-makers, researchers, and advocates for social justice in the networked society.
Born in the Lao PDR, Phet immigrated to Canada in the late 70s. He is a Canadian national.
Phet holds a BA in Economics, from the University of Carolina, in Chapel Hill. He is currently undertaking a Master of Arts – Interdisciplinary Studies, at the Athabasca University.
Languages: English, Lao, Thai, Vietnamese, Mandarin, and Cantonese Email: [email protected] (public key)
Julie Soriano-Velasquez – Operations Senior Manager
Julie leads EngageMedia’s finance and administration team, ensuring the organisation delivers effective and impactful program work.
She is an eco-warrior who has spent a decade of developmental work related to the environment and good governance.
Her expertise includes financial management, procurement, travel management, financing and consultancy contracts, audit, event organisation, and general administration.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy and was the Managing Editor of their university publication. As a student leader and activist, she advocated various issues, including a call for students’ rights and campus press freedom.
Julie also advocates change via environmental awareness and empowered parenting. She endeavours to empower women as catalysts of such shifts, as they play a significant role in most households.
Languages: English, Filipino Email: [email protected] (Public key)
yaya maisara – Finance Coordinator
yaya works closely with the organisation’s Finance, Operations, and Administration team to ensure that the organisation’s support systems meet the highest standard, and provides logistical support to the Malaysia team.
A spreadsheet enthusiast from Kuala Lumpur, yaya has worked in finance, auditing, and accounting since obtaining their ACCA degree from BPP University in the United Kingdom.
yaya is a staunch advocate for the rights of Malaysia’s queer community, in particular for their equal treatment and access to justice. Their advocacy began while working in corporate, having experienced and recognised firsthand the disparity in treatment between those in power and the marginalised.
While they are driven by the pursuit of their goals, yaya is equally motivated by a good cup of coffee sipped amid nature, with a camera on the other hand to capture the breathtaking views.
Languages: Malay, English Email: [email protected] (public key)
Katerina Francisco – Programme and Engagement Manager
Katerina works on programmatic planning and developing communications content on EngageMedia’s core issues.
Katerina is a Filipino writer with a passion for creating social impact through multimedia storytelling. Before joining EngageMedia, she provided communications and fundraising support for US nonprofits, helping them tell better stories to sustain and scale their work. Katerina was also a journalist for Philippine news website Rappler, where she explored multimedia storytelling and research strategies in her roles as newscast writer, reporter, desk editor, and research head. Her work has covered a variety of topics, including politics and governance, human rights, and urban development.
Katerina holds a master’s degree in Development Studies from the University of Melbourne through an Australia Awards scholarship and a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Ateneo de Manila University. Outside of work, she enjoys going through her never-ending list of new hobbies.
Languages: English, Filipino Email: [email protected] (public key)
Ida Ayu Grhamtika Saitya – Organisational Development coordinator
Ida is the Organisational Development Coordinator at EngageMedia, focusing on enhancing operational efficiency, policy development, and stakeholder engagement. With extensive experience in program management, governance, and sustainability, she has led multi-country initiatives, optimized project workflows, and supported strategic growth. Her work spans digital innovation, human rights, and social impact, ensuring effective systems and processes that drive meaningful change. She holds an M.A. in Development Studies from Erasmus University Rotterdam and a Bachelor of Law from Universitas Indonesia.
Languages: Bahasa Indonesia, Balinese, English Email: [email protected] (public key)
Project Staff
Sara Pacia – Project lead (Digital Rights – Asia Pacific)
Sara leads EngageMedia’s efforts on expanding and strengthening the digital rights movement in the region, among them the annual DRAPAC assemblies and youth advocacy for internet freedom.
Sara is a Filipino journalist and multimedia storyteller at heart, passionate about utilising and appropriating today’s digital technologies for the empowerment of the public and the improvement of media and data literacy. After obtaining her journalism degree from the University of the Philippines, she worked as a Digital Content Editor for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, before receiving her master’s degree in Media and Communications (Data and Society) from the London School of Economics and Political Science as a recipient of the UK Chevening Scholarship.
Among her previous works are the Inquirer Kill List, a database on the fatalities of the Philippine drug war; Pinas to Paris, a multimedia report on climate change adaptation in the Philippines; and Mojo-Manual.org, a mobile journalism manual for journalists. She has also served as a consultant and a resource speaker for academic and civic organisations in the Philippines.
Languages: Filipino, English Email: [email protected] (public key)
Meg Soriano – Project coordinator (Digital Rights – Asia Pacific)
Meg has lived in Manila, Philippines and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Prior to joining EngageMedia, she was the communications director of EduKonek, a citizen-led initiative that aims to provide mobile phones and data to Filipino public school students embarking on distance and blended learning. She used to work as a civil servant in the Philippines for almost 10 years in various capacities.
Meg graduated from the University of the Philippines-Diliman with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology.
Languages: English, Filipino Email: [email protected] (public key)
Debby Kristin – Program lead (Digital Rights – Indonesia and AI Governance)
Debby leads the implementation of EngageMedia’s initiatives on digital rights and public policy work in Indonesia, working closely with project leads on coordination and logistics, communications and outreach, and monitoring and reporting.
A human rights activist from Batam, Indonesia, Debby spent the last six years advocating for refugees’ rights in Indonesia before joining EngageMedia. She holds a Master of Laws in Human Rights from Central European University in Vienna.
Debby’s undergraduate thesis on human smuggling in the country’s Rote Island led to an engagement with the West Java Province Government in Pangandaran, which had her sharing how refugees and asylum seekers are victims of transnational organised crime happening in its waters. She has also contributed to a number of national journals on human rights and irregular migration.
Aside from migration, Debby is also interested in the intersection of business and human rights, particularly on how trade-related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) protect the prolonged distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the Global South countries.
Languages: Bahasa Indonesia, English Email: [email protected] (public key)
Jen Tarnate – Project lead (Cinemata)
Jen works with EngageMedia’s Communications and Video for Change teams to develop and curate content, support advocacy campaigns, build audiences, and create social impact.
Jen is a Filipino filmmaker and photographer with 10 years of experience in directing and producing documentaries and entertainment programs for television and digital platforms in the Asia-Pacific and Europe. She holds multiple postgraduate degrees in documentary filmmaking from DocNomads at the University of Theatre and Film Arts Budapest (SZFE) in Hungary, Lusófona University in Portugal, and LUCA School of Arts in Belgium.
Jen’s work has been showcased at the Visual Documentary Project in Kyoto, Japan, and Nations in Visions, Vol. 1. in the Philippines. In 2018, she held her first solo exhibit on her long-term photography project about the local surfing community in Baler, Quezon province, the birthplace of Philippine surfing. In 2019, she was an ambassador for Edukasyon.PH and the Investing in Women initiative of the Australian government.
When not working, Jen enjoys the outdoors, cycling, surfing, and freediving.
Languages: Filipino, English Email: [email protected] (public key)
King Catoy – Project lead (TechTales)
King works on a variety of video advocacy and digital rights initiatives, designing and overseeing activities, media production, and network building.
King is an independent documentary filmmaker and alternative media practitioner from the Philippines. His roots in activism started as a student leader in the University of the Philippines Los Baños, where he took up Development Communication. He studied 16 mm film documentary production at the Mowelfund Film Institute and co-founded the film collective Southern Tagalog Exposure in 2001.
In 2009, as the executive director of Mayday Multimedia, a video collective focusing on workers’ issues, he produced Ka Bel, a docu-drama about renowned labour leader Crispin Beltran. He became the multimedia director of the non-profit media group PinoyMedia Center, Inc. in 2012. During this time, he initiated the documentary series entitled Eskinita: Ang Alternatibong Ruta.
He was part of the founding secretariat of AlterMidya Network, a national network of independent and grassroots-based media outfits in the Philippines. He produced various short documentaries and led the technical direction of Altermidya’s multimedia program from 2016 to 2019.
Currently, King is completing an online program on Film and TV Industry Essentials from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Languages: English, Filipino Email: [email protected] (public key)
Khairil Zhafri – Project lead (Open & Secure Technology and Research)
Khairil works on programmatic planning, strategy, and network building to drive the implementation of EngageMedia’s digital rights and technology initiatives in the Asia-Pacific.
Khairil is a doer-maker from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, who is passionate about building communities and connecting ideas using tech and design.
He studied accounting, auditing, and finance at Lancaster University, and had stints in journalism and financial services during his years of trying to figure things out. Prior to joining EngageMedia, Khairil worked with start-up businesses and not-for-profit organisations on product development, digital transformation, strategic communication, and capacity building, amongst other things.
Khairil is a pop culture fiend and news media junkie who appreciates the good stuff and is not afraid of the bad stuff.
Languages: English Email: [email protected] (public key)
Yin Maung – Project coordinator (Digital Rights – Myanmar)
Yin oversees and leads digital rights and digital safety initiatives in Myanmar to increase the capacity of civil society.
Yin has been active in the field of digital rights and social movements in Myanmar since 2013. Born in Yangon, Yin was a former project coordinator for Myanmar ICT for Development Organization (MIDO), working on their projects on digital rights advocacy, digital literacy, and media literacy for the Myanmar activists’ community and journalists.
On top of his digital rights advocacy, Yin is interested in poetry and has contributed his skills as a layout and graphic designer to Yangon’s independent literary scene. Yin is an alumnus of Parami University’s Liberal Arts and Sciences Program.
Languages: English and Burmese Email: [email protected] (public key)
Prapasiri “Nan” Suttisome -Project lead (Digital Rights – Thailand)
Nan supports the implementation of EngageMedia’s initiatives in Thailand and the Mekong region, working on coordination, training, community development, communications and outreach, and monitoring and reporting.
Nan is a nonprofit management consultant with over four years of experience working on socioeconomic and human rights development issues. Her expertise lies in community development and social campaigning, with a strong background in program delivery for digital transformation.
Nan has worked on research related to labour law, platformed work, gender equality, and youth rehabilitation. She has also created and implemented curriculum, tools, training materials, and capacity-building activities for a diverse group of beneficiaries, focusing on marginalised and at-risk communities.
Before joining EngageMedia, Nan worked as a senior associate for KPMG’s Climate Change and Sustainability Services in an advisory capacity, where she helped transform business practices to comply with international human rights standards. She holds a degree in international relations and politics from Thammasat University.
Languages: English, Thai, French (elementary) Email: [email protected] (public key)
Siti Rochmah Desyana – Project coordinator (Digital Rights – Indonesia)
Desyana supports the implementation of EngageMedia’s digital rights initiatives in the region, working closely with project leads on coordination and logistics, communications and outreach, and monitoring and reporting.
Born in Surabaya, Indonesia, Desyana’s human rights advocacy began during her school days at Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung. After earning a Bachelor of Law, she began working as a Program Assistant with International Bridges to Justice in 2021. Her focus is on assisting Women Human Rights Defenders who are particularly vulnerable in Indonesia. More recently, she worked with the International NGO Forum for Indonesian Development, focusing on the national implementation of the Sexual Violence Crimes Law.
In addition to her work, Desyana is an avid reader and enjoys writing about various human rights issues. She has a love for travel and enjoys spontaneous trips to nature, especially if it involves a beach.
Languages: English, Indonesian, Javanese
Email: [email protected] (public key)
Airani Sasanti – Payroll and Administration officer
Airani supports the Finance and Operations team to ensure that the organisation’s finance and administrative systems meet the highest standard. She provides logistical and administration support to the program team, most especially for Indonesia-based events.
Born in Indonesia, Airani started working in 2008 as a content writer and journalist for the Visit Indonesian Year event. In that same year, she worked as an administrative assistant for the Kotak Hitam Forum, an independent organisation that focuses on research, workshops, and documentary film production for social change in Indonesia.
In 2015, she joined the documentary production house Banjarsari Film, where she worked as an assistant producer responsible for pre-production design and planning and as an Administration Coordinator for the film, ‘Di Kaliurang’.
Languages: English, Bahasa Indonesia, Javanese Email: [email protected] (public key)
Affiliates
Anthony Mariadason – Accoutant/Internal Auditor
Anthony provides top-level oversight of EngageMedia’s financial systems and reporting mechanisms to ensure that the organisation’s finance and operations are functioning at the highest standard.
Anthony is a dedicated chartered accountant and finance professional with diverse experience, founded on solid technical grounding in chartered accountancy and strengthened by senior financial roles and assignments across a range of industries. With a commercial and strategic, as well as a not-for-profit focus, he possesses skills in partnering with stakeholders to develop practical financial and management accounting systems to assist with operational decision-making and to support long-term sustainable growth and accounting improvements for clients.
Part of the management of Go Consulting and Accounting, a professional and management accounting practice in Melbourne, he develops and maintains a client base of small to medium businesses, including a telecom services provider, registered training organisations, several startups in the technology space, importers, and a variety of small businesses. He brings over two decades of experience as an accountant to assist EngageMedia’s projects.
Languages: English, Tamil
Md. Ashraful Haque – Digital Security Specialist
Ashraf oversees and supports EngageMedia’s digital safety initiatives in South and Southeast Asia, and supports the management and maintenance of the organisation’s technical systems.
An information security expert based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Ashraf has been affiliated with different human rights networks across the world since 2008, and has worked with human rights organisations supporting digital protection for civil society groups, media organisations, journalists, bloggers, and activists. Today, he continues to support activists fighting for freedom of expression.
Ashraf graduated from Islamic University, Bangladesh, and started his digital security career volunteering with a gender and women’s rights group. He previously worked as a community manager with Safety First for Girls, and helped local activists to create a safe blogging atmosphere across Bengali cyberspace. Ashraf was also a Digital Integrity fellow with HIVOS, and had worked to localise digital security tools and resources in Bengali.
Languages: Bengali, English Email: [email protected] (public key)
Rezwanul Islam – Project Lead (Digital Spaces for Dialogue
Rezwan oversees EngageMedia’s outreach and communications activities to enhance and sustain social impact.
Rezwan has extensive experience in the field of citizen and social media. For more than 15 years, he has been writing for local and international citizen media sites and blogs. He is a longtime contributor to Global Voices, an international non-profit citizen media organisation and leads its newsroom for South Asia. He previously worked as a member of the jury for the Deutsche Welle Best of The Blogs (BOBS) Awards and also worked for Al Jazeera Plus as a node editor for South Asia.
As a freelance researcher, translator, and consultant, he has contributed to different advocacy and human rights projects over the years. He has experience in developing communications strategies and campaigns for non-profits. In Bangladesh, his work experience includes serving as a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme in different projects, especially for Citizen’s Voice (Nagorik Kontho), a citizen journalism portal.
He has lived in several cities in the Asia Pacific region, such as Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Canberra, in the past decade.
Languages: Bengali, English, German Email: [email protected] (public key)
