Jody Garcia

Guatemala City, Guatemala | Investigative Reporter | Plaza Pública

TRACE Foundation Fellow | Host Newsroom: Miami Herald

García began reporting in January for Plaza Pública, an investigative news “laboratory” in Guatemala, after working for a news magazine in her home country. García collaborated with The New York Times in August 2021 for an investigation about corruption in Guatemala and the Biden administration’s reluctance to intercede.

 

 

 

Anastasia Valeeva

Moscow, Russia | Independent data journalist and trainer

TRACE Foundation Fellow | The Marshall Project

Valeeva is a data journalist, data editor, mentor and coordinator of data projects in Kyrgyzstan. She’s led investigative reports on subjects such as migration, gender equality, and domestic violence. Her first assignment for The Marshall Project was to help develop a database tool to examine ARPA expenditures in the U.S., which was featured in a Poynter webinar series “Follow The Money: American Rescue Plan,”

 

 

David Mono Danga

Juba, South Sudan | The Insider | Voice of America-South Sudan in Focus

Pat and Janna Stueve Foundation Fellow | Voice of America-Washington D.C.

Mono Danga is a Voice of America correspondent and managing editor of an online news media platform in South Sudan. During the fellowship, Danga wants to learn how to effectively expose corruption in South Sudan, and how good governance can be applied in his country.  He also intends to improve his news platform during the fellowship.

 

 

 

Saurav Rahman

Dhaka, Bangladesh | Senior Reporter, Maasranga Television

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Fellow | KCPT,

PBS station, Kansas City Media Collective

Rahman focuses on the economy, business, and trade for his television station in Dhaka. His show had about 600,000 YouTube and 500,000 Facebook followers. His exposè for OCCRP revealed fraudulent activity of shadow banks and identified regulatory loopholes and shortcomings that left the global financial system vulnerable to fraud, money laundering, and corruption. 

 

 

 

Indunil Usgoda Arachchi

Colombo, Sri Lanka | Reporter, Ravaya | Editor OCCRP South Asia projects

OCCRP Fellow | Investigate West, a digital news outlet based in Seattle

Usgoda Arachchi has reported for the Ravaya newspaper, the Sunday Observer, and the Center for Investigative Reporting. Ravaya is an alternative publication started by an investigative journalist and is training young journalists. OCCRP in late 2021 hired her as an editor for South Asia projects. She intends to start a new media outlet in Sri Lanka that identifies solutions for critical social issues.

 

 

 

Parth Nikhil

Mumbai, India | Independent reporter

Organized Crime and Corruption Project Fellow | Los Angeles Times

Parth focuses on social issues and has written numerous articles for the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI). In 2021, he received a grant from the Pulitzer Center to write a series of stories on societal fallouts of COVID-19 and the inadequate health infrastructure. He was one of three finalists for the prestigious Martin Adler Prize at the Rory Peck Awards given in November in London. 

 

 

 

Somesh Jha

New Delhi, India | The Reporters Collective

Organized Crime and Corruption Project Fellow | Los Angeles Times

Jha was a founding member of The Reporters Collective, established in India in 2021.  The group of investigative reporters collaborate to produce in-depth multimedia projects in multiple languages that “put the spotlight on those in power.” Previously at the Business Standard, Jha received several awards for his reporting on the politics of statistics in India.

 

 

 

 

Nitu Ghale

Khatmandu, Nepal | Annapurna Post

OCCRP Fellow | Columbia Missourian | Missouri Business Alert

For the Annapurna Post, a national daily, Ghale focuses on the environment, particularly how climate change is affecting her country and region. In 2021, she was selected in 2021 for a reporting fellowship by the British Council in Nepal. Deepak Adhikari, a former Alfred Friendly from Nepal, said Ghale “has traveled to rural areas and talked to people affected by climate change, a welcome change from arm chair reporting from Kathmandu.”

 

 

 

Tanka Dhakal

Bharatpur, Nepal | DeshSanchar.com

OCCRP Fellow | Wisconsin Watch, WI Center for Investigative Reporting

Dhakal is a multimedia reporter for his Nepalese/English digital news outlet. He’s done in-depth reports on child sexual abuse and children deprived of an elementary school education and covered sensitive topics such as dowry practices and menstrual cycle taboos. Dhakal also reported on the Rohingya refugees in Nepal and melting glaciers.

 

 

 

 

Chencho Dema

Thimphu, Bhutan | Business Bhutan

OCCRP Fellow | KCUR, an NPR affiliate, Kansas City Media Collective

Along with her work for Business Bhutan, Dema is freelancing for BBC, The Wire, The Diplomat and other outlets. In 2019 she won Bhutan’s Women in Politics story of the year award. An article in The Diplomat revealed hydropower projects in Bhutan are “implemented in complete secrecy,” and her land conflict story in The Diplomat described a proposed highway that would run through one of Bhutan’s key national parks to one of the least developed areas.

 

 

 

Gagandeep Singh

Jalandhar, India | Hindustan Times

OCCRP Fellow | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Singh focuses on criminal justice issues in India’s far north. He uncovered financial irregularities in the land acquisition process for government projects and several cases of corruption involving government ministers and the former director general of police in Punjab. Singh also exposed wrongdoing by a religious leader who conspired to provoke communal tension. Singh said corruption is hindering the ability of the government to provide basic services.