board of directors
She is Managing Director of Caribbean Lifestyle Communications Media Network which comprises Music Radio 97, Radio 90.5 and Heartbeat 104.1, Caribbean Lifestyle Productions, and VA Films & Production Company.
Kiran Maharaj is Past President of the Trinidad & Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA), having served three consecutive terms formerly as President. She also sits on the Board of Directors of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce and is a former Debates Commissioner with the Trinidad and Tobago Debates Commission.
Kiran began her career in media as a Freelance Journalist with some of the local newspapers and magazines and her passion for Journalism eventually led her to become a Freelance Correspondent for CNN World Report for two years. She has also worked in the world of film as a Line Producer and has experience with film production and scriptwriting.
Kiran Maharaj, President
Her degrees are in Literature, Journalism, Business Administration and Marketing, including Events Marketing and Management. She also has a Masters Certificate in Internet Marketing from the University of San Francisco; Certificates from Harvard Business School in Effective Media Strategy and the Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports; and an Advanced Certificate in Guerilla Marketing. She also has several certificates from the Radio Advertising Bureau of Dallas, Texas. Her many posts have included that of Media Relations Director and Associate Producer for the Plymouth Jazz Festival, Bollywood Movie Awards, and Bollywood Music Awards.
She is a former President of the Greater Tunapuna Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Trinidad.
With over 25 years of experience in Media and Entertainment, Kiran is also the Founder of the world's first radio station for women, Heartbeat Radio 103.5FM (Trinidad and Tobago).
She was Co-Chair of the Local Organizing Committee for the International Press Institute 2012 World Congress Meeting (held in Trinidad in June 2012) where over 300 journalists from 70 countries came together. She also served as Co-Chair for the Local Organizing Committee of the IFEX (International Freedom of Expression organization) 2015 General Assembly in Trinidad.
She spends her spare time giving back to her industry via the TTPBA and MIC.
Wesley Gibbings, Vice President
Wesley Gibbings is a freelance journalist, newspaper columnist, television presenter and media trainer. He has been in the media business for close to 40 years, has trained journalists throughout the Caribbean and authored/co-authored a number of training manuals for use by Caribbean journalists.
He has worked as a journalism lecturer at CARIMAC, UWI, Mona, and in 2014 was engaged as elections training coordinator for the Media Development Authority of Fiji.
Gibbings currently serves as Vice President of the Jamaica-based Media Institute of the Caribbean (MIC), is an executive member of the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM), and sits on the governing Council of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX).
He has written extensively on Caribbean media affairs and has presented papers on a wide range of subjects related to press freedom and media development at international conferences and seminars.
In 2017, Gibbings was recognised for his journalism and press freedom activism by the US National Association of Black Journalists and received the organisation’s Foreign Journalist Award. He is also a published poet with five collections to his name.
Julian E. Rogers MBE is one of the most recognised media practitioners in the Caribbean. His distinguished career was recognised by Her Majesty the Queen when the Barbados Government recommended him for his 50 years in the media industry.
Rogers started his media career in his native Barbados in 1964 at Barbados Rediffusion Service at just over 16 years of age. Since then he has gained valuable experience in television and radio as a manager, broadcaster, news anchor, producer and trainer. His work experience has taken him across the Caribbean in both government and privately owned broadcast and publishing companies.
Ever the entrepreneur, Rogers has been involved in ground-breaking ventures in the media industry. Education at the University of the West Indies topped his tertiary training and development. Rogers has contributed to the training of several media workers and is credited with creating the learning on the job environment conducing to uplifting the skills of broadcasters and journalists.
His current commitment is to “deepen the training regimes that can lead to a new breed of journalists and broadcasters to better meet the expectations of our Caribbean society.”
Julian Rogers MBE, TReasurer/Corporate Secretary
Nazima Raghubir, Board member
Nazima Raghubir is a journalist and media professional who has spent all of her adult life in the in the local and regional media. She started her career in the media at Prime News where she remains today. With more than 15 years in the local media, Ms Raghubir has led several major projects including the development of a magazine and a public awareness publication for Parliament.
advisory board members
Marcellus ALexander
Executive Vice President, Television
NAB
Marcellus Alexander was named executive vice president, Television for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) in October 2002. Effective April 1, 2004, he was given the additional title and responsibilities of president of the National Association of Broadcasters Leadership Foundation (NABLF).
In his television role, responsibilities include growing TV’s NAB membership and providing an operator’s perspective for discussions on Capitol Hill and at the Federal Communications Commission on issues impacting the broadcast business. In addition, he has oversight of the Small Market Television Group Executive Roundtable and Exchange, Account Executive webcasts as well as key events and sessions at the annual Las Vegas convention.
As president of NABLF, his focus is on delivering its mission of providing broadcast training programs to strengthen our industry’s workforce and initiatives in support of the First Amendment and philanthropy. The foundation’s programs cover the full range of levels within the broadcast business. Programs designed to attract college graduates to the executive level, up to television and radio station ownership are included.
Prior to joining NAB, Marcellus was station manager and acting general manager of KYW-TV, the CBS-owned station in Philadelphia from 1987-1989 and vice president and general manager from 1999-2002. While at KYW, he improved the station’s news product, revitalized sales and strengthened its ties to the community.
Before re-joining KYW, Marcellus was vice president and general manager of WJZ-TV, the CBS-owned station in Baltimore. Under his direction, WJZ local news was expanded, Baltimore Orioles broadcasts were brought back and through a network affiliation change, WJZ’s market dominance was sustained.
Earlier in his career, he spent 10 years in radio at then ABC owned-and-operated station WRIF-FM Detroit rising through the ranks to become vice president and general manager. In 1986, Marcellus helped organize an investor group that purchased WRIF from Cap Cities/ABC, while serving as part owner and chief operating officer of Silver Star Communications in Detroit.
A native of Austin, Texas, Marcellus holds a BS degree in speech and journalism from Texas State University. In 1995, his alma mater presented him with its “Distinguished Alumni Award.” That same year, he received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Western Maryland College in recognition of his community service.
Brant Houston
Brant Houston is the Knight Chair in Investigative Reporting at the University of Illinois. For more than a decade, he was executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors – where he built its membership to more than 4,000 – and before that worked as an award-winning investigative reporter and database editor at U.S. newspapers. He was part of the staff at the Kansas City Star that won the Pulitzer Prize for its work on a hotel building collapse that killed 114 people and wrote the first overview story of the survivors. He is a co-founder of the linkedInProfileGlobal Investigative Journalism Network and the Investigative News Network and advises nonprofits newsrooms in the U.S. and internationally. He is co-author of the Investigative Reporter’s Handbook and author of Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Practical Guide. He has served as a judge for editorial awards for the Society of Publishers in Asia contest, the Selden Ring Award, the Philip Meyer Award Journalism Award, and the Forum for African Investigative Reporting. As a candidate for the new board in GIJN, he says: I am running for the board again because I want to continue to help build GIJN’s training, resources, and networking. Over the past year, as chair of the board I have worked many hours on the transition of GIJN into a more formal organization. Specifically I have worked closely with the staff to incorporate GIJN and obtain its nonprofit tax status, meaning that GIJN will have more opportunities for grants and donations. I believe my long experience in investigative journalism and in running nonprofit organizations will continue to benefit GIJN as it grows, particularly in helping with strategic planning and with setting up governance and management systems that will keep GIJN running smoothly.. Over the last decade, I have worked many hours on global conferences, GIJN projects, and fundraising and watched as we have grown into an effective and inspiring organization. As board chair I have pushed to achieve consensus among board members before moving forward on any decision, while always keeping in mind the needs of all GIJN member organizations.. Because part of my job as Knight chair is to support investigative reporting globally, I can continue to devote significant time to ensuring GJIN will be there for many future generations of journalists and journalism students. I hope you will give me the opportunity to continue in a leadership role.
Neil Nunes
Neil Nunes is a well known radio news broadcaster and journalist on the UK’s two most prestigious speech radio stations, BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service. He’s so far spent some 16 years at the BBC.
Neil Nunes was nominated by the respected U.K. Radio Times magazine as one of the ten best voices on radio in the country. He’s been featured in many other leading newspapers in the U.K. and abroad.
Mr Nunes has been presenting world news bulletins to more than 70 million listeners each week on BBC World Service Radio, since the age of 24. He has anchored some of the planet's biggest stories from historic elections, the death of Nelson Mandela, global era defining revolutions, and catastrophes.
Neil Nunes has produced and presented more than a dozen highly acclaimed radio documentaries and features. He's also worked as a current affairs news producer and demonstrated strong editorial leadership during his time at the former BBC Caribbean service. While there he’d research, produce and present the major news of the day to some one million people in the Caribbean region, interviewing prime ministers and other movers and shakers in all key industries.
Known for his resonant baritone, he’s also done many voice overs, including for children’s animation.
Neil is also experienced at writing copy for a web and social media audience.
His Master's degree from London South Bank University analysed the then early rise of social media and its implications for mainstream media. He holds a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the London School of journalism.
Mr Nunes brings serious skill, analysis and infectious enthusiasm to anything he does in media. He describes broadcasting as “a hobby” that he “fell into in Jamaica at age 18 and so has never worked a day since then.”
Dionne Jackson-Miller
Past President, Press Association of Jamaica A broadcast journalist and attorney-at-law, Dionne hosts one of the leading daily current affairs programmes on Jamaican radio, "Beyond The Headlines" on RJR 94 FM, a well-regarded weekly current affairs television programme "All Angles" on TVJ, and is also a practising attorney-at-law. She tutors at the University of the West Indies in Constitutional Law, and also writes on issues relating to media law and human rights law.