Newsling Advisors | Educators and Experts Behind Us

Mumbai, India

Avnita Bir

School leader and educator

Avnita Bir is Director-Principal of R.N. Podar School in Mumbai, which she has led for more than two decades. Across over four decades in education, she has worked as a teacher and school leader at institutions across India. She has also served on the governing body of the Central Board of Secondary Education. Her work has consistently focused on learner-centred education, inquiry, teacher development and the thoughtful use of technology in the classroom.

What Avnita brings to Newsling

Decades of school leadership, with a close understanding of students, teachers and what works in a real classroom.

One question for children to keep asking

What question have we not asked yet?

New York City, United States

Eric Evan Chen

Social psychologist and media researcher

Eric Evan Chen is a media researcher and entrepreneur whose work examines culture and society, and how people respond to information and engage with one another. He previously served as Director of Creative Research at Columbia Journalism School and directed the Media and Community Lab at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation. There, he brought researchers, journalists and communities together to explore how media can strengthen social cohesion and democratic participation. Eric has also studied political bias, moral judgment and creativity, and worked on election integrity and armed conflict response at Facebook/Meta.

What Eric brings to Newsling

A deep understanding of how information shapes judgment, relationships and communities, and how media can help people engage across differences.

One question for children to keep asking

How might someone else see this differently?

Goa, India

Karuna Nain

Online safety expert and technology policy leader

Karuna Nain is an online safety expert with two decades of experience across technology policy, safety strategy, government affairs and communications. During nearly a decade at Meta, she served as Director, Global Safety Policy, leading work on child online safety and well-being, womens safety and suicide prevention. She co-founded StopNCII.org with the UK charity SWGfL and serves on its Board of Trustees. She now advises technology companies, governments and non-profits on building safer digital environments.

What Karuna brings to Newsling

Two decades of experience in online safety and technology policy, helping ensure safety shapes Newsling from the beginning rather than being checked at the end.

One question for children to keep asking

Could sharing this help someone or harm them?

London, United Kingdom

Madhav Chinnappa

News and technology strategist

Madhav Chinnappa has worked at the intersection of journalism, technology and the public interest for more than three decades. He began his career as part of the launch team at Associated Press Television and later spent more than nine years at BBC News. During 13 years at Google, most recently as Director of News Ecosystem Development, he helped develop programmes supporting journalism, innovation and sustainability around the world. He recently finished a fellowship at the Reuters Institute, exploring the relationship between news publishers and generative AI. Madhav currently advises news organisations and startups on the relationship between technology platforms and the news ecosystem.

What Madhav brings to Newsling

Decades of experience across journalism and technology, helping us understand how editorial decisions shape the trustworthiness of information.

One question for children to keep asking

Where did this information come from?

Gurugram, India

Nandini Chatterjee Singh

Cognitive neuroscientist and education researcher

Nandini Chatterjee Singh is Professor of Psychology and Head of the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Ashoka University. Her research spans literacy, neurodiversity, emotion, social and emotional learning, and adolescent development. At the National Brain Research Centre, she established a pioneering cognitive neuroimaging laboratory and developed DALI, a dyslexia assessment tool for Indian languages. At UNESCO MGIEP, she helped develop a neuroscience-based framework bringing together empathy, mindfulness, compassion and critical inquiry. Her work connects research on how children think, feel and learn with the design and evaluation of educational experiences.

What Nandini brings to Newsling

Expertise in how children think, feel and learn, helping shape both Newslings approach to critical thinking and kindness and how we study its impact.

One question for children to keep asking

What might this feel like to someone else?

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Pritham Raja

Technology and social impact strategist

Pritham Raja works at the intersection of technology, public systems and social impact. He formerly served as AI Lead at J-PAL Global, where he worked on how artificial intelligence could be evaluated and applied to development challenges. His wider experience spans MIT, Jan Sahas, the Global Development Incubator and Dalberg. Earlier in his career, he founded Threads of Freedom, a social enterprise that created employment and reintegration pathways for survivors of trafficking.

What Pritham brings to Newsling

Experience connecting technology, evaluation and social impact, helping us distinguish encouraging findings from strong evidence.

One question for children to keep asking

What evidence supports this?

Mumbai, India

Yannick Colaco

Sports media entrepreneur

Yannick Colaco is co-founder of FanCode, a digital sports platform built to make a wide range of sports more accessible to fans across India. He previously led NBA India for six years, where he helped expand school and youth programmes that introduced more young people to basketball. Earlier, as Chief Operating Officer of Nimbus Sport, he worked across sports media, rights and commercial partnerships. His experience spans sport, media, entrepreneurship and building programmes that can reach young people at scale.

What Yannick brings to Newsling

Experience building organisations and programmes that reach young people at scale, helping Newsling grow across schools without compromising each child’s classroom experience.

One question for children to keep asking

Who has not had a chance to take part?