Meet Our 2025 Indigenous Journalism Fellows on World Press Freedom Day!

Akash Poyam (Gond/Koitur), India

Akash Poyam is a writer and researcher based in Chhattisgarh, India. He is a contributing writer for The Caravan Magazine, New Delhi. Formerly a member of the faculty at the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, he holds a master’s degree in Sociology from the University of Hyderabad. 

Poyam’s work explores themes of state violence, Indigenous politics, environmental and religious movements, extractivism, Indigenous languages, and media. His writing has been published in national and international publications, including Al Jazeera, Terrestres, Portside Review, and The Caravan, among others. Currently, he is leading an independent research project, “The State of Indigenous Journalists in Seven Asian Countries,” supported by the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, Chiang Mai, Thailand. His fellowship will highlight an overlooked crisis in Dantewada: how mining, militarization, and state violence in South Chhattisgarh create a deadly cycle for Adivasis, who are caught between state forces and surrendered Maoists.

Boureima Guindo (Dogon), Mali

Boureima Guindo is a journalist originally from Bankass in the Bandiagara region of Mali. He holds master’s degrees in English and Journalism and Communication from the Catholic University of West Africa-University Unit of Bamako. He began his journalism career in 2016 at Kaloum Infos before joining another weekly, L’ Oeil du Mali.

In 2023, Guindo launched his own weekly publication, Le Devoir (The Duty), which contains general information, analysis, and investigative reporting. Through his newspaper, Guindo addresses culture, climate change, and the challenges faced by Malian communities, with a particular focus on the Dogon community. His articles primarily focus on the promotion of culture, the impact of conflicts on communities, and the rights of women and children to education and access to basic social services. His fellowship will focus on the significant impact of climate change on women in the Bandiagara region, specifically the Bankass area.

Lucas Kasosi (Maasai), Kenya
Lucas Kasosi is a journalist, development communicator, and digital storyteller from Kenya. Currently he serves as the head of Digital Media and Communications at Paran Africa, a Maasai community media house dedicated to amplifying Indigenous voices through visual storytelling, advocacy, and community-driven narratives.

Kasosi’s work focuses on Indigenous rights, environmental justice, and cultural preservation, blending Traditional Knowledge with digital media tools to document and elevate the lived realities of his community. Through photography, video, radio, and grassroots engagement, he aims to challenge dominant narratives and support the visibility and resilience of Indigenous Peoples. He believes in the power of communication as a tool for justice, identity, and transformation. Kasosi’s fellowship will focus on the investigation and documentation of the environmental and socio-economic consequences of unregulated sand harvesting in Kajiado.

 

Kau Sirenio Pioquinto (Ñuu Savi), Mexico

Kau Sirenio Pioquinto is a journalist originally from Cuanacaxtitlán, Guerrero, Mexico. He was a reporter for the newspapers El Sur de Acapulco and La Jornada Guerrero, as well as host of the bilingual program “Tatyi Savi” (Voice of the Rain) on Radio y Televisión de Guerrero (RTG) and Radio Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero (XEUAG) in the Tu'un Savi language. He is currently a reporter for the weekly newspaper Trinchera y Pie de Página and contributes to “Programa de las Américas.”  

Pioquinto is the author of the book, Jornaleros Migrantes: Explotación Transnacional (Migrant Day Laborers: Transnational Exploitation). He also participated in two documentaries examining exploitation in agricultural fields: “El Dinosaurio y San Quintín: Entre la Montaña, el desierto y el mar” (The Dinosaur and San Quentin: Between the Mountain, the Desert, and the Sea), and “Ayotzinapa: el paso de la tortuga” (Ayotzinapa: the Place of the Tortoise). His fellowship project will focus on reporting on the Ñuu Savi women and men who do the urgent and critical work of protecting the environment, with special emphasis on the struggles of the women, who encounter structural violence daily.

 

Nawech Jimpikit Chinki Edy (Shuar), Ecuador

Nawech Jimpikit Chinki Edyis from the community of Canton Tiwintza in Morona Santiago, Ecuador. For the past 15 years, he has worked in community communications and investigative journalism. As a journalist, he is passionate about telling stories about the environment and conservation. He also speaks his native language, Shuar Chicham. For Edy, the forest is his home and a place full of life. His fellowship will focus on how the Maikuaint community faces imminent displacement as Solaris Resources, a transnational mining corporation, advances operations on Shuar ancestral territory without Tribal consent. 

 

Nichodimas Cooper (Nama), Botswana

Nichodimas Cooper passionately advocates for Indigenous rights and heritage preservation in Botswana. As an aspiring filmmaker and climate justice activist, he has dedicated his career to documenting the rich cultural tapestry and environmental challenges Indigenous communities face, particularly the Nama Peoples. 

Cooper’s work emphasizes storytelling as a powerful tool for advocacy, amplifying marginalized voices while promoting cultural resilience and sustainable development. He has organized cultural festivals, established community-led museums, conducted research expeditions, built alliances with international organizations, including the Commonwealth Association of Museums and the International Communities Organization, and participated in global forums such as the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) and the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. His fellowship will focus on the resilience of the Nama Peoples in the face of these changing conditions, as well as their deep connection to the land and the Traditional Knowledge they hold in managing natural resources.

Mathias Tooko (Maasai), Tanzania

Mathias Tooko is a journalist and storyteller from a community in northern Tanzania.  He is excellent at communicating, researching, and investigative journalism. Tooko has experience reporting news and documenting cultural, educational, climate, and environmental issues as a presenter and producer at Maasai Indigenous Community Radio, and as a freelancer for national and international organizations. He envisions a future where Indigenous culture and rights are preserved and protected in a modernized world. His fellowship will focus on the wisdom of the Maasai as a solution to environmental degradation caused by climate change. 

Stay tuned to read and watch their investigative work!