Our Team

Girl Reports is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization registered in Tampa, FL. We are run by a volunteer staff of dedicated professionals with deep experience in education, nonprofit management, and international development. We are a young organization that has already made a significant difference in the lives of young women at the Karuna Girls School in Lumbini, Nepal. Our team is passionate about empowering young women, promoting gender equality, improving the quality of public discourse, and building a more equitable and sustainable future for all. Girl Reports’ US-based staff are 100% volunteer!

Executive Board

VANESSA MARTINEZ, MA
FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

  • Vanessa Martinez founded Girl Reports in 2015 while living and working in rural Nepal. After completing her MA in Applied Anthropology, she spent two years serving the community of Lumbini in various capacities, including program development, research, humanitarian aid, grassroots consulting, volunteer coordination, and communications. She was inspired to form Girl Reports by the close relationships she formed with local students, teachers, and community leaders at the Karuna Girls School. Vanessa has extensive experience in international travel, cross-cultural collaboration, and international education — including a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship. As an applied anthropologist, she is fascinated by the diversity of lived experience, and is committed to empowering under-served communities to overcome the many challenges they encounter daily.

MARGEAUX CHAVEZ, MA/MPH
DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AND EVALUATION

  • Margeaux Chavez is an award-winning research and evaluation professional who has been transforming data into products and actionable insights for 15 years. She has worked in the public, private, and non-profit sectors; expertly navigating each unique environment. She is a passionate visual storyteller and an expert cross-cultural communicator for the purposes of education, training, and mentorship. She believes that every problem has a creative solution. Margeaux has a BA in German Language and Literature, an MA in Applied Bioculultural Medical Anthropology and an MPH in community and Family Health. She also served as a Fulbright Teaching Fellow in Berlin, Germany as part of the inaugural cohort of Diversity Initiative Fellows working with an underserved student population.

JOE HALEY, PHD
DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Joe Haley is a researcher, educator, and program manager with a passion for helping young people discover the gift of language. He has more than thirteen years of experience teaching literature and writing to teenagers and young adults, including a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Malaysia. For seven years, he taught literature and expository writing at Johns Hopkins University, where he completed a Ph.D. in English with a concentration in world Anglophone literature. He recently left a career in independent schools to become an ACLS-Mellon Public Fellow / Program Manager at the World Justice Project in Washington, D.C.

AMY LANGENBERG, PHD
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, ECKERD COLLEGE

  • Academic focus: South Asian Buddhism, gender, sexuality, and the body.

CAROLYN YASCHUR, PHD
CURRICULUM ADVISORY COUNCIL CHAIR
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, AUGUSTANA COLLEGE

  • Academic Focus: Multimedia journalism, news literacy, media theory, race, gender, and media.

    Achievements: Award-winning visual journalist – The Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA; The State, Colombia, SC.

Staff

SUNIL BANIYA, MA
DIRECTOR OF LOCAL PROGRAMS, NEPAL

  • A proud citizen of Nepal, Sunil Baniya completed his Master’s in English at Tribhuvan University. He has been teaching English since 2010, six of which have been at the Karuna Girls School in Lumbini, where he is currently the Vice Principal. He loves talking to foreigners and believes that it is a good way to learn English. He likes to teach grammatical rules to his students so that they can speak accurately and without any hesitation. In his free time, he likes singing, translating songs, and visiting new places. He also guides the students of the KGS Journalism Club, helping them to become self-confident and empowered journalists in future.

ANGELA FORERO, MA
INSTRUCTIONAL AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER

  • Angela Forero is a creative thinker who is passionate about education, visual arts, design, and diversity. She holds a Master’s degree in Curriculum Design and Instructional Technology and a Bachelor's in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Her experience involves teaching k-12 and instructional design production and management in higher education. Learning a second language opened her mind to connecting with people from diverse cultural backgrounds in personal and professional settings. Her passion for the visual arts constantly pushes her to work with different mediums, and to share these explorations with her daughter and community. Her interest for education and her love for helping others have led her to participate in several non-profit organizations and projects that include designing several community-based street murals for the city of Tampa.

ANN REBECCA PERSAUD, MA, PMP
FINANCE MANAGEMENT

  • Ann Rebecca Persaud is a project manager professional based in Washington, D.C. Ann spent two years in Tanzania as a Peace Corps volunteer, designing and managing a variety of projects including water, nutrition, microfinance, and health education. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology and a M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy with a focus on International Development. As a project manager, she is skilled in adaptive management, cross-cultural communication, and leveraging limited resources into quality results. She is passionate about continuing to support young women along their journey of growth and inspiration.

CHANDRA PRAKASH PATHAK, MA
MEDIA ASSOCIATE

  • Chandra Prakash Pathak is an Assistant Officer for Media & Tourism Promotion at Lumbini Development Trust, where he is responsible for implementing the Visit Nepal 2020 campaign of the Government of Nepal. In this role, he is promoting Lumbini and the other sites related to Gautam Buddha. He is also a filmmaker and a photographer. Mr. Pathak started his career as a Media Coordinator at Shree Radha Madhav Samitee, before working as a Media and Communications Coordinator at Jeevan Bigyan Pratisthan and an Economic Reporter for the Image television channel. He then served as an Economic News Reporter and Social Media Manager at AP1HD, one of the most popular stations in Nepal. His responsibilities have included production, writing, graphical design, filming, and visual editing. He holds a Master’s degree in Media Technology from Purbanchal University.

Curriculum Advisory Council

CAROLYN YASCHUR, PHD
COUNCIL CHAIR
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, AUGUSTANA COLLEGE

  • Academic Focus: Multimedia journalism, news literacy, media theory, race, gender, and media.

    Achievements: Award-winning visual journalist – The Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA; The State, Colombia, SC.

PALLAVI GUHA, PHD
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, TOWNSON UNIVERSITY

  • Academic focus: Anti-rape and sexual harassment activism in media; gender roles in electoral campaigns.

    Achievements: AEJMC Nafziger-White-Salwen Dissertation Award for best dissertation in the discipline of mass communication; Howard County Commission for Women’s inaugural “So She Did” 2021 recipient.

DIANA DAWSON
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-AUSTIN

  • Academic focus: Teaches newswriting, advises the student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and directs the Moody Writing Support Program.

    Achievements: Finalist for the Ernie Pyre Award, Livingston Award for Young Journalists, the Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University; part of the Pulitzer Prize finalist team.

JAMIE NEELY, MA, MFA
PROFESSOR EMERITA, HEAD OF JOURNALISM DEPARTMENT, EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY (ret.)

  • Academic Focus: News commentary, editorial writing, feature writing, editing, column writing

    Achievements: Board member of the EWU Women’s Commission and the Women Helping Women Fund; Society of Professional Journalists Northwest Excellence in Journalism Award, the Best of the West Award, and the C.B. Blethen Memorial Award.

Interns