Anna moved to Georgia drawn by the promise of polyphonic song, a language unlike any other, and a vibrant activist scene, and has pursued all three to varying degrees of success. Their enthusiasm for good writing and social movements in the Caucasus has been put to great use at OC Media.

Arshaluys has been a journalist since 2016, previously focusing on fact-checking and open-source investigations. As a journalist, her primary focus was on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, politics, and social and gender issues. She is also a close observer of the media environment of Armenia, as well as an advocate of fact-checking and media literacy.

Aytan is an accomplished journalist with extensive experience of working with Azerbaijani, regional, and international media outlets and organisations. Formerly associated with Meydan TV, a prominent Azerbaijani online TV outlet in exile, she is now based in Georgia. Aytan is passionate about investigative journalism and courageously covering topics ranging from government accountability to domestic violence.

Dominik has worked in journalism since 2015, following a successful career in peacebuilding and project management. He dreams of writing textbooks for Caucasian minority languages and one day might be done with his ultimate guide to Georgian verbs. At OC Media he’s responsible for organisational development and fundraising. He’s passionate about peace and specialises in training in conflict-sensitive reporting.

Despite being the team’s youngest member, Luiza has years of experience writing about the North Caucasus, and has been an integral part of OC Media since 2021. She closely follows developments in Chechnya, and is interested in the perspective of the republic’s people as well as its infamous leaders. In her everyday life, Luiza looks like a character from ‘Men in Black’.

Mariam is a veteran journalist with over a decade of experience under her belt. She is passionate about gender equality and workers’ rights. Despite now being shackled behind a desk for most of the time, she can never sit still when something is happening and always goes to report from the ground.

Before joining OC Media as an editor at its founding in 2017, Robin worked in Georgia’s NGO sector. He is passionate about human rights and social justice and is a big believer in giving voice to marginalised people and tackling tough subjects head-on. Robin enjoys hiking, KFC, and the Oxford comma.

Salome loves the diversity of her role — how some tasks are project and management-driven, while others are more about communications and engagement. Holding degrees in IR and European studies, she is interested in European politics, gender equality, and elections. When not juggling two jobs, you will find her indulging in a new book or all-too-familiar comforting TV shows.

After fleeing a not-so-promising academic career and a disastrous attempt at being a bisexual activist, Shota is now a grumpy staff writer covering Georgia-related topics at OC Media. He is still interested in nationalism, far-right, and gender and queer issues, and still pretends to keep an eye on the wider Eastern and Central Europe region.

Before joining OC Media, Tamar promoted documentary films about social and environmental justice issues from Africa to Oceania. She is passionate about states with limited statehood, the power of visual storytelling, maps, technology, and data. She spends her time keeping up with social media algorithms and dipping her toes into amateur underwater photography.

Before joining OC Media as a reporter, Tata worked as a journalist in the Georgian newspaper Resonance for over two years. She is interested in politics, social issues and especially everything related to the Caucasus region. Writing is Tata’s outlet to relax and she believes she has found her dream profession in journalism.

Waża left Poland with nothing but a smile on his face and a suitcase full of treats to provide OC Media with some much-needed emotional support. His main tasks include greeting staff members every morning and helping fill their daily exercise quotas by forcing them to run after him around the yard.

As a diaspora Circassian driven by his undying passion for the Caucasus and fascination with functional public transport, Yousef returned home to join OC Media as an editor. With five of experience in journalism under his belt, he juggles his time between keeping up with the chaos of the region, podcast production, and gushing over specialty coffee.