Mariam is a veteran journalist with over 10 years 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. Mari lives with her cat Willie, who she is training to be a dog.

Dominik has worked in journalism for the past five years, first working in peacebuilding and project management. If he could quit everything and write textbooks for Caucasian minority languages he would, but he can’t afford to so he sticks around. At OC Media he’s responsible for organisational development and fundraising. He’s passionate about peace and specialises in training in conflict-sensitive reporting.

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 exhorting the value of the Oxford comma.

A journalist with four years of experience in the field. When he’s not busy editing an article or reporting a story, Peter dabbles in documentary film production. His interests include labour, social movements, and corruption. He also has terrible taste in music, including an undue appreciation for Soviet-era pop.

Salome found an outlet for her perfectionist tendencies in editing for OC Media — she feels in her element polishing a story and finding the smallest of errors hidden under an invisibility cloak. Holding a degree in International relations from Tbilisi State University, she is interested in European studies, gender equality and elections. She is fluent in Georgian, Russian, English, and Friends quotes.

Luiza is an editor, pursuing a degree in journalism at Tbilisi State University. Despite being the youngest member of the OC Media team, she has a wealth of experience, including an internship at Caucasian House where she took part in various peacebuilding projects. When she’s not reading about developments in Chechnya (a rare occurrence), she likes to spend time taking care of stray animals and treating herself to some fast food. In her everyday life, Luiza looks like a character from ‘Men in Black’.

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. Shota’s on every social media platform but his true home is Twitter @shotakincha.

Hamida had been exploiting herself in the peacebuilding field for 10 years when the war in Nagorno-Karabakh broke out. Now she is exploring journalism to pursue her passion for human rights. She cares about community action, social equity, refugees, and environmentalism. After living in 7 different countries, she has adopted a small puppy but still seems unlikely to settle down anytime soon.

Ani was writing stories and photographing for four years before moving into the world of facts and numbers, first working as a data journalist, then as a fact-checker. Open-source investigations and data visualisation are her passions. Ani is interested in everything South Caucasus, politics, and 20th century world history.

Before joining OC Media as a reporter, Tata worked as a journalist in Georgian newspaper Resonance for over 2 years. She is interested in politics, and especially everything related to the North Caucasus. Writing is Tata’s outlet to relax and she believes she has found her dream profession in journalism.