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.

When Yulia got her MA in culture, media, and society she had no idea she would ever use the media part in her life. She previously claimed to be a historian and urban anthropologist but after joining the OC Media team she quit her PhD to devote herself fully to journalism. She enjoys strolling and believes it is the only way to understand the soul of a city.

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.

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 and compiling the weekly Caucasus Digest. 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.

Sabina moved to Georgia from Azerbaijan to dedicate herself fully to independent journalism. In Azerbaijan, she gained 5 years of experience in journalism, PR management and SMM. As a staff writer covering Azerbaijan, she is eager to create more visual stories. She is passionate about women and queer rights and how environmental issues affect gender inequality. Sabina constantly faces the dilemma of artistic vs realistic approaches. She loves her plants, but sometimes they die.

Originally from Toronto, Canada, Dvin has been living in Armenia for the past 19 years. After many years of working soul-crushing jobs, she finally took a risk and quit to pursue her flirtation with writing. After working as a freelance consultant, copyeditor, and translator for a year, she joined OC Media in the autumn of 2019 covering everything Armenia. She is also proud of her side gig as a full-time mum of two little boys.

Tamuna fell in love with journalism after becoming disillusioned with the art scene. As a professional photographer, she now enjoys combining images with the power of the written word in her new family at OC Media. With a keen interest in social issues, she focuses on labour rights and disability and gender-related problems. When not investigating a new story, she’s successfully devoting her time to turning her small apartment into a Mexican patio.

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.

Before joining OC Media in 2019, Yulia worked on conflict resolution in the South Caucasus. Her interests include gender studies, human rights within the history of political repressions in the USSR, mushrooms, otters, and neurobiology. Banned from Facebook, she has been personally recognised as a threat to the International World Order by Mark Zuckerberg.