Nazmul Arifeen

He brings proven expertise in countering disinformation and propaganda by violent groups. He worked at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) for eight years in various capacities where he managed collaborative projects sponsored by international partners. Recently, he co-led a project funded by the Japan Foundation on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and international cooperation. As well, he worked with Mohammad Sajjadur Rahman on the media and politics nexus project funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Previously, he was a researcher at BRAC University's Institute for Governance Studies (IGS) where his role involved organizing and facilitating dialogues and workshops with civil society organizations across the country. Mr. Arifeen holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Waterloo, and a Master's and Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of Dhaka.

Saima Ahmed

She is an Assistant Professor of International Relations, University of Dhaka. After graduating from the Department of International Relations (University of Dhaka), she taught IR for about seven years at the University of Chittagong. She then completed her second MA in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University under the Fulbright scholarship program (2009-11). Her third MA degree is in Political Science (University of Oregon). She is currently a doctoral candidate (ABD) at the department of Political Science, University of Oregon. A number of her articles on human rights in Bangladesh have been published in peer-reviewed journals and books. 

Dr. Kajalie Islam

She is an associate professor at the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at the University of Dhaka (2009-present). She has experience in teaching and research in political communication. One of her ongoing research works analyzes media coverage of female politicians in the 2018 general elections in Bangladesh. 

Dr. Islam has led projects on the use and impact of social media in Bangladesh (2021) and worked as a consultant for Aga Khan Development Network where she was responsible for reviewing and developing communications strategy in Bangladesh (2017). She has facilitated workshops on report writing and on the role of the media in preventing violent extremism. Dr. Islam was also a journalist with the leading English-language newspaper in Bangladesh, The Daily Star (2002-2013).
Dr. Islam earned her Ph.D. in Media Studies (2017, SOAS, University of London); MA in Critical Media and Cultural Studies (2009, SOAS, University of London); and Master and Bachelor in Mass Communication and Journalism (2008, 2006, University of Dhaka).

Dr. Saimum Parvez

He is a MSCA fellow at the Department of Political Science, Vrije University Brussels, Belgium.  Dr. Parvez led several research works on violent extremist (VE) propaganda, narratives, and misinformation and worked as a consultant for the USAID, World Bank, IRI, and UNDP-funded projects. His research on violent extremism in Bangladesh and VE narratives has been published in prestigious scholarly journals, including Terrorism and Political Violence and Perspectives on Terrorism. Most recently he co-edited a book on the politics of terrorism and counterterrorism in Bangladesh published by Routledge, UK. He also co-authored a research article with Professor Ali Riaz (Illinois State University) on the rigging mechanisms and role of media in the 2018 national election in Bangladesh, published in the Democratization journal.  He also worked as a journalist for a Bangladeshi TV channel, Bangla Vision, and as an assistant producer for the BBC World Service Trust. He taught Political Science and International Relations at the North South University and Chittagong University in Bangladesh.

Dr. Parvez has achieved his Ph.D. from the University of Sydney on the role of digital media in violent extremism in Bangladesh and his M.A. from George Washington University under the Fulbright program. As a Fulbright grantee at the Elliott School of International Affairs at the GWU, he took courses on strategic communication, public diplomacy, and global communications, which later helped him better understand the media, misinformation, and propaganda narratives in Bangladesh, and conduct research projects for the international development agencies.

Mohammad Sajjadur Rahman

He is a PhD candidate (ABD) at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University, USA. He taught International Relations at the University of Chittagong for nine years. He graduated from Dhaka University with a bachelor's and a master's degree in international relations. During 2008-9, Mr. Rahman completed a second MA degree from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, with a specialization in terrorism studies, under the Fulbright Scholarship program. He was one of the two Principal Investigators (PI) for a NED (National Endowment for Democracy)-funded project (2020-21) that studied media ownership in Bangladesh. He has co-edited three books: The Politics of Terrorism and Counterterrorism in Bangladesh (Routledge, 2023), Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Bangladesh (Routledge, 2016),  and Neoliberal Development in Bangladesh (UPL, 2020).

Zillur Rahman

He is the Executive Director of the Center for Governance Studies. Zillur, a journalist by profession, and has been working as the anchor of the most successful television program of what is called ‘Tritiyo Matra’(The 3rd Dimension), an award winning program by Channel i. He produced more than 5,890+ episodes concerning politics, governance and current international affairs over the last 16 years since 2003. By 2019, approximately 40 million Bengali TV audiences in Bangladesh, and Bangladeshis living around the world made Tritiyo Matra a part of their most favorite television viewing program. Zillur won several awards at home and abroad for his excellence in moderating the talk shows. Zillur holds Bachelor of Honors and Masters Degrees in Government and Politics from Jahangirnagar University.

He worked in a number of leading dailies, weekly magazines and Radio. He is the author of two non-fiction books and edited some unique books on politics. He worked for the World Bank and UNICEF as short-term consultants. He also heads CCN, a media consultancy firm. Zillur Rahman participated in US State Department sponsored ‘International Leadership Program’ program on ‘Role of Media in USA’ in 2007. Zillur also attended and contributed in a number of seminars, workshops, and dialogues on Global Governance held in Germany, India, U.S.A., South Africa and other European countries.