aibd
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR
PHILOMENA GNANAPRAGASAM
Ms. Philomena Gnanapragasam holds a double degree in Psychology and Political Science from UK and Malaysia respectively. To date, she has 15 international awards for radio and television. Prior to joining AIBD Philomena was Station Manager of Malaysia’s Pioneer English Radio Station, Traxxfm, RTM. Ms Philomena has significant experience in both radio and television programming. She was also Senior News Editor for Primetime television.
Under her management, Traxxfm won several international awards, the latest being the Blue Ribbon Award from World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2016 and she was instrumental in rebranding the English radio station. She also played key strategist in media planning for the 13th General Elections in Malaysia for RTM. She also has vast experience from working abroad, particularly in Deutche Welle, Germany in 1995 and in Radio Australia in 2003, as well as an accredited cross-cultural trainer from Deutche Welle and has conducted multiple media trainings in the Asia Pacific region.
As an industry expert, she is consulted by several universities and advises on the media curriculum for communication studies. She truly aims to inspire young people to take media to the next level and into ways of empowering audiences. Her motto is "Always Inspire and give your best shot”.
PROGRAMME MANAGER
WICKRAMAGE DON DHAMMIKA
Wickramage Don Dhammika (Don) earned dual master's degrees in Global Public Administration (Seoul National University, South Korea) and International Relations (University of Colombo, Sri Lanka) after graduating from Colombo University with a bachelor's degree in International Relations. He has undergone various national and international journalism and media studies trainings, including Asia News Reporting in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2011, War Journalism Training in Ankara, Turkey in 2018, and Social Media storytelling online training in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Before joining AIBD, Don worked as a journalist and program producer for Sri Lanka Rupavahini TV Corporation (National Television of Sri Lanka). He has collaborated with a wide range of stakeholders and visited many countries, including Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Nepal, Turkey, and South Korea.
IM Jongwon
Im Jongwon (Family name: Im, Given name: Jongwon) has been actively engaged in the field of broadcasting and public communication since 2011. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy and a master’s degree in Health Communication. He began his career as a producer at the Center for Media & Peace Initiatives in New York and later worked for The Korea Times (New York Bureau of The Korea Times America) and the International Health Research Center. Before joining AIBD, he served as a Senior Producer at the Community Media Foundation in Korea, where he produced over 180 short documentaries and trained more than 500 citizen producers nationwide. He is also the founder of a local media organization in Korea focusing on uncovering hidden local cultural heritage through visual storytelling. At AIBD, he is currently working to bridge technological gaps across the Asia-Pacific region by promoting the use of artificial intelligence in broadcasting and media development.
Rabi K C
Rabi K.C. is a Broadcast Engineer with extensive experience in radio and television broadcasting, broadcast development, and human resource management. He is currently serving as Programme Manager at the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), Malaysia. Prior to rejoining AIBD, he served as Chief Operating Officer at Triad Asia Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Triad Systems Engineering, which provides end-to-end, real-time automation solutions for fuel terminals and oil-gathering facilities. He continues to remain actively involved with AIBD as a Technical Advisor. Previously, he worked at AIBD as Programme Manager – Broadcast Engineer, where he managed regional projects and technical cooperation initiatives. Before joining AIBD, Rabi worked with Kantipur FM and Kantipur TV and later served as Technical Coordinator at the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters Nepal (ACORAB). At ACORAB, he played a key role in managing Nepal’s first satellite-based Community Information Network. Rabi has received professional training from leading international institutions, including VOA, BBC, ITU, and AIBD. Rabi holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from VNIT, India, and an Executive MBA from ACE Institute of Management, Nepal.