Office of the Director
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
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.
Programme Manager
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.
Programme Manager
Jason Emmanuel Mekkar
Jason Emmanuel Mekkar is with the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), where he is primarily involved in programme management, stakeholder engagement and member services, supporting the Institute’s programmes and engagement with member states and partners across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
He contributes to the planning and coordination of regional programmes, capacity-building activities and institutional events, including the Asia Media Summit (AMS) and General Conference (GC).
Programme Manager
Sweta Rani, PhD
Sweta Rani is an accomplished media and communications specialist currently serving as Program Manager at the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD). Holding a Doctorate specializing in Disaster Risk Communication, an M.Phil. in Media Studies, and a Master’s in Broadcast Journalism, her core expertise encompasses disaster communication, social and behavior change (SBC), cultural communication, social media strategy, and content management.
Throughout her career, Dr. Rani has spearheaded critical initiatives across government bodies and international development organizations, complemented by her contributions to academic scholarship through numerous research publications in peer-reviewed national and international journals.
As a Content Consultant for the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) under India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, she played a key role in developing strategic communications and led international capacity-building programs in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs under the NIDM-ITEC framework. Additionally, she worked with UNICEF India to drive impactful Social and Behavior Change projects, building upon her early professional foundation in India’s print and radio media.
A dedicated practitioner for public-sector capacity building, Dr. Rani authored and developed the highly rated course “Bridging the Gap: Media Messaging and Mitigation” for the Government of India’s iGOT Karmayogi platform. Maintaining a 4.4/5 rating, the course empowers government officials with essential frameworks for effective crisis communication, media management, and mitigation strategy.