Born and reared in New Delhi, Nishtha started her professional journey as a journalist with one of the largest English newspapers in India. While reporting on education, politics and LGBTQIA+ rights, she discovered her passion for social advocacy, community engagement and political communication. Since then, she has worked with non-profits and advocacy centers in India, Uganda and the U.S. to help further their vision. Most notably, she was selected as a 2020-21 Princeton in Africa Fellow and was placed with the Foundation for Community Development and Empowerment (FCDE), a non-profit based in Uganda. After the year-long, highly competitive fellowship program ended, she was brought on board as FCDE’s Communication and Research Manager. She supported the organization by building its internal and external communication strategies, designing curricula and training materials, as well as developing and conducting workshops for its grassroots partners.
Nishtha’s love for research was fostered at Emerson College, where she was awarded the Dean’s Fellowship, which is offered to exceptionally qualified students for graduate study. She also served as the copy editor for the book, “What’s Trending in Canadian Politics? Understanding Transformations in Power, Media, and the Public Sphere,” published in 2019.
Subsequently, Nishtha has been actively involved with several research initiatives. As the Social Entrepreneurship Fellow with ProFellow, a U.S. based social enterprise, she led the development of the 2020 Fellowship Industry Report, which focused on trends and best practices around impact evaluation and diversity, equity and inclusion.
As a doctoral student at the University of Oregon, Nishtha examines the historical and contemporary relationship between Black Power movements in the United States and anti-caste activism led by Dalit activists in India. Her research builds new knowledge on how marginalized communities use media and cultural production to challenge structures of violence, oppression and social exclusion.
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