Kayonaaz is a writer and researcher who specialises in using communications for development. Her passion lies in enabling communities to voice their concerns and experiences to the world themselves in order to create programmes and policies that cater to their unique needs.

Over the past ten years her work has spanned qualitative research, storytelling for advocacy, audio-visual production as well as programme evaluations and learnings. She has worked extensively with the community media movement, feminist funds, as well as coalitions working on adult education and technical, vocational education in South Asia and the Pacific. Kayonaaz has focused her work on issues like sexual and reproductive health rights, digital literacy, gender and caste-based marginalisation and environmental justice.

Through her work she hopes to contribute towards a global network of knowledge and resources to build resilient and intersectional social justice movements. Prior to joining the Torchlight Collective, she has worked with clients including Asia South Pacific Association of Adult and Basic Education, BBC Media Action, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Oxford Policy Management, Urgent Action Fund Asia and Pacific, Women’s Fund Asia, and The YP Foundation. Kayonaaz has an MA in Media and International Development from the University of East Anglia.