Premesh Chandran is executive director of Open Society–Asia Pacific.
Chandran provides Open Society with a nuanced understanding of the social, economic, and political factors that drive change across the region, coupled with an entrepreneurial and problem-solving approach grounded in his business experience. He has expertise in new media and technology and understands the importance of analytics in shaping strategy.
Prior to joining the Open Society Foundations, Chandran spent more than two decades successfully leading efforts to protect and promote free speech and independent journalism in Malaysia. He is the co-founder and former CEO of Malaysiakini.com, Malaysia’s most popular independent news website. Despite operating in a challenging political environment, Chandran oversaw the expansion of Malaysiakini’s readership to more than 8 million people in English, Malay, Chinese, and Tamil. Chandran also co-founded Asia Mobiliti, a technology company focused on improving public transportation and logistics. Chandran is a TED senior fellow and has served as a business coach to more than 60 companies. In 2010, he received the Asia Foundation’s Chang-Lin Tan Fellowship.