ACFJ installs new Board chair, members

The Indian journalist Syed Nazakat has been elected chair of the Asian Center for Journalism in a meeting of the board on May 28, 2025. He takes over from veteran journalist Jaime Florcruz who is currently serving as Philippine ambassador to the People’s Republic of China.

Also named to the ACFJ board are the Indonesian academic Dr. Nurul Hasfi, and Filipino journalist Arlene Burgos who is also ACFJ’s new executive director. 

Hasfi replaces veteran journalist John Nery who served in the ACFJ board since 2019 as chair and member. Burgos replaces Luz Rimban who was ACFJ's director for nine years since 2015.

Nazakat, Hasfi and Burgos are all alumni of the M.A. Jouralism program of the Ateneo de Manila University. The program, now under the AdMU Department of Communication, was previously administered by the ACFJ in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

Nazakat is an award-winning journalist who is the founder and chief executive officer of DATALeads, a digital company that promotes open data and democratization of information. He also represents Asia at the board of the Global Investigative Journalism Networks. Hasfi is an associate professor at the Department of Communication of the Universitas Diponegoro in Semarang, Indonesia. Burgos is concurrently chief content officer of the inquirer.net.

The other members of the ACFJ board are Canadian journalism educator Kim Kierans and international development professional Maribel Buenaobra. Dr. Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu, dean of the Ateneo de Manila University School of Social Sciences, and Dr. Christine Cox, chair of the Department of Communication, sit on the board as ex-oficio members.

The board plays an advisory role, helping ACFJ carry out its mandate of promoting good journalism in Asia and raising funds to achieve this mission.