Kiran Maharaj is President and CoFounder of the non-profit Media Institute of the Caribbean (MIC) headquartered in Jamaica, and the Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network (www.cijn.org).
She is the senior vice president of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce. She is also the Managing Director of several successful radio stations including Heartbeat Radio 104.1FM which she founded as the world’s first radio station for women. She is a former President of the Trinidad & Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA) after serving three consecutive terms.
Ms. Maharaj has been a freelance journalist for over 20 years ago including being a Freelance Correspondent for CNN World Report for two years.
She is a member of the Alliance for Women in Media based in Washington DC who featured her as “an island of one” in their magazine. She was awarded a Fellowship in Broadcast Leadership and Management from the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington DC as the only non-
U.S. citizen selected to be part of their program.
Ms. Maharaj also holds degrees in Literature, Political Science, Business Administration, Diploma in Journalism and Executive Education certificates in Effective Media Management and Strategy and The Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports from Harvard Business School as well as degrees from the University of San Francisco, the University of the West Indies and Herriott Watt University.
With over 30 years of experience in Media and Entertainment, she also enjoys mentoring and working assisting NGOs where she can lend her expertise.
In 2019 the US Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago recognized her philanthropic and professional work with the Woman of Courage Award.
In May 2022 - this year - she completed the UNESCO pilot study on Media Viability Indicators with Jamaica as the case study. This study sets the global benchmark for implementation with a view of media viability from an economic perspective of maintaining an independent media and
ensuring the public’s right to information within the context of traditional and digital media ecosystems.