What is SixDegrees?
Come, be a part of SixDegrees, the local knowledge & news-sharing initiative on a global platform. Know more and share more.
How To Know Everything
In a seemingly connected world we seem to be more disconnected. As policy makers, investors, donors and development professionals are fuelling the agenda, there is a need to share, exchange and know what is happening with some of the most critical issues of our time — human, environmental, economic and social development.
Through SixDegrees of News
This is a platform where journalists, bloggers, development practitioners, governments, donors, investors and anybody who has access to critical, interesting, impacting information; stories from the development sector can amplify it. Share news that is first hand and that is happening in your geographies, because you have a voice and we are all connected.
It’s a place where stories, reports and views from your local projects, company, region and sector can be showcased. It’s your internet stadium to tell the world about the success and failures, about what is working and what is not. If we make the effort, we can together resolve issues that are critical to our times.
What does SixDegrees do?
- Amplify local and global news, data, reports, innovations and stories from the development sector and on sustainable development
- A global platform for local journalists and development practitioners to share news that is first hand and is happening in their geographies
- To promote development stories and activities from NGOs, INGOs, inter-governmental organizations, CSRs, foundations, philanthropic institutions, think-tanks, research institutions and universities
Our Degrees
SixDegrees is run by a team of professionals who have decades of experience in the development sector, development communications, business development and news media. Most of us have travelled extensively into less frequented areas, interacted with various communities and reported development stories from on ground. We decided to form SixDegrees to reduce the opaqueness in the development sector, to demand more accountability, to highlight good examples and successes, to question projects, to share processes, and engage people within and beyond the development sector.
Binayak Das has experience of about 20 years working on the development sector and on development journalism with a strong expertise on the subjects of water, environment, climate change, corruption, governance and sustainable development. Binayak has a masters’ degree on water management from UN-IHE, Delft, The Netherlands and a post graduate degree on environment management from IISWBM, Kolkata, India. He is a Panos journalist fellow and author of numerous books and articles on water, environment and climate issues. Binayak has been associated with IUCN, Transparency International, Arghyam, Centre for Science and Environment and Down To Earth magazine. Currently he is associated with the Water Integrity Network in Berlin. He is the founder of SixDegreesNews.
Balakrishnan Sethuraman has worked in a number of industries in the course of his career, spanning 38 years. After obtaining a Bachelors Degree in Economics, Political Science and Sociology (St. Joseph’s, Bangalore), and Masters in Development Administration and International Marketing Management (American University in Cairo), he dabbled in Industrial Chemicals (Shriram Group, India) and FMCG (Unilever, UAE), before moving into media as the Head of Circulation for Gulf News in Abu Dhabi, UAE. After a 5 year stint of eclectic work mix in Canada, ranging from insurance to the printed circuit board industries, he returned to the UAE on a project for India Today in 2000. He rejoined Gulf News in 2002, leading circulation and international sales for the group. It was his engagement with field teams that piqued his interest in social welfare, and he joined WHP in 2015 as their Business Development Advisor, using his communications skills creatively to forge global partnerships. Bala is also engaged as an independent Business Advisor for leading international publications in the MENA region.
Kajetan Hetzer worked for more than 10 years in the financial sector as an analyst on Environment, Social, Governance aspects of investments in diverse sectors. From 2011 Kajetan build ample experiences as consultant for various international organizations (e.g. World Economic Forum, IFC, 2030 WRG, UNDP and NGOs). Since 2014 he works for WASTE as business and finance advisor. Next to his daily job Kajetan is member of various boards and adviser to think-tanks on sustainable development, like the CEWAS Water Business Incubator and the “Goood” Foundation that aims to accelerate the transition to sustainable communities by initiating and supporting design principles on the basis of closing loops (principles of Circular and Blue Economy). His diverse working experiences cover financing and sustainability analysis, policy development, business development, multi-stakeholder engagement and design and implementation of water, sanitation and waste projects in rural and urban areas in developing countries. He has a background in Geology and Environmental Sciences at the Universities of Berlin and Amsterdam.
Vanessa Hodgkinson has 15+ years of experience as a writer and editor for scientific and technical publications, marketing, reporting, and communications. She has a Masters Degree in Journalism from Emerson College and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Tufts University. Vanessa was a senior copywriter for science publisher Taylor & Francis before moving to Bangkok in 2009 to work behind the scenes as a research analyst and writer for clean energy developers, investment firms, NGOs and scientists. Currently based in Spain, Vanessa became a full time blogger for a software company. Currently she is pursuing her interest in circular economy, social enterprise and sustainable development, allowing for a much-anticipated collaboration with SixDegreesNews. She joined SixDegreesNews as co-founder.
Advisors
Virginie Coulloudon is the executive director of Your Public Value, a non-profit whose mission is to contribute to promoting public value and addressing the way corporations impact society and the environment and generate inclusive growth. They believe that modern accountability is about actively listening to all stakeholders AND society, and using that feedback to create — and measure — positive societal and environmental impact. Before joining Your Public Value, Virginie has worked over 15 years as a communications executive at the international level, focusing on the design and delivery of public policy and global campaigns; responsible for both managerial duties and substantive area responsibility. She is a former spokesperson of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and group director for external relations at Transparency International.
Stefan Bakker is an independent consultant associated with the WB on low-carbon transport policy in Southeast Asia. From 2012 to 2015, he was the team leader of the ASEAN-German Technical Cooperation (GIZ) project on Transport and Climate Change.
Ranjan Panda, popularly known as Water Man of Odisha & Climate Crusader, was awarded with first “Green Hero” in Dec 2010 by NDTV, received it from the President of India.Recently he was also profiled as “Odisha’s Conservation Master” by Hindustan Times. Ranjan is recognized as ‘Mahanadi River Waterkeeper’ by the New York based global ‘Waterkeeper Alliance’. Having about two and half decades of experience in leading several environmental conservation and human rights initiatives in the state of Odisha and in India.
Marc Linneweber is a product manager with experience in developing ideas for early-stage startups, development organizations and established tech companies in both Asia and Europe. Currently, he is associated with Booking.com. Besides being passionate about innovation, he is an avid traveler and aspiring musician.
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