Missing Perspectives has welcomed the appointments of journalists Alicia Vrajlal and Natasha Gillezeau to the global news platform.
Vrajlal, who was formerly senior culture editor at Refinery29 and editor of HuffPost Australia, editorial and partnerships lead. Gillezeau, formerly a reporter at Australian Financial Review and GQ Australia, will step into the role of product and strategy lead
Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks, Missing Perspectives founder, started the platform to fill a gap in the mainstream media industry and to provide more opportunities for young female storytelling across news, film and entertainment.
The 2023 Women in Media gender scorecard found that women in media are vastly underrepresented in Australia, with men accounting for 70 per cent of quoted sources, and 66 per cent of experts in all news stories.
Currently, Missing Perspectives content reaches over one million people across 120 countries, overseen by Hannah Diviney, editor-in-chief and creative lead of Missing Perspectives, as well as a leading author, actress and disability advocate. The company’s new appointments will scale the business, its operations and editorial content to amplify unheard voices and reach new audiences.
Vrajlal’s role at Missing Perspectives will ensure that the platform continues to drive impact through female storytelling and like-minded brand partnerships in Australia and worldwide. She is passionate about diversity and inclusion, recently founding ‘Draw Your Box’, a digital news publication championing South Asian voices in Australia and globally.
“It’s an exciting time to be joining Missing Perspectives, which is on the brink of creating major impact in a world where diverse communities are still underrepresented, particularly in mainstream media,” said Vrajlal.
“Missing Perspectives complements my platform, ‘Draw Your Box’ and its vision to give Australia’s largest migrant communities a voice through informed storytelling and the growth of a freelance writer network. I’m similarly looking forward to connecting with female reporters to help them shine a light on untold stories.”
Left to right: Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks, Alicia Vrajlal, Natasha Gillezeau and Hannah Diviney
Gillezeau joins Missing Perspectives to work with its talented reporter base and deliver exceptional and impactful stories and content. Additionally, she will lead the development and pilot of Missing Perspectives’ software product launching in November which will connect newsrooms and media enterprises with young female reporters and content creators.
Gillezeau said: “Phoebe and Hannah have created something really special at a fascinating time for the media industry. They are pushing the boundaries by publishing stories that other outlets would likely miss, while testing new forms of technology to connect newsrooms with exceptional reporters from Afghanistan to India and around the world.”
Saintilan-Stocks added that Vrajlal and Gillezeau’s appointments were the first of many exciting announcements in the pipeline.
“We’ve been working tirelessly to ensure that the female voices represented on Missing Perspectives are amplified to reach the global community and continually drive impact. We are proud to have Alicia and Natasha join our team to help us achieve our collective mission of bridging the gap between marginalised voices and mainstream press.”
Diviney concluded that it was an exciting time to be taking Missing Perspectives to the next level.
“Bringing Alicia and Natasha on board will give our team so much extra scope and creative bandwidth for creating meaningful, intersectional change. I cannot wait until the full breadth of Missing Perspectives is revealed to the world because honestly, with our growing team, the sky’s the limit. I feel so lucky and privileged to be working with these amazing women.”
In addition to delivering original news and content for young women, Missing Perspectives is also in the process of building a Missing Perspectives Directory – a first-of-its-kind SaaS product connecting newsrooms, brands and media enterprises with young female reporters and content creators. Discussions are currently being held with strategic investors across Australia and the United States to scale the app, and the Directory will be launching in November 2023 across Australia and North America.
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Top image: Alicia Vrajlal and Natasha Gillezeau