Journalist. Producer. Media Strategist for Climate and Environmental Justice.
Hi there, I’m Shilpi — an award-winning climate justice advocate, journalist, and media strategist. I’m the President and Co-Founder of Counterstream Media and host of A People’s Climate with The Nation.
In 2021, I started what became Counterstream Media as People over Plastic—a podcast and storytelling hub for the environmental justice narratives I couldn’t find in mainstream coverage. It has since grown into a multimedia platform rooted in movement journalism, cultural storytelling, and deep allyship with communities in the Gulf South and other regions resisting extractive industries.
Today, Counterstream produces journalism and storytelling across projects like A People’s Climate, The Margin, Peace & Riot, and our live narrative-shifting events—centering frontline voices in climate and environmental justice.
My career spans nearly 15 years across ocean conservation, plastics and climate, and environmental health. Before launching Counterstream, I served as the Global Communications Lead for Break Free From Plastic, where I helped build an international narrative strategy exposing the full life-cycle harms of plastics and petrochemicals. In that role, I wore several hats supporting organizers across the U.S. and the Global South through cross-regional campaigns, policy advocacy, and high-impact media interventions that brought movement voices into mainstream and global policy arenas.
My original reporting has appeared in The Guardian, The Nation, and Prism, and my commentary has been featured on ABC, NBC, NPR, BBC, Rolling Stone, Al Jazeera, Newsweek, KQED, Vogue India, and more.
I live in Oakland, California, on Ohlone land with my family.
New to Narrative Justice?
Here Are Three Things You Should Know
Narrative is Power
The stories we tell and who gets to tell them shape public perception, policy, and power. Narrative justice means shifting dominant narratives that exclude, extract, or erase.Beyond Representation
This isn’t about optics. Narrative justice demands structural change—centering the voices, truths, and leadership of those most impacted by climate, colonialism, and interlocking systems of oppression.A Climate Strategy
A true climate narrative confronts extraction at its roots, builds public will for systems change, and uplifts community-driven solutions grounded in lived experience and cultural resistance.
I specialize in narrative strategy, multimedia production, and public interest climate journalism.
Let’s connect!
Get in touch about collaborations & speaking opportunities. Please note: as part of a broader effort to challenge the systemic undervaluing of women of color in thought leadership, I only accept paid speaking opportunities.