Shalini works as a faculty member with Baduku. She has convened and co-convened courses in Anveshane (reporting online course), Screenwriting and Direction, and the PG Diploma in journalism. During her Master’s’in Mass Communication and Journalism, she worked as a media mentor with Adobe Youth Voices project. Her engagements with both Samvada and Baduku had begun in her student years. She is an alumnus of the PG diploma in journalism at Baduku. She has subsequently worked with Kannada newspaper Suvarnavani, Udaya TV and E-TV News Kannada(currently News 18 Kannada). Prior to joining Baduku, Shalini had taken a break from active professional life to pursue a PhD. Completing her PhD while also parenting a young child brought forth several challenges. When her son was one and a half years old, circumstances demanded that Shalini take up a job. It was then that she returned to her alma mater Baduku as a faculty member. She has now submitted her PhD to the Department of Communication at Bangalore University. Her PhD thesis is titled ‘Grameena mahileyara abivruddiyalli swayam seva samsthegala samvahana tantragalu matthu karyagalu- ondu adyayana’. Her thesis explores the programs and communication techniques that NGO’s use for the empowerment of rural women.