About Earned First

'A good reputation is hard to earn'

Earned First is a groundbreaking media and events platform dedicated to elevating public relations and corporate affairs professionals across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. Born from recognizing a critical gap in the industry, Earned First aims to be the definitive voice for PR practitioners in regions that represent over 75% of the world's population — establishing them as thought leaders, rather than followers, on the global stage.

As Western economies turn inward, the APACMEA region is rapidly emerging as a crucial source of innovation, creativity, and cultural intelligence for the global public relations sector. Despite this shift, these regions have historically been underserved by Western-centric media platforms that fail to understand their unique communications cultures and challenges.

Earned First is led by respected industry journalist Arun Sudhaman, alongside research and insights editor David Blecken in Tokyo, associate director Sarika Chavan in Mumbai and operations co-ordinator Shusha Lamoon in Bengaluru.

We operate in conjunction with The PRomise Foundation — best known for its acclaimed PRAXIS community platform. In addition to operating The PRomise Foundation’s events and properties outside India, Earned First serves as a crucial voice for PR markets across the Global South, providing industry analysis, research/consulting, thought leadership and peer networking.

Earned First is not just another industry platform — it's a movement to rebalance the global PR narrative, spotlight innovation from emerging markets, and create meaningful connections across the fastest-growing communications markets in the world. Ultimately, our shared community will be built on the enduring truth that underpins the resilience and vibrancy of these regions: trust, influence and reputation must be 'earned first'.

About Arun Sudhaman

Arun is a global media entrepreneur, journalist and industry analyst with a unique track record of connecting the PR and communications sector across established and emerging markets. You can contact him here.

In addition to his roles as PRomise Foundation CEO and Earned First founding editor, Arun serves as a non-executive chair at ICCO, ambassador for the Asian Communications Network, a trustee of the Institute for Public Relations and strategy advisor for the Asia-Pacific Association of Communication Directors. He's also a member of the Folgate Advisors collective.

Over two decades, Arun has built and led international media platforms that serve the public relations and marketing sectors, including 14 years transforming PRovoke Media into the industry's foremost source of insight and analysis.

As CEO & Editor-in-Chief of PRovoke Media, Arun led the company's evolution from its Holmes Report origins into a modern digital-first platform. This journey included launching industry-defining products like the Influence 100, Global PR Agency Rankings, and our flagship Global PR Summit - featuring speakers from Jen Psaki to Sir Martin Sorrell to Marc Pritchard.

Arun's career has taken him from Hong Kong to London, Singapore to New York, and many points in between — giving him unique insight into the crucial intersection between culture, reputation and communications. He has built enduring relationships with PR leaders across markets like India, China, Southeast Asia and Africa, while maintaining strong connections with global industry hubs in New York, London, Washington DC and Brussels. This distinctive perspective has informed his commentary for media outlets including the BBC, Washington Post and Guardian, along with speaking engagements at events such as the Cannes Lions and World Economic Forum in Davos.

Prior to PRovoke Media, Arun held senior editorial roles at Haymarket Media across Asia and Europe, after starting his career at the South China Morning Post. Industry recognition includes becoming the youngest-ever inductee into the ICCO Hall of Fame (2015) and being named PRCA Asia-Pacific Journalist of the Year (2022).

As a rapper, meanwhile, Arun is a member of both the Site Access and Underbelly collectives from Hong Kong, and is a founding DJ and core team member for Lovewillsavetheday.fm. You can find his regular Underbelly Mixtape shows here.

About David Blecken

David joined Earned First in February 2026 as research and insights editor. In this role, he takes on responsibility for Earned First’s insights and research agenda, overseeing proprietary studies, industry benchmarking, awards programmes, features/analysis and partner-led research initiatives across the world.

David has reported on the business of media and marketing communications since brands made their first uncertain steps on social media. He spent more than a decade as an editor at Campaign magazine, where he launched a bilingual Japanese edition in Tokyo. He later worked as APAC correspondent for PRovoke Media and was a contributing writer for the Economist Intelligence Unit. Most recently, David also worked in the consultancy world, spending five years at The Hoffman Agency as Content Director.

From England, David has lived in Germany, Italy, the US and Hong Kong, and now lives in Tokyo with his wife and young son. Inspired by visual things as well as words, David enjoys drawing, photography and art. He also likes to get out to the mountains for skiing, hot springs and fresh air as often as he can.

About Sarika Chavan

Sarika Chavan is a public relations and social impact professional with over two decades of experience across corporate communications, reputation management, and purpose-led initiatives. She currently serves as director of social impact at The PRomise Foundation, Associate Director at Earned First, and is the co-founder of Sparkle Gift Cards, a social impact gifting platform that enables individuals and organizations to support NGOs and charitable causes.

Sarika holds a postgraduate diploma in communications from the Xavier Institute of Communications and a postgraduate diploma in marketing management from the Welingkar Institute of Management. Over the course of her career, she has held senior leadership roles at leading PR firms including Weber Shandwick, Adfactors PR, Archetype, and Perfect Relations.

She is also a co-author of Spark, Shine, and Surge - a trilogy documenting the journeys of Indian PR leaders and writes one of the longest-running monthly book review columns for Reputation Today. Sarika is based in Mumbai.