Mrinal Kanti Tripura, an Indigenous Tripura from the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, is Director of the Maleya Foundation, a member of the Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Network on Climate Change and Biodiversity (BIPNet), and a steering committee member of the Eastern Himalayan Network on Climate Change (EHNCC). 

Mrinal holds an MA in Applied Conflict Transformation Studies from Pannasastra University, Cambodia, and was a Fellow of the United Nations Indigenous Fellowship Programme. Through the Maleya Foundation and BIPNet, he works extensively with civil society organisations to engage in national policy dialogues, advocate for Indigenous peoples’ rights, and build the capacity of a new generation of youth leaders in Bangladesh and beyond. He also plays a key role in connecting Indigenous organisations worldwide and recently initiated an academia–civil society–community partnership programme with universities across Asia and Europe to advance peacebuilding and strengthen civil society.