Sivani Babu is the co-founder and CEO of Hidden Compass — a women-founded independent journalism outlet ending the era of clickbait. Hidden Compass unites audiences with the humans, causes, and possibilities behind award-winning stories and groundbreaking expeditions, and is committed to a future of journalism that is financially sustainable and that honors the intelligence of its readers.

Sivani is also an award-winning journalist and nature photographer. Her work frequently meshes history, science, and polar exploration, and has been published widely in outlets such as BBC Travel, AFAR, Best Women’s Travel Writing, and Narrative. Sivani's stories have been recognized multiple times by the Best American Travel Writing series, and her photographs have been exhibited around the world from San Diego to the Sorbonne.

For nearly 15 years, Sivani has been journeying through the polar regions — from Antarctica to Siberia — sharing stories of conservation and capturing images of the extreme landscapes and the increasingly vulnerable beings that call those landscapes home.

Sivani holds an AB in economics, public policy studies, and political science from the University of Chicago, and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. A former Teach for America corps member, she taught middle school math in McAllen, Texas. As an attorney, she served as a federal public defender in the Southern District of Texas, representing hundreds of indigent defendants. Today, she leverages her past and present careers to teach storytelling as a tool for justice and advocacy to law students around the country.

Sivani resides in Santa Barbara, California, in the county where she grew up.