SONALI MEHTA
Sonali Mehta is a music industry leader with extensive artist partnership, content strategy, and business development experience. She serves as the Executive Director of NPR Music, overseeing the strategy for all NPR Music programming and content, including Tiny Desk, and ensuring NPR remains at the forefront of music journalism and discovery.
Sonali began her career on the YouTube Artist Development team where she worked with over 800 artists during her tenure to support their music releases, grow their audiences on the platform, and forge multi-million dollar partnerships. She later transitioned to the digital marketing team at Arista Records under Sony Music where she conceptualized and executed bespoke global marketing campaigns to promote artist discovery and music consumption. Prior to joining NPR Music, Sonali served as Chief of Staff at ADA under Warner Music.
Sonali is Indian-American and has developed opportunities throughout her career to support South Asian artists with marketing, content strategy, and funding.
She lives in New York with her husband and her dog.
SURAYA MOHAMED
Suraya Mohamed is the Executive Producer for NPR Music, leading the team behind Tiny Desk Concerts—arguably the most popular video concert series in the world—alongside Alt.Latino, All Songs Considered and a portfolio of special projects and programs. She navigates high-pressure challenges to drive audience engagement through thoughtful talent curation and artist relationship management.
Her leadership extends beyond traditional production into strategic global expansion. She helped launch Tiny Desk Korea, Tiny Desk Japan, and Tiny Desk Brazil—leveraging cultural sensitivity and strategic vision to adapt NPR’s flagship format across international markets. Most recently, she spearheaded Tiny Desk Radio, collaborating with multiple stakeholders to develop a comprehensive content strategy that optimizes music programming for public radio stations.
Mohamed began her career in the audio engineering department at NPR, taking on diverse technical leadership responsibilities across multiple programs and productions. She later founded her own production company specializing in documentary production, sound design, and mixing, winning three Peabody Awards, three Gracie Awards, and receiving the NEA Chairman’s Award for Distinguished Service for her work on the Jazz Profiles documentary series.
A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music with degrees in viola performance and recording arts and sciences, Mohamed brings a wide range of musical interests and experiences—she fondly remembers performing as a substitute violist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. For years, she served as an adjunct professor at Howard University’s School of Communications. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband and is a proud mom of three adult children.