INMA has reported the death of Priya Marwah, who as division staff manager helped launch the organisation in South Asia.

Aged 47, she died in New Delhi on Tuesday after a two-year battle with ovarian cancer.

Executive director Earl Wilkinson said she brought "passion, tenacity, heart and soul" to everything she touched. "She helped birth INMA in South Asia, interacting with thousands of media executives; she helped lift the aspirations and expertise of the South Asian media industry, and she was a mentor to many, bringing all of these attributes to bear in her final battle with cancer.

"What a great life to celebrate. She will be dearly missed by so many people."

Priya joined INMA in April 2007 as South Asia division manager shortly after the association launched operations in India. Over time, she helped build a community of leading news publishers in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh that evolved into an ideas sharing network connecting with peer media companies worldwide.

Working with a volunteer board of directors, she produced 12 major news media conferences in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore during her time with INMA. A graduate of Hindu College at the University of Delhi, she gained a post-graduate diploma in marketing management and public relations from The Times School of Marketing before spending eight years at Bennett Coleman & Company.

At BCCL, she managed a Newspaper In Education (NIE) programme for The Times of India, where she championed the art of concept selling to top educational institutes.

One of her proudest achievements was collecting 11,000 signatures in New Delhi during a 2011 campaign for peace organised by UNESCO.

Volunteer division president Rajiv Verma said she "single-handedly built the INMA South Asia division, the hallmark event in her legacy that will live forever".

"She will be sorely missed and remembered for her passion and dedication."

Pictured: Priya Marwah from her Facebook persona