Board
Hoda Osman, President
Hoda Osman is a New York-based investigative journalist. She works as Executive Editor at Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) where she focuses on cross-border investigations. Hoda also reports for France24 and works on independent projects. She previously worked at the investigative unit of ABC News and with the investigative unit at CBS News. She’s also reported out of Egypt & Morocco for PBS and worked at the Associated Press Television News (APTN) in Cairo. She has traveled to different parts of the world to teach investigative journalism. Hoda has a BA in Journalism and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the American University in Cairo.
aymann ismail
Aymann Ismail is a staff writer with Slate Magazine. He writes meticulous human interest features that take on narratives in national politics that concern identity and religion. He is also a photojournalist, podcaster, and is renowned for creating "Who's Afraid of Aymann Ismail?," an internet video series that offers an intimate portrayal of American Muslims and their self-professed adversaries with sincerity. He was raised by Egyptian parents in Newark, New Jersey, where he is now raising his own two children. He is now working on a book about parenthood.
Mona Iskander
Mona Iskander is a Peabody award-winning producer and on-air correspondent of long-form news magazines and documentary series. Her work has appeared on PBS, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, History Channel and Netflix. Her projects have taken her from the post-revolution streets of Cairo to remote islands in the South Pacific threatened by climate change. She is a founding board member of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association and is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School.
Mahdis Keshavarz
Founder of The Make Agency, is a Media Strategist creating culturally competent strategies to keep her clients at the forefront of an ever-shifting global media landscape. She has written for Billboard and Slate magazines and has produced documentaries for MTV, Al Jazeera and BBC World. Since establishing The Make Agency, Ms. Keshavarz’s diverse client roster has included international dignitaries, Hollywood stars, global artists, numerous film festivals and events focusing on the Middle Eastern community. She has placed thousands of news stories and op-eds with leading media outlets around the world – including front page stories in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, BBC, NPR, The National and Al Jazeera. She serves on the boards of AMEJA and UK-based Minority Rights Group International.
Marwa Morgan
Marwa Morgan is an award-winning multimedia journalist who currently works as a News Product Manager at Google. She started her career in 2011 covering the Arab Spring as a citizen journalist, and since then has worked as a professional journalist for several news publications, primarily covering the Middle East and Africa. Marwa’s work was published on news websites including NPR, the Guardian, Open Democracy, and the BBC Arabic. Prior to joining Google in 2018, she worked for the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Middle East and North Africa desk, where her research focused on the intersection between technology and press freedom.
Samira Said
Samira Said is an award-winning journalist who has covered breaking news around the world. From the Arab Spring, to the Yemen war, to U.S. politics and traveling on Air Force One with the President, Samira has covered written and broadcast news for over a decade at news organizations including ABC News, CBS News, and CNN.
