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.
Jamal Rayyis, Vice President
Jamal Rayyis is a writer and food and wine critic who authored seven editions of Food & Wine Magazine’s Wine Guide (2002-2008). His work has appeared in a number of publications, including Wine & Spirits Magazine, Wine Enthusiast, Departures, New York Magazine, The New York Times, as well as several others. Jamal’s primary interest is the intersection of history, politics, and culture in the development and expression of gastronomic traditions and contemporary creation. While internationalist in scope, he has a particular interest in the Mediterranean basin. For a time, Jamal was also on the board and associate director of Alwan for the Arts, in New York City. Presently, he is the US correspondent/critic of the French wine publication Gilbert Gaillard and is writing a book on the politics of gastronomy.
Rajaa Elidrissi
Rajaa Elidrissi is a multimedia journalist based in Queens, New York. She is currently an associate producer on Vox’s video team. She focuses on international stories and is particularly interested in migration crises, borders and the impact of policy on people. Rajaa is also dedicated to highlighting global issues that receive little attention in US media. She has video and television experience at other outlets as well, along with bylines at CNBC, NBC News, Teen Vogue, The Daily Dot and more. Rajaa holds a BA in Anthropology from Wesleyan University and is an MS candidate at Columbia Journalism School’s Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism.
ala'a ibrahim
Ala’a Ibrahim is an Emmy-nominated journalist and producer at NBC News. She specializes in filmmaking and documentaries. Before pivoting to longform journalism, Ala'a worked in broadcast television for platforms like the TODAY Show, CNBC and MSNBC. She also (briefly) dabbled in late-night television. Ala’a is an alum of the NBC Page Program, and a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She is the proud daughter of Sudanese immigrants and is based in Houston, TX, the city where she grew up.
Natasha Ghoneim
Natasha Ghoneim is a senior international correspondent with Al Jazeera English. Prior to joining Al Jazeera, she worked as a reporter for local television stations across the United States from New York to Los Angeles and Detroit to Houston. She is the daughter of Egyptian immigrants born and raised in the college town of Iowa City, Iowa.
Yasmin Hamidi
Yasmin Hamidi is a communications strategist who has spent two decades spearheading media and fundraising initiatives that advance equity and justice, particularly for Arab and Muslim communities in the U.S. and Middle East. She has collaborated with journalists at international, national and local media organizations across platforms in order to craft and disseminate important stories. She currently heads a consulting practice, Yasmin & Co LLC, that partners with nonprofits and foundations to advance their institutional and advocacy goals through media and culture. Prior to this, she served as communications director for the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU), and as account director at Fenton, a leading social change communications agency, where she helped power a national program to challenge media narratives about Muslim Americans. Yasmin holds a B.A. in international development and journalism from The George Washington University. She was born and raised in New York, the daughter of Ahwazi Arab and Azeri immigrants from Iran.
Jeanine Ibrahim
Jeanine Ibrahim is an award-winning producer who’s directed, produced and written hour-long documentaries to minute-long news pieces. Her work has aired both nationally and internationally, across network news channels like CBS, cable television channels such as A&E, international news publications and digital media. At CNBC she garnered a SABEW national award for an original documentary. She’s also part of the team that created the documentary series “American Greed” and that earned an Emmy nomination for “Cold Case Files.” As a writer, her articles have been published digitally across Huffington Post, Washington Post, USA Today, Entrepreneur, Yahoo News, NBC.com, as well as other outlets. She resides in NYC as well as the Kingston, NY area.
Mona Iskander
Mona Iskander is a 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.
Linah Mohammad
Linah Mohammed is a Peabody Award-winning journalist and producer on the Washington Post's flagship daily news podcast, "Post Reports." She joined The Post from NPR where she was a producer for "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition."
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.
Karen Zraick
Karen Zraick is a reporter on the Metro desk of The New York Times, where she has worked as a writer and editor since 2013, focusing on breaking and international news. She has also been on staff at the New York Daily News, The Associated Press and neighborhood newspapers in her home borough, Brooklyn, N.Y. She is working on a book about the early Arab American press.
