Thoughtful Leadership Strategy and Execution. Media Consulting, Speechwriting, Public Speaking Coaching and Public Relations Messaging.

- Contributing Editor for CNN Underscored.- Foreign correspondent and editor for the Boston Globe, New York, TIME, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, The Intercept, New York Daily News, San Francisco Chronicle, and Newsweek in Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, South and Southeast Asia, and Colombia.- Experienced photographer and photo editor, having shot and edited photos for both Reuters and Newsweek.- Thrives under long hours in difficult environments, such as Israel/Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Pakistan, Djibouti, Thailand, New Zealand, Colombia, Nigeria, Kenya and Washington, DC. - Comfortable in all media, including text, photography, radio, video, and social. Appeared in stand-ups for NBC, Fox News, Al Jazeera, and others. KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS- Founded Back-to-Iraq.com in 2002, demonstrating the viability of crowdfunding for independent conflict journalism. Grew audience from zero to 50,000 unique daily readers through media outreach and promotion.- Wrote the first story on Sunni Awakening in Iraq for TIME in 2005.- Subject matter expert (on camera) for Oscar-nominated documentary, “No End in Sight.”- Developed a series of features on US naval operations during the global war on terror, reporting from Gulf of Aden, the northern Persian Gulf, and the Arabian Sea.

• Leverage strategic communications to inform debates and shape public policy on broad range of issues affecting Latinos, including COVID-19 relief, health care, housing, immigration, income inequality, financial empowerment, food assistance, and more.• Work closely with program and policy staff to promote their work through earned media and social media campaigns. KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS• Authored multiple op-eds that appeared in The New York Times and Washington Post, The Hill, and elsewhere in both English and Spanish.• Led team through a tremendous increase in work to support COVID-19 efforts, resulting in 75 percent increase in the number of significant media hits for UnidosUS in major outlets, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, TIME, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, and others over two quarters.

- Designed a strategic communications plan for Refugees International that enhanced its visibility, promoted its brand, and increased financial support for its work. - Identified priorities and developed strategies and messages for field mission findings to reach target media, policy audiences, and donors.- Ensured all materials, including field reports, videos, online newsletters, fundraising appeals, invitations, etc., accurately reflected Refugees International’s messaging and brand.- Managed team of three (Senior Communications Officer, Communications Officer, and Digital Communications Assistant) in a fast-paced environment, including on crisis communications, media relations, media training of advocates, social media strategies, managing budgets, and report production.KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS- Implemented quick response format that increased the number of significant media hits for Refugees International in major outlets, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Foreign Policy, and The Wall Street Journal, by approximately 75 percent over two quarters.- Developed plan and funding mechanism for communication field missions to gather original content to be used across the organization for advocacy, fundraising, and other purposes.

- Manage a team of seven staffers and two consultants across three countries and five cities, setting work priorities, clearing and editing others’ communications products, and managing my own global lead portfolios of Iraq, Palestine (West Bank/Gaza), Pakistan, Bangladesh/Myanmar, North Korea, and Climate Change.- Maintain and expand key media relationships by building on 25 years of experience as a foreign correspondent, including with The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Wall Street Journal. Review all press releases and statements for consistent voice, editorial excellence, and alignment with Mercy Corps’ strategic goals and objectives.- Work closely with policy and research, digital marketing, content, program and country teams, and executive teams to develop messaging and plan media outreach related to Mercy Corps’ global advocacy agenda.KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS- Led global emergency communications efforts for Fuego Volcano in Guatemala and Hurricanes Florence and Michael in the United States, generating dozens of media hits for the organizations and our responses.Reorganized the Global Media Relations team around newsroom beats, focusing on regional coverage and a select number of thematic beats, with the goal of streamlining the promotion of Mercy Corps’ work.- Developed and implemented plans for content gathering trips to Kenya and Colombia, focusing on climate change, violence prevention, and refugees, all of which later was used online for social media and fundraising materials.

- Advised organizational leadership and program directors to set and implement strategic communication priorities that raised CIVIC’s profile, expanded its thought leadership position, and promoted awareness of CIVIC’s issue across traditional and digital media, targeting both international and national audiences.- Collaborated closely with development on innovative communications/fundraising strategies to expand and diversify revenue streams.- Ensured editorial quality of briefs and reports, newsletters, web content, social media, and other online communications, across CIVIC’s programs.- Managed editorial budgets and schedules. KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS- Generated 157 pieces of positive coverage for CIVIC since April 2016, reaching an estimated 5.38 million readers and generating more than 126,000 social media shares, an increase of 220 percent during my tenure. - Developed and implemented 2016-18 strategic plan for the organization’s overall communications efforts to support its advocacy and program goals.- Managed a major website redesign.

- Developed and implemented coverage strategy for the weekend edition of the Daily Beast for Web, mobile, social media, and newsletters. - Created quality editorial and visual digital content, applying best practices for search engine optimization and maintaining a consistent voice and tone.- Recruited and managed new writers and regular columnists.KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS- Helped grow monthly traffic from 13 million unique visitors a month to nearly 21 million.

- Taught conflict journalism, focusing on ethics, methods, history, and context.

- Led a strong international team of Pakistani, British, and American journalists and developed a network of 15–20 stringers across the country.- Repeatedly broke stories in a highly competitive and deadline-driven environment while juggling multiple projects.- Set daily editorial priorities and identified key news hooks.- Designed and managed budgets, coverage priorities, and content development in editorial and visual media. - Coordinated with other bureaus on global stories, working across language, cultural, and geographic divides.KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS- Directed a team of reporters and photographers to Abbottabad when Osama bin Laden was killed, landing a global scoop on the US military’s stealth helicopters.- Broke exclusive story on Pakistani cooperation in the US drone campaign, interviewed Prime Minister Yousaf Gillani, and wrote a special report on mining operations in Baluchistan.

- Explored the intersection of online journalism and foreign correspondence.

- Planned, assigned, edited, and checked editorial and visual content for every issue.- Managed an international team of four journalists.KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Led magazine to its most profitable months, growing circulation to nearly 58,000.

- Founded ground-breaking Back-to-Iraq.com, which legitimized independent digital journalism in covering global conflicts. - Operated independently in Iraq for the first month of invasion after raising more than $20,000 to cover the war.KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS- Pioneered the idea of crowd-funding as a business model for digital storytelling. - Grew audience from zero to more than 50,000 daily unique visitors by using traditional media and other Web sites to amplify my message.

- Taught basic and advanced digital journalism.

- Taught basic and advanced digital journalism.

- Involved in shaping and editing the agency’s global coverage of stories such as the Algerian Civil War and the death of Princess Diana. - After promotion to National Writer, covered and coordinated newly emerging cultural impact of the Internet, technology and how it related to national and international news. KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS- Wrote some of the earliest stories on hacker culture, wearable computing and the globalization of internet tech hubs for a featured called “Silicon Planet,” which appeared in dozens of US newspapers.