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Isha Sesay Speaker
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Isha Sesay

Amplifying Voices, Driving Change: Isha Sesay, Champion for Women's Rights and Global Storytelling
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About

Gender: Female
Nationality: United Kingdom
Languages: English
Travels from: United States

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Biography Highlights

  • Peabody Award-Winning Journalist and Former Host for CNN
  • Founder & President, W.E. (Women Everywhere) Can Lead
  • First Female CEO, OkayMedia
  • Author of 'Beneath the Tamarind Tree: A Story of Courage, Family, and the Lost Schoolgirls of Boko Haram'

Biography

Award-winning journalist, media executive, and author Isha Sesay has been covering global events and major breaking news for over a decade, with a focus on stories of social injustice and their impact on women and girls. Sesay is the CEO of OkayMedia, a media company dedicated to Black culture and uplifting Black voices, and serves on the board of directors. Previously, the celebrated journalist spent more than a decade with CNN International as an anchor and correspondent. Sesay led the CNN team that covered the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian girls from their school in Chibok in 2014. CNN’s in-depth reporting was recognized with a Peabody Award, and Sesay received a Gracie Award for her coverage. Her painstakingly detailed account, Beneath the Tamarind Tree: A Story of Courage, Family, and the Lost Schoolgirls of Boko Haram, is both heartbreaking and hopeful. Whether offering insights about the intersections of race and gender in the media, global events, or her significant advocacy work, Sesay’s perspective makes an impact with audiences of all kinds.

Sesay is the Founder and President of W.E. (Women Everywhere) Can Lead, a non-profit organization working in her native country of Sierra Leone to nurture and empower teen girls to become Africa’s next generation of dynamic female leaders. She serves as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN’s reproductive health and rights agency. As the host of the podcast The Accidental Activist, Sesay moderates riveting conversations with cultural icons who are united by their motivation to make a difference in the world. In addition, she has moderated and hosted events with groups such as the Gates Foundation, Coca Cola, The Obama White House, The World Bank, MasterCard Foundation, Women Deliver, and Brilliant Minds. She has been sought-after for talks with groups like Untitled Future, The Brookings Institution, the Global Citizen Festival, among many others.

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Popular Talks

Award-winning journalist ISHA SESAY has been covering global events for over a decade with a focus on stories of social injustice and their impact on women and girls. Drawing on her work as the Founder and President of W.E. (Women Everywhere) Can Lead, a non-profit in her native country of Sierra Leone working to empower Africa’s next generation of dynamic female leaders, as well as her role with the UN’s Population Fund, Sesay brings a global perspective to conversations about women’s empowerment, motivating audiences of all kinds to consider their role as advocates and leaders in this impactful talk.

Available: In person, Virtually

Inspired by her heartbreaking and hopeful first book, Beneath the Tamarind Tree: A Story of Courage, Family, and the Lost Schoolgirls of Boko Haram, celebrated journalist ISHA SESAY shares insights about her work leading the award-winning CNN team that covered the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian girls from their school in Chibok in 2014. As the only journalist on the ground who traveled home with a number of the girls, Sesay’s reporting and powerful storytelling offers analysis of the regional and global political forces at play, the role of media, and centers on the importance of elevating the stories of the girls themselves to lead the international conversation.

Available: In person, Virtually

Award-winning journalist and author ISHA SESAY has been covering major global events and breaking news for over a decade, offering incomparable analysis of the forces at play as well as the impact of race and gender in media coverage and storytelling. With a unique focus on stories of social injustice and their impact on women and girls, Sesay’s sought-after commentary has elevated conversations and panels with her incisive insights and commitment to centering marginalized voices.

Available: In person, Virtually

Celebrated and award-winning journalist ISHA SESAY spent over a decade covering breaking global news stories for CNN International, and now serves as the CEO of OkayMedia. Sesay has offered nuanced and insightful analysis in her reporting, including powerful interviews with changemakers, heads of state, and more, bringing a focus to stories of injustice and their impact on women and girls. Drawing on her own experience as a Black woman on a major network, as well as her in-depth reporting of complex global crises, Sesay speaks to the role of race and gender in media storytelling and the impact representation has on politics, communities, and society in this enlightening talk.

Available: In person, Virtually

Books

Isha Sesay Book

Beneath the Tamarind Tree: A Story of Courage, Family, and the Lost Schoolgirls of Boko Haram

“It is no accident that the places in the world where we see the most instability are those in which the rights of women and girls are denied. Isha Sesay’s indispensable and gripping account of the brutal abduction of Nigerian schoolgirls by Boko Haram terrorists provides a stark reminder of the great unfinished business of the 21st century: equality for girls and women around the world.”— Hillary Rodham Clinton The first definitive account of the lost girls of Boko Haram and why their story still matters—by celebrated international journalist Isha Sesay. In the early morning of April 14, 2014, the militant Islamic group Boko Haram violently burst into the small town of Chibok, Nigeria, and abducted 276 girls from their school dorm rooms. From poor families, these girls were determined to make better lives for themselves, but pursuing an education made them targets, resulting in one of the most high-profile abductions in modern history. While the Chibok kidnapping made international headlines, and prompted the #BringBackOurGirls movement, many unanswered questions surrounding that fateful night remain about the girls’ experiences in captivity, and where many of them are today. In Beneath the Tamarind Tree, Isha Sesay tells this story as no one else can. Originally from Sierra Leone, Sesay led CNN’s Africa reporting for more than a decade, and she was on the front lines when this story broke. With unprecedented access to a group of girls who made it home, she follows the journeys of Priscilla, Saa, and Dorcas in an uplifting tale of sisterhood and survival. Sesay delves into the Nigerian government’s inadequate response to the kidnapping, exposes the hierarchy of how the news gets covered, and synthesizes crucial lessons about global national security. She also reminds us of the personal sacrifice required of journalists to bring us the truth at a time of growing mistrust of the media. Beneath the Tamarind Tree is a gripping read and a story of resilience with a soaring message of hope at its core, reminding us of the ever-present truth that progress for all of us hinges on unleashing the potential of women.

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Beneath the Tamarind Tree: A Story of Courage, Family, and the Lost Schoolgirls of Boko Haram

Politics
“It is no accident that the places in the world where we see the most instability are those in which the rights of women and girls are denied. Isha Sesay’s indispensable and gripping account of the brutal abduction of Nigerian schoolgirls by Boko Haram terrorists provides a stark reminder of the great unfinished business of the 21st century: equality for girls and women around the world.”— Hillary Rodham Clinton The first definitive account of the lost girls of Boko Haram and why their story still matters—by celebrated international journalist Isha Sesay. In the early morning of April 14, 2014, the militant Islamic group Boko Haram violently burst into the small town of Chibok, Nigeria, and abducted 276 girls from their school dorm rooms. From poor families, these girls were determined to make better lives for themselves, but pursuing an education made them targets, resulting in one of the most high-profile abductions in modern history. While the Chibok kidnapping made international headlines, and prompted the #BringBackOurGirls movement, many unanswered questions surrounding that fateful night remain about the girls’ experiences in captivity, and where many of them are today. In Beneath the Tamarind Tree, Isha Sesay tells this story as no one else can. Originally from Sierra Leone, Sesay led CNN’s Africa reporting for more than a decade, and she was on the front lines when this story broke. With unprecedented access to a group of girls who made it home, she follows the journeys of Priscilla, Saa, and Dorcas in an uplifting tale of sisterhood and survival. Sesay delves into the Nigerian government’s inadequate response to the kidnapping, exposes the hierarchy of how the news gets covered, and synthesizes crucial lessons about global national security. She also reminds us of the personal sacrifice required of journalists to bring us the truth at a time of growing mistrust of the media. Beneath the Tamarind Tree is a gripping read and a story of resilience with a soaring message of hope at its core, reminding us of the ever-present truth that progress for all of us hinges on unleashing the potential of women.
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