Dear friends and colleagues:
I’m excited to share my story as I bring my credentials to serve on the SEJ board.
I was born in Pakistan and started my career with an environmental nonprofit. The lure of journalism quickly transported me to the world of reporting and broadcasting where I spent more than two decades of my life. During the past two decades, I visited five continents and many countries for academic and professional reasons. These cross-cultural encounters have exposed me to the world that can best be understood as a celebration of diversity, and which is presently reeling from numerous environmental stresses requiring urgent action. I believe these cultural and professional experiences, and a career in public service, make me a suitable candidate to serve on the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) board.
During my career, I have served in many roles — including reporting from across the world, overseeing broadcast and digital news contents for global news networks. Presently, I’m a reporter for Inside Climate News — another reputed science-based publication I’m proud to be part of, and producing investigative deep dives on polluting industries causing environmental and human harm.
Throughout my career, I’ve produced results by excelling at what I do. I started as a freelancer for Inside Climate News and was invited to join the team because of my tenacious reporting. Another example is SEJ’s fellowship to attend the annual conference in Houston, which I attended as a participant. This year in Boise, I moderated two expert panels, which got good reviews from the participants. I’m a doer pre-programmed to manifest ideas not just talk about what could be or ought to be. My peers will vouch for that!
The way I see it, my presence on the SEJ board will equip this organization to become more aware of its own cultural predisposition, move the needle on the ongoing debates about diversity within editorial and newsroom cultures, and energize efforts to bring more journalists of color within its fold. I can be useful in crafting a forward-looking outlook for SEJ’s support programs for environmental journalists and journalism. I also have good experience in creating meaningful partnerships that would advance SEJ’s mission and bring new influential actors into its fold.
And just as importantly, serving as an SEJ board member would send a powerful message of solidarity to journalists of color like myself who bring diverse experiences and energy to environmental journalism. If I am elected to serve on the SEJ board, I will bring my energy and dedication to elevate SEJ’s status as a forward-looking and inclusive network bringing professional opportunities to working journalists, elevating diversity within environmental journalism, and crafting our independent voice that supplements accountability.
Thank you for the opportunity and thank you for your trust.
Advertisement 
