Karen Attiah Keynote Speaker

Karen Attiah is the Global Opinions editor at The Washington Post, writing on international affairs and social issues.    She commissions and edits commentary on global issues from a variety of international writers.  She is also the host/commentator of award-winning TL; DR series, which focuses on complex identity issues and international stories that can be overlooked or under-covered.     She joined The Post in 2014 as a digital producer in the Opinions section.  Attiah often writes and speaks on issues relating to race, gender and international politics, with a special interest in Africa.   Previously, she reported as a freelancer for the Associated Press while based in the Caribbean.

Karen began an interest in media and advocacy at 19, after an internship working with the Dallas Public Defenders office. The next year, Karen spent a summer learning Spanish in Spain, an experience which sparked what would become a lifelong interest in international journalism, social justice, human rights.

Karen is the winner of the 2019 George Polk Award and was the 2019 Journalist of the Year from the National Association of Black Journalists.  Other notable awards include;-2019 Harriet Beecher Stowe Freedom Writer Award
-The Root 100, 2019
-Essence Magazine, “Woke 100”, 2019
-Salute to Excellence Award for Digital Commentary, National Association of Black Journalists 2018

Karen was nominated in February 2021 to the prestigious ‘GMA Inspiration List: Who’s making Black history right now’?   Of her recent work in the media, Beverly Johnson said ‘Karen continues to speak truth to power without fear, inspiring us all”.

Her work has appeared in Voice of America, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, Haitian Times, and other international publications. She has made television and broadcast appearances on CNN, MSNBC, BBC and the CNBC.   She is a regular contributor on America’s National Public Radio.

Dey Street Books will publish Karen’s new book ‘ Say Your Word, Then Leave – The Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi and the Power of the Truth‘  in late 2021.    This is the definitive account of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder and American complicity in Saudi Arabian impunity.

A Fulbright Scholar to Ghana, she holds a master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University.