For 32 years, the Courage in Journalism Awards have honored brave women journalists who refuse to step aside or be silenced in their pursuit of the truth. The 2022 Awards take place amid heightened global tensions, from Russia’s war on Ukraine to the consequences of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan and numerous other authoritarian crackdowns and human rights abuses in countries around the world. Join us to recognize the women journalists at the frontlines of these challenges who are intrepid in their commitment to reporting.
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Speakers
Norah O’Donnell
Norah O'Donnell is the anchor and managing editor of the "CBS Evening News," anchor of CBS News Election Specials, including primary, debate and election nights, and a "60 Minutes" contributing correspondent. O'Donnell is a multiple Emmy Award-winning journalist with more than two decades of experience covering the biggest stories in the world and conducting impactful, newsmaking interviews. She has covered six presidential elections and traveled around the globe to interview some of the world's most important leaders, including six U.S. presidents.
A firm believer in empowering women, O'Donnell sits on the board of directors of the International Women's Media Foundation. At the "CBS Evening News," O'Donnell also created and led a series of original reports called "Women and the Pandemic," which offered an in-depth look at COVID-19's long-lasting and disproportionate effect on women.
Born into a military family, O’Donnell grew up in San Antonio, Texas; Landstuhl, Germany; Seoul, South Korea and Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy as well as a Master of Arts in liberal studies. She is married to Geoff Tracy, a restaurateur in Washington, D.C. They have three children.
Suzanne Malveaux
Award-winning journalist Suzanne Malveaux serves as the network’s national correspondent, covering national, international news and cultural events. She joined CNN in 2002. Most recently, Malveaux covered the Russian invasion of Ukraine from on the ground in Lviv where she focused on stories of resilience, including a woman’s desperate efforts to keep in contact with her husband who was taken into Russian custody, mental health specialists who are now teaching Ukrainian families how to cope with trauma, and the resilience of Ukrainians struggling to save their communities.
Malveaux is also instrumental in the network's coverage of the funerals of former top U.S. officials including General Colin Powell, Secretary Madeleine Albright, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis.
Malveaux covered Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama and has interviewed 5 living presidents, and several first ladies. In September 2011, Malveaux embedded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan for the 10th anniversary of 9/11 where she led breaking news coverage of the Taliban's terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy there. In September 2005, Malveaux returned to her family's hometown of New Orleans where she reported on the devastation and recovery following Hurricane Katrina. She was part of the coverage teams that earned CNN a Peabody Award for its Katrina reporting and a duPont Award for CNN's coverage of the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia.
Malveaux serves as co-chair of the board of directors for the International Women’s Media Foundation and has previously been named an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow, an Aspen Global Leadership Network fellow, an Honorary Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and holds 3 honorary bachelor’s degrees. Malveaux was awarded with a Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in May for her 2013 ALS series. She has also been recognized as “One of America’s Most Powerful Players Under 40” by Black Enterprise, Ebony’s ''Outstanding Women in Marketing & Communications", The Root.com 100′s “Most Influential Young African Americans”, and Essence Magazine’s “2009 Journalist of the Year”.
Kathryn Murdoch
Kathryn Murdoch is the Co-founder and President of the Quadrivium Foundation, which supports powerful, evidence-based solutions for critical societal problems. Kathryn serves on the boards of Unite America, the Climate Leadership Council, Climate Central, and the Environmental Defense Fund. She is a founding board member of SciLine, which provides scientific expertise and context for journalists. Quadrivium has also funded important work by code.org, the Center for New American Security, and the Anti-Defamation League.
As Co-Chair of the board of Unite America, Kathryn supports a movement of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are working to bridge the partisan divide. She champions political reforms that put voters first, aiming for a more representative and functional government.
Previously, she served on the advisory board of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford University and the Board of Trustees at Rockefeller University.
As a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University and the Director of ReSource 2012, she convened scientists, academics, investment professionals, and entrepreneurs to promote the judicious use of natural resources.
From 2007 to 2011 Kathryn served as Director of Strategy and Communications for the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), where she managed the CCI ‘s partnership with Microsoft to develop software to track global greenhouse gas emissions. She was Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from 2009 to 2012. Previously, Kathryn was a marketing and communications executive in New York and Hong Kong and an owner of the clothing and accessories brand Thakoon, until its sale in 2015.
She lives in New York with her family.
Elisa Lees Muñoz
Elisa Lees Muñoz is the Executive Director of the International Women’s Media Foundation, a role she has held since 2013. Elisa leads the organization to achieve its mission to support women journalists and develop their careers by providing training, tools and assistance. She is charged with growing the IWMF by expanding its programs into new geographies; introducing new initiatives; partnering with peer organizations; securing diverse organizational funding; and, driving communications and outreach to core constituents.
Elisa’s nearly two decades at the IWMF have made her a leading expert on the intersections between gender equity and press freedom. She is a relentless advocate for women journalists, striving to prioritize their voices in all press freedom conversations. Elisa knows progress stands still when gender diverse perspectives are excluded – and that often it takes a woman-led, woman-focused organization to drive the industry forward.
Elisa currently oversees a team of more than 15 individuals dedicated to supporting gender diverse journalists. This growing capacity enables the IWMF to respond with immediacy to the issues women and nonbinary journalists face in today’s world, meeting the moment with adaptability and urgency. Elisa also recognizes that gender equity cannot be achieved in a vacuum, reinforcing the IWMF’s commitment to uplifting journalists at all intersections of their identities.
Elisa has been a human rights activist since graduating from the University of Maryland with an MA degree in International Relations. With more than 15 years of nonprofit management experience, she is an expert in philanthropy, coalition building, fundraising and organizational development. Off the clock, her passions include spending time with her family, biking DC’s many trails, and all things España, her country of origin.
“It is a privilege to lead an organization as unique as the IWMF. Supported by our Board; leaders in journalism, media and communications; we have the opportunity to improve the skills, security and lives of women journalists around the world. And, by doing so, enable their voices and those of whom they cover to be heard.”
Awardees
Lynsey Addario
Lynsey Addario is an American photojournalist, who has been covering conflict, humanitarian crises, and women’s issues around the Middle East and Africa on assignment for The New York Times for more than two decades. Since September 11, 2001, Addario has covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Darfur, South Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Syria, and ongoing war in Ukraine.
In 2015, American Photo Magazine named Lynsey as one of five most influential photographers of the past 25 years, saying she changed the way we saw the world’s conflicts. Addario is the recipient of numerous awards, including a MacArthur fellowship. She was part of The New York Times team to win a Pulitzer prize for overseas reporting out of Afghanistan and Pakistan, an Overseas Press Club Olivier Rebbot Award, and two Emmy nominations.
She holds three Honorary Doctorate Degrees for her professional accomplishments from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bates College in Maine, and the University of York in England. In 2015, Addario wrote a New York Times best-selling memoir, “It’s What I Do,” which chronicles her personal and professional life as a photojournalist coming of age in the post-9/11 world. In 2018, she released her first solo collection of photography, “Of Love and War,” published by Penguin Press.
Cerise Castle
Los Angeles, California-based freelance journalist Cerise Castle specializes in arts & culture, civil rights, crime, and human interest stories. She’s produced and hosted segments for the Emmy-award winning nightly news program, VICE News Tonight, NPR, and several podcasts. Her reporting and commentary have been featured in publications like Knock LA, the Daily Beast, the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine, and MTV.
Castle wrote “A Tradition of Violence,” the first history of deputy gangs inside the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the largest local law enforcement agency in the United States. The investigation was published as a 15-part reporting series for Knock LA exposing 18 gangs, 19 documented murders (all of whom were people of color), and over $100 million dollars in lawsuits paid for by the people of Los Angeles. The podcast of the same name and subject matter is due out in October 2022.
Victoria Roshchyna
Victoria Roshchyna is a Ukrainian freelance journalist reporting for Ukrayinska Pravda, Hromadske and Radio Free Europe. Throughout her 6+ years in journalism, Roshchyna has primarily covered complex and dangerous topics – including crime, courts, human rights and war – to bring power to account.
Roshchyna has been reporting exclusively on the war in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022. In March 2022, Roshchyna was captured twice by Russian forces in the eastern regions of Ukraine, the second time held for 10 days in Berdyansk.
Xueqin (Sophia) Huang
Chinese journalist Xueqin (Sophia) Huang disappeared on September 19, one day before she was scheduled to board a plane to the United Kingdom to study at the University of Sussex. On September 27, the U.S.-Congress funded Radio Free Asia reported that Huang was being held in extrajudicial detention by government agents.
Huang is a freelance journalist who has covered social issues on her personal blog since 2018. She previously worked as an investigative reporter for Chinese-language outlets Xinquaibao and Southern Metropolis Weekly, according to news reports.