Meet the Board of Directors

Globetrotter Media, Passblue
Evelyn Leopold, an independent journalist reporting from the United Nations, is a contributor to AlterNet, Independent Media, and National Memo. She was Reuters bureau chief at the U.N. for 17 years. Earlier, at Reuters she was news editor for North America, the editor for the company’s Africa region, based in Nairobi, associate editor worldwide and a correspondent in Germany and Britain as well as in New York and Washington. She was awarded a gold medal for reporting by the UN Correspondents Association. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Newswomen’s Club of New York and the Overseas Press Club.

Alaraby Aljadeed
Palestinian journalist, novelist and short story writer. She has worked since 2014 as a senior correspondent covering New York and the U.N. for Alaraby Aljadeed newspaper. She was co-editor and editor of the Arabic section at Jadaliyya e-zine. Prior to that she worked in Berlin as a journalist and editor for Deutsche Welle TV Arabic.

She has published two novels in Arabic. Her second novel “The Book of Disappearance”(Sifr al-Ikhtifa) was translated into English (Syracuse University Press, p. 2019), Italian(Hopefulmonster, p. 2021) and German (Lenos Verlag p. 2023). Her first short story collection is forthcoming in summer of 2024. Azem holds an M.A. in Middle Eastern (Islamic) Studies, with minors in German and English Literature from Freiburg University, Germany, and an M.A. in Social Work from NYU.

Quotidiano Nazionale (Italy)
Since 1986 Mr. Pioli has been the U.N. Bureau Chief and US Special Correspondent for QUOTIDIANO NAZIONALE (Il Resto del Carlino, La Nazione, Il Giorno) Poligrafici Editoriale Spa the second largest publishing group in Italy. As a U.N. correspondent, he covered the earthquake in Haiti and traveled with the Secretary-General to Syria, Lebanon, Africa, Middle East, Japan, and China. He also covered many crises in Central America including Nicaragua, Panama, Cuba, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. He graduated from the University of Parma with a thesis on Theatre History. He began his career in journalism in 1975 as a Drama Critic for Il Resto del Carlino before being assigned to cover foreign affairs in 1985. Mr. Pioli was president of ACINA (Association of Italian Correspondents in North America) for five years and president of UNCA (the United Nations Correspondents Association) for six years.

Freelance
Betul Yuruk is a senior international correspondent covering global affairs and specializing in the United Nations. Since 2016, Betul has been reporting from the UN Headquarters. She also worked in Switzerland between 2013 and 2016 covering the UN Office at Geneva focusing on human rights, immigration, health, development, climate change and women’s rights as well as major events including Iran nuclear deal, UN-led Syria talks, Yemen talks and Libya talks, G7/G20 and NATO Summits and elections in European countries. Betul was a diplomatic correspondent in the Turkish capital, Ankara, covering Turkish foreign policy. She serves as the Vice President of the United Nations Correspondent Associations.

RTÉ News

Yvonne Murray is currently Global Security Reporter for RTÉ News, Ireland’s public service broadcaster, based at the United Nations in New York. Yvonne spent the previous decade in Asia, reporting multimedia stories in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan across RTÉ television, radio and digital platforms. In 2013-2014, Yvonne taught journalism at the Shanghai International Studies University. Yvonne has also contributed television reports to Channel 4 News, worked on independent documentary productions and written for The Economist. Formerly, she worked as a reporter and producer for BBC News, based in London, first at BBC World Service, and later for BBC TV, radio and digital outlets. She spent time on assignment at the BBC’s Washington DC, Paris, Brussels and Jerusalem bureaux.

France 24 and Asharq Al-Awsat
Prior to his present appointments with France TV and Asharq Al-Awsat in 2019, Mr. Barada served in various capacities at An-Nahar (an independent Lebanese daily) since 1993. He also writes a weekly political column in Arabic for An-Nahar and regularly reports from the U.N. for Arabic-medium television and radio stations, including France 24 and Radio Monte Carlo. In addition, he serves as political analyst and commentator on UN affairs in the Middle East, making frequent appearances on the BBC, Al Jazeera, Russia Today, Future TV, and MTV-Lebanon. Most recently, he has been covering current developments in Syria, Israel/Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, and Sudan, Libya, as well as US-Arab relations. He reported from Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake; Iraq, in the wake of the US-led war; and Lebanon during the 2006 war and subsequent political violence and civil unrest. Before coming to the U.S. in 2008 to cover the Presidential elections as part of a US State Department-sponsored program for visiting journalists, he was based in Lebanon and Dubai, reporting from various locations in the Middle East and northern Africa.

Associated Press of Pakistan
Mr. Ali has worked in the field of journalism for over 50 years, having joined the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) in 1959. After working in various capacities in the country’s national news agency, including as diplomatic correspondent in Islamabad, he was posted at the United Nations in 1976. Eighteen years later, he joined the United Nations and for nine years was posted in Iran and Kosovo disseminating information and interacting with the news media in those countries. Before joining the UN, Mr. Ali functioned as a journalist for 35 years travelling the world to cover heads of state and governments, as well as international conferences and other events. He also worked for Reuters in Pakistan and OPENA news agencies.  Finding that retirement did not suit him, he rejoined APP in 2005 as its UN correspondent in New York. Mr. Ali was elected president of the United Nations Correspondents’ Association (UNCA) in 1983 and the following year headed the Foreign Press Association (FPA) of New York. He also served as chair of the Dag Hammarskjöld Fund for 10 years. Born at Abbottabad (Pakistan), Mr. Ali graduated from Edwardes College, Peshawar, in 1958, with majors in political science and history.

Moroccan News Agency
Mr. Enhari has been working for the Moroccan News Agency for over 14 years, and has held several positions within this news organization, including as a United Nations correspondent since 2017.
He has also served as a Washington DC correspondent for 5 years (2009-2014), where he has covered the Obama administration, US foreign policy, the IMF and World Bank, among others and traveled extensively across the United States to cover different events, conferences and summits. Prior to coming to New York, he served as the editor-in-chief for digital content at the Moroccan News Agency’s headquarters in Rabat, where he supervised the multimedia department and helped launch several related projects. Mr. Enhari speaks English, French and Arabic fluently, and holds a Master’s degree in International Relations, and a Bachelor’s degree in law and political science.

World Union Press
Ms. Farrell is currently U.N. correspondent for the World Union Press following a long career which included reporting for the Globe and Mail of Canada, the Jerusalem Post, and Al Ahram, among others.  She serves as vice president of the U.N. Society of Writers and has been included in the Who’s Who of American Women.  Ms. Farrell received her master’s degree in international affairs from Long Island University in 1996.

National Public Radio (NPR)
Linda Fasulo is a journalist and author specializing in the United Nations and U.S. foreign policy.   Based at the UN, she is a longtime independent correspondent for NPR News.   Linda worked as UN Correspondent and producer for NBC News and MSNBC for more than a decade and as Special UN Correspondent for US News and World Report magazine for seven years.   Linda’s popular book, “An Insider’s Guide to the UN,” is published by Yale University Press and is currently in its third edition. Linda serves on the Board of Governors of the Overseas Press Club. 

Vocento Media Group
Ms. Gallego has covered United Nations as the US Correspondent of El Correo and the 13 syndicated newspapers of Vocento for the last 15 years. Previously she covered Central America for four years. Throughout her career she has reported on the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, the guerrilla war in Guatemala, the Che Guevara’s funeral in Cuba, the devastation of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, the September 11 attacks in New York, hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the earthquake in Haiti. Her experience as an embedded journalist during the invasion of Iraq inspired her book Beyond the Battle. She has also coauthored the documentary Rape in the Ranks: The Enemy Within. She has received numerous awards and a Special Mention for the Miguel Gil Award for representing “the brave and committed spirit” of the photojournalist killed in Sierra Leone.

Associated Press
During her four-decade career with The Associated Press, Edith Lederer has worked on every continent except Antarctica covering wars, famines, nuclear issues and political upheavals. The first woman assigned full-time to he AP staff reporting the Vietnam War, Ms. Lederer also covered the 1973 Middle East war, the war in Afghanistan, the first Gulf War, the conflict in Northern Ireland, the end of the war in Bosnia, the civil war in Somalia and the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda. She was also AP’s first female bureau chief overeas, based in Lima, Peru. She helped cover the downfall of communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union, and the Romanian revolution. While based in London (1982-98), she wrote about military and international security issues and global problems ranging from population growth to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Since 1998 she has been AP’s chief correspondent at the UN, reporting on the diplomatic side of conflicts in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Darfur, Kosovo, Congo and Sierra Leone and major global issues from the nuclear programs in Iran and North Korera to climate change, combating poverty and women’s rights. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the International Women’s Media Foundation Lifetime Achievement Awards and co-authored “War Torn,” a book by nine women who covered the Vietnam War.

Le Monde, Radio France Internationale
Carrie Nooten has been a correspondent for Le Monde and RFI at the United Nations and in New York since September 2019. She also regularly collaborates with RTL, RTBF and Radio Suisse Romande. She has covered the 2020 American elections for RTBF Radio & TV. Before returning to the West, Carrie was a correspondent in Southeast Asia for Radio France and France Medias Monde for 10 years, and in China for Radio France from 2005 to 2009. She was able to cover in the field the mass shootings of Christchurch (2019), the Singapore Kim-Trump Summit (2018), the disappearance of MH370 (2014), the Beijing Olympics (2008) or the Sichuan earthquake (2008).

CNN
Richard Roth serves as CNN’s senior U.N. correspondent and also covers international stories in New York City. Roth has covered the U.N.’s role and responses to the Arab Spring, the unfolding Syrian crisis, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a variety of reports about American politics including the 2008 US presidential elections. His stories have covered personalities ranging from Dominique Strauss-Kahn to Jeremy Lin. Other reports include the death of Michael Jackson, the Iran nuclear crisis, the death of Heath Ledger and the resignation of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Richard has had two kidney transplants. He has four kidneys in him. He is currently working mostly from home.

L’Orient Le Jour
Ms. Zehil is an American-Lebanese professional with over 35 years of experience in journalism, research, and PR. She was instrumental in establishing the UN/New York bureaus for L’Orient Le Jour and An Nahar (both based in Beirut) in 1992 and since has been the New York/UN Bureau Chief for L’Orient Le Jour, a leading French daily independent newspaper.  During 2007-2009, she was also the New York/UN Bureau Chief for An Nahar, a leading Pan Arab daily newspaper. Ms. Zehil covers activities in Lebanon, Syria and the Middle East, as well as New York art and culture. Her articles and interviews of leading politicians have been published extensively. She has an in-depth understanding of the Middle East, Europe and the United States.  In 2012, Ms. Zehil was honored by Brooklyn Borough President during Lebanese Heritage Days for her contribution to Lebanon at the UN and for helping to shape the Lebanese community in New York. In 1977, Ms. Zehil launched and directed CEDRE, the first computerized documentation/research center in Beirut. She also assisted in establishing La Maison du Futur, the first think tank and center for strategic studies working under the direction of the Lebanon President to assist the government in defining and implementing economic, social, environmental and cultural policies.  She also initiated “Panorama de l’Actualité” (Haliyyat), a quarterly review in three languages covering the war in Lebanon and Palestinian issues, a tool used by universities, research centers, and diplomats. Ms. Zehil was a pioneer in establishing the “Société d’Exposition et de Promotion” (SEP), a trade fairs company based in Beirut which was pivotal in helping Lebanon’s economy during the war (1975-1990). Ms. Zehil holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in modern French literature from Université de la Sorbonne, Paris, France.

ANSA News Agency
Valeria Robecco is a professional journalist who has covered United Nations since 2010 as U.N. correspondent for ANSA, the leading Italian news wire service. She developed a deep knowledge on several issues ranging from North Korea to Syria, Iran, Libya and the migrants crises. She has also reported with several major Italian media outlets as La Stampa, Il Giornale and Business Insider Italia with a special focus on politics and international affairs. Ms. Robecco graduated in law at University of Bologna in 2005 and holds the Bar Exam for Juris Doctor in Italy.