Alex Raufoglu is an American-Azerbaijani journalist, and press freedom advocate who focuses on Eurasia. He worked extensively in the South Caucasus and Black Sea regions as an investigative reporter and international broadcaster covering democracy, media, and other freedoms, as well as regional peace and security. Since 2008, Raufoglu has lived in Washington D.C., where he represents Azerbaijan's last remaining independent news agency TURAN. His reporting on press freedom and human rights issues have appeared in international news outlets. In addition, Alex is the country specialist at Amnesty USA in Washington D.C.
Benjamin Tetteh is an award-winning Ghanaian journalist with years of experience reporting across the African continent. He worked as producer with Ghana’s biggest private media, The Multimedia Group (Joy News), where he produced award-winning documentaries and features. He later moved to Senegal and worked with West Africa Democracy Radio. There he pioneered the station’s flagship Breakfast / Morning Show, Daybreak West Africa. That show remains the topmost program on the radio in English and French. He was the anchor during the coverage of major events across West and Central Africa. Benjamin's works also appeared in major international media, including the BBC, UN News and other major outlets. Benjamin is currently a PhD student at Syracuse University’s NewHouse School of Public Communications. He holds a master’s degree in Journalism (Digital Innovation) from New York University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Sociology, from the University of Ghana. He was a Journalism Fellow at the Danish School of Media and Journalism in Aarhus, Denmark.
Tom Watkins is the Washington bureau chief for The National, a UAE-based newspaper that recently expanded to the US. He runs a team of 12 journalists covering all things America, with a focus on foreign policy and US politics.
Prior to his current role, Tom worked at Agence France-Presse for 10 years, where he was the South Asia bureau chief based in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also covered the Pentagon for four years. He has reported from more than 30 countries and worked in Los Angeles for several years for The Associated Press, primarily covering law enforcement. Originally from England, Tom has an MA from Goldsmiths University in London.
Vanessa Jaklitsch is a Journalist, Correspondent and Communication Specialist. Currently working as a US Senior Correspondent for LA RAZÓN and Telemadrid, she contributes as a presenter, editor and producer of other international media, organizations (World Bank Group & IDB) and companies. Ms. Jaklitsch has more than 17 years of professional experience as a director, correspondent, host, reporter, editor and producer of several TV, radio and newspapers. As a Communications Specialist, she implemented strategies in various areas and projects of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), IDB Invest, the Organization of the American States (OAS) and Pan-American Development Foundation (PADF). She was a Special Correspondent for Antena 3 Noticias in Haiti, as well as Grupo PRISA in London, Poland and Barcelona. Vanessa Jaklitsch is a trilingual Master of Ceremonies of international events and also teaches Journalism in Atresmedia Formación and Communications at Camilo José Cela University. She has a BA in Journalism and a Master´s degree in Business Communication from the University of Navarra, and she has a specialization in Social Media Management from Georgetown University.
Elena Lenta started her career in journalism in Portugal and has been an international reporter since 2018, when she moved to New York as the correspondent for the Portuguese News Agency LUSA. She has worked on the most pressing international matters from the United Nations Headquarters and interviewed founders of companies listed in the New York Stock Exchange. She held exclusive interviews with Presidents, Prime-ministers and ambassadors from all over the world and with artists touring North America. Through writing, audio and video editing, Elena Lenta has reported on the industries of music and entertainment, the world of politics and diplomacy, as well as business and financial systems. Mainly, she has dedicated her work telling the stories of migrants who experience hardships when looking for a better life across the world from their homes. Currently freelancing for Portuguese and international media, Elena was born and raised in Moldova and Portugal. She knows six languages and is fluent in four.
Ana Rita Guerra is a Portuguese journalist working as the West Coast correspondent for the largest Portuguese-language news agency in the world, Lusa, covering the Portuguese-American community, Hollywood, and American politics. She’s also the U.S. correspondent for Global Media Group’s newspaper Diário de Notícias and economic publication Dinheiro Vivo, as well as a collaborator for retail, logistics, and tech publications. With a licentiate degree from Nova University in Lisbon and an Advanced Program for journalists from Catholic University of Portugal, she participated in the founding of two publications. She’s been a journalist for twenty years and a foreign correspondent for eight.
Patricia Vasconcellos is the US correspondent for Brazilian TV network SBT. Patrícia began her career as an anchor in 2001 before joining SBT in 2008. As Latin American correspondent, she covered South and Central America for six years. Now based in New York City and Washington DC, Patrícia covers the White House, politics, economy and American culture. Her documentary about the 2020 BLM protests and police response “Curfew in NYC” received multiple awards including best short film from New York Film Awards and best director for short films from New York International Film Awards. In 2021 she won the Professional Excellence Prize Award from the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the U.S. Patrícia is a recipient of the Chevening Award, a scholarship funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to outstanding emerging leaders from all over the world. She gained her Master´s in TV Journalism from University of London.
Momoe Ban Braveman has been a business journalist and senior correspondent for Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei), the Japan’s largest business newspapers with 3 million circulations for more than 30 years. Her primary coverage is the U.S. business and financial markets in the U.S. She interviewed CEOs of major financial institutions as well as founders of world top hedge fund companies and startup companies. She published and contributed to books on U.S. business in Japanese and appeared in various radio and TV programs as a reporter.
Miriam Spritzer is an international correspondent for a number of Brazilian outlets. Based in New York, she started her career in 2011 as an on-air reporter for TVCOM, a local news channel for Grupo RBS and one of the largest media companies in Brazil. Additionally, she often contributed to Grupo RBS radio shows and newspapers. She has been published in renowned magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, L’Officiel and Marie Claire and has contributed to major broadcast and radio outlets including Rede Globo, Band and Jovem Pan. Internationally she has also correspondent for Italian tv channels and was a frequent guest to talk about Latin American affairs on i24News broadcast in the USA, Europe and Israel. Having a strong background in the performing arts, she specialized in culture and entertainment reporting and often covers stories on Broadway shows, film and television premieres, film festivals and art. As a reporter, Miriam is very known for her red carpet coverages and her profile interviews with renowned personalities in entertainment and the creative fields. Outlets: L’Officiel Brasil, Revista Versatille, JovemPan (radio/broadcast), Harper’s Bazaar Brasil.
Alex Segura currently serves as producer and host at Voice of America. Formerly, he held the position of Los Angeles correspondent at Agencia EFE, the world's largest Spanish-language newswire service. In addition to his role as an international correspondent, Alex took on an editorial responsibility in a Latino-focused project at EFE.
Throughout his dynamic career, Alex has worked in various locations, including Barcelona, London, Austin, and Washington DC, where he assumed diverse roles within Agencia EFE. His professional journey has also seen collaborations with local media in Spain and prominent TV networks in the United States and Latin America, including Telemundo, NTN24, and TV Venezuela.
Alex Segura is a Journalism graduate from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, with a specialization in Economics. Stay updated on his latest insights by following him on Twitter: @_alexsegura_
The Executive Officers of the Club
Nancy Prager-Kamel | Chairwoman
Storer H. (Bob) Rowley | Vice President
Marilyn Haft | Treasurer
Lena Tabori | General Secretary
Sissel McCarthy | Executive Officer
The Club of Foreign Press Correspondents in the USA wishes to thank the following past non-elected board members for their service:
Rahim Rashidi (Mr. Kurd) was born in 1978 in Markhoz village, Saqqez, Kurdistan. Rashidi started his career as a Peshmerga and can speaks Kurdish, Farsi, Swedish, and English. Today, he is a human rights activist, writer, and journalist. He has been interviewed by many local and international media, press, radio and television agencies on local, and global political, historical, and social issues and affairs. Rashidi began journalism in 1996 working for “Voice of Iranian Kurdistan” Radio and “Kurdistan” Newspaper. In 2004 he became a member of the editorial team of “Rêjwan” magazine in Sweden, publishing in Swedish and Kurdish. Rashidi has translated tens of literary, political, and social articles into Kurdish, including the following four books: In Africa it's Always Midsummer, The Principles of a Democratic State, Peaceful and Civil Struggle, and Women's Rights, Human Rights. From 2006 to 2010, Rahim was a member of the board of directors and the editor of the news department for “Tishk TV,” located in Paris, France.Rashidi has been a member of the “Swedish Union of Journalists” and the “International Federation of Journalists.”.
Dawn Kissi is an award-winning journalist and entrepreneur currently based in New York City. She reports and edits on financial markets, global business, and geopolitics. She is a graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and was named a 2020-21 Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Business & Economics Journalism.
Grant Schreiber is a South African journalist, author and Founding Editor of Real Leaders, the world’s first business magazine to focus exclusively on sustainable solutions to world problems. He has interviewed and written stories on heads of state, celebrities and business leaders, including Tony Robbins, Desmond Tutu, FW De Klerk, Forest Whitaker, Tory Burch, Jane Goodall, and Sara Blakely. His stories have appeared on newsstands across the world, and he has been interviewed by Forbes and by various mainstream media outlets.
The Club of Foreign Press Correspondents in the USA would like to thank the following members/non-elected nominees for participating in the election process:
Anjali Sharma is a journalist, writer and public relations consultant based in Manhattan. She was born in India and raised in SOS Childrens Villages in Faridabad, Haryana. She came into the care of SOS Village as an infant in 1971. She attended Bhartiya Vidhya Bhawan school in New Delhi and graduated from University of Delhi. She began her career in broadcast journalism and worked for Indira Gandhi National Open University Communications Division, Home TV/Sahara TV, BBC, NDTV New Delhi Television. In her spare time she was active in the Yatrik Theater Group in New Delhi. She came to US in 1997 on full scholarship awarded by the Ohio University School of Fine Arts and enrolled in the MFA program in documentary film. She moved to New York in 2000 and worked for many Indian print publications. She is currently working as senior editor and writer for ATN American Television News since August of 2021. Previously Ms. Sharma worked for Society and Diplomatic Review magazine as a contributing editor, writer until October of 2021. She is a naturalized U.S. citizen. Ms. Sharma is married and lives in New York City.
Ediz Tiyansan is a freelance correspondent based in Los Angeles. He has previously lived in the Middle East for 9 years, covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Arab Spring, and the civil wars in Libya and Syria. Since 2017, he’s been based in the United States, covering the White House, immigration, environment, and trade, while frequently traveling to cover stories in Latin America. He speaks fluent Spanish, Turkish, Arabic, and varying levels of German, Hebrew, and Chinese. Aside from languages and story-telling, he also has a passion for exploring food and music in different corners of the world.
Filippo Ferretti is an Italian journalist, news reporter, and anchor at Univision New York, the first Italian born to work as a reporter and anchor in Spanish in the United States. He began his professional career in 2002 at Mediaset as a news producer and reporter.He worked in more than 20 different countries as a professional journalist, covering the war in Afghanistan, 3 papal trips, and Latin American issues. His professional performance has led him to make information and write for more than 15 different newspapers and magazines in several countries.He graduated in 2004 from the University of Florence in television communication and journalism. In 2006 he achieved a master's degree at Iulm University in broadcast journalism and In 2008 a master's degree in Journalism and Communication at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.He stood out ’since 2010 as a journalist correspondent from the United States for Italian television and international Spanish-language networks such as Life TV and TVE and anchor of the weekend news. Member of the National Hispanic Association of Journalists has won in 2018, 2019, 2021 the state award of the Florida Society of Professional Journalists and the Emmy Award in 2021. He is a Journalism professor at the University of Tampa.
Priyanka Vora is an award-winning journalist based in New York. She has reported from India, Africa and the US. Her coverage of public health and early child development have earned multiple international recognition including scholarship award from the The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents. She currently works at Quartz as an Audience Editor where she edits and writes stories that appeal to a global readership. She has previously worked at the Financial Times & Business Insider. With a master's degree in journalism innovation, under her belt Priyanka intends to continue working at the intersection of technology and news, creating a sustainable business model for the news industry. Priyanka is also a member of the Online News Association and served as a judge for several news competitions.
Cristóbal Vásquez is the Washington correspondent for France24. He has demonstrated experience broadcasting and writing for international media outlets such as the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, the World Policy Journal, Canal cuatro, Telemadrid, Caracol, Semana, El Diario, El Tiempo.He is Well-versed in international relations, economics, and policy analysis garnered from working at the Inter-American Development Bank, and Procter & Gamble. He has a masters degree in public administration from Columbia University and The London School of Economics.