Mahtab Farid is an Iranian-born American journalist, linguist, educator and public diplomacy strategist with background in communication and international relations. For over a decade, Farid covered the conflicts in the Middle East and reported on US policy in the region for Voice of America (VOA), Radio Farda and for USI News, which she founded. She served in Afghanistan as a public diplomacy officer with the US Department of State. Embedded with NATO troops in Forward Operating Bases of Ghazni and Bagram, Farid facilitated conflict resolutions, cultural initiatives, and trained over 90 Afghan journalists including women to help Afghans tell their stories. Upon return from Afghanistan, she joined Georgetown University as a Boren Scholar and during 2017-2018, she was selected as the Global Cultural Fellow with the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Farid has an undergraduate degree in Political Science and recently received her graduate degree in Education. Her focus of study was to design online journalism courses and English language classes for reporters within non-democratic nations. Her goal was to bring this training to the Middle East in order to improve professional journalism training in the rural areas and improve US public diplomacy efforts in messaging and countering propaganda. Farid is the recipient of US Department of State Expeditionary Service Award and Meritorious Award for her service and public diplomacy efforts in Afghanistan. Her dream is to solve global conflicts with communication and culture.
