Pulitzer Center Update May 29, 2024
Kenyan Journalist Nelly Madegwa Named 2024 Miel Fellow
The Pulitzer Center is pleased to announce the selection of our 2024 Persephone Miel Fellow.
Nelly Madegwa is a freelance journalist based in Kenya. She frequently writes from a gender perspective on issues ranging from public health to sexual violence and sustainable development. Her work has appeared in The Elephant, The Star, and other African publications.
She is an African Women Journalism Project fellow and was first runner-up in the 2021 African Journalist Gender Equality Awards. She also holds a certificate in explanatory journalism from the Knight Center for Journalism.
“The Persephone Miel Fellowship is a tremendous honor that motivates me to continue pursuing journalistic excellence,” Madegwa said.
During her Miel Fellowship, Madegwa will collaborate with journalist Georgia Gee to investigate how major international companies used the desert border area between Kenya and Ethiopia as a dumping ground for toxic waste—and how generations of local inhabitants continue to suffer the health consequences.
The Persephone Miel Fellowship, overseen by the Pulitzer Center and launched in partnership with Internews, benefits journalists from outside the U.S. and Western Europe whose work is not routinely disseminated in mainstream media globally.
A $5,000 grant and mentorship from a Pulitzer Center editor support Miel Fellows in pursuing ambitious reporting projects. The Center works with Fellowship recipients to distribute their work across international media outlets to reach the widest possible audience.
The annual Fellowship is named in honor of Persephone Miel, the former senior adviser of Internews, a nonprofit supporting international media. She dedicated her life to advancing the work of journalists across the globe. Miel died of cancer in 2010.
To learn more about the Fellowship and past Fellows, click here.
