Ambassadors

Karimah is a digital news producer at ITN, where she produces content for its Royal Family Channel, On Demand News and On Demand Entertainment. Her work has also been picked up by the Daily Mail, The Mirror, The Sun and Heat magazine. Previously she was an apprentice at 5 News, where she booked guests and worked as a producer. Before that, Karimah was a journalism and production trainee at the BBC.

While training for his gold-standard NCTJ Diploma in Journalism at Ulster University, Simon won the Belfast Telegraph Helen Scott Memorial shorthand Trophy for building up to the highest Teeline speed in his class. He has recently started as a public relations officer for Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, but before this, Simon worked as a freelancer at the Belfast Telegraph.

As part of the BBC’s Advanced Journalism Apprenticeship programme, Hayley worked on Panorama and has produced online, digital and radio content. She has also been published in i, HuffPost, The Mirror and more. Prior to starting the apprenticeship, Hayley was a freelancer at BBC News and a reporter at MyLondon. Hayley studied for her NCTJ diploma at the University of Nottingham.

Danielle is senior social media journalist at PA Media, where she rose through the ranks after joining as a junior journalist trainee. In her early career, Danielle interned at GRV Media and the journalism trade publication Journo Resources. She then took over the blog and hosted podcasts for GlobalGirlMedia, which trains girls and young women from underrepresented communities in digital media skills. She is now a trustee of the organisation.

Ayisha is a social media executive at What Car? magazine. As well as contributing articles to the magazine and its website, her role involves planning and creating the content for its six social channels, one of which she launched.

Mirek is a community news reporter at Newbury News, hired through the NCTJ’s Community News Project scheme. He is also a filmmaker and has worked as a floor runner on adverts, music video and short films for the likes of Sky and ITV. He has delivered filmmaking classes for children aged six to 16. He speaks Czech, studied film and history at the University of Southampton, and his documentary Building Hitler’s Empire premiered at the Czech Embassy in London in 2023.

Kia-Elise is a features writer at i, having joined the paper as an apprentice in 2021. She has reported on showbiz, travel and lifestyle to hard news, long-form ‘big read’ pieces and more for the title. She produces videos and photos and has experience working to enhance the paper’s SEO performance.

Georgia is a senior court and crime reporter at Newsquest, where she works across five titles, including the Oxford Mail. After securing her NCTJ Diploma in Journalism as part of her master’s degree at Cardiff University, Georgia started her journalism career as a trainee at the Henley Standard. She has a strong background in local news, having formerly worked at Newsquest’s Berkshire and Bucks papers, Salisbury-based That’s TV, Wales Online and Media Wales, where she helped cover the 2019 general election.

Tomás is junior European editor at New York Times-owned website The Athletic, where he reports on Spanish football. He has a strong background in sports journalism, having previously covered rugby, tennis, F1, boxing and the Olympics for ESPN and The Times. He has reported from Twickenham, Wembley and the Bernabéu and worked placements on the sports desks at MailOnline and The Guardian. Tomás speaks Spanish and French and undertook an internship at the French regional newspaper Le Journal du Palais.  He was named Student Sports Journalist of the Year at the NCTJ Awards for Excellence 2021.

Alex is a senior journalist at the BBC’s Shared Data Unit, which he helped launch in 2017. While he now specialises in data journalism and Freedom of Information law, he has previous experience as a BBC TV and radio producer, with his reporting leading some of the broadcaster’s flagship news programmes. He was also a senior reporter and education correspondent at the Midlands-based Express & Star. Alex is part of a BBC employee network that promotes social and economic diversity and has also mentored fledgling journalists as an outreach volunteer on the BBC News School Report initiative.

Sara is a reporter at People of Color in Tech (POCIT) and freelances on the breaking news desk at i. She’s undertaken an internship at the Financial Times where she worked producing and promoting podcasts. She was also social media editor and then features and comment editor at the Kingston Courier. She is also a reporter for the US-based People of Color in Tech. Her ‘Out of Sight’ podcast features interviews with interesting and under-represented people in Ireland and saw her nominated in the Rising Star category at the VaVa Awards. Sara received a bursary from the Journalism Diversity Fund.

Amar is assistant news editor at Sky Sports News, where he works across broadcast, digital and social platforms. Prior to this, he was a sports journalist and a mobile reporter at Sky News, sourcing stories for its website and mobile app. He got his start as a Newsquest news reporter and has experience in the B2B sector, having been litigation reporter for Centaur Media’s The Lawyer. He received a bursary from the Journalism Diversity Fund and now mentors other JDF recipients as part of the scheme.

Rhoda, who currently edits the Edinburgh Evening News, trained for her NCTJ Diploma in Journalism at Sheffield University. She has also achieved  shorthand to 120 words per minute.

Sophie is a news reporter at PinkNews. She began her career with placements at the Reach publication My London and at then-Archant’s Brent and Kilburn Times, Ham&High and Hackney Gazette. She was previously a digital reporter at Newsquest and spent almost five years as a freelancer, with her byline appearing in the Metro, DIVA magazine and more. A Journalism Diversity Fund recipient, Sophie is the founder of the LGBTQ+ Journalism Network, which provides a space for LGBTQ+ journalists to connect and learn from each other.

Yasmin is a community news reporter at Reach, working across Stoke-on-Trent Live and Staffordshire Live as part of the Community News Project. She was previously a freelance content creator at the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust and a digital communications officer at the communications and PR consultancy Make It Happen. Prior to that, Yasmin was a social media and PR assistant at Staffordshire County Council. She started out by honing her skills volunteering as a broadcast journalist at Cross Rhythms Radio, where she would create video and audio packages for its social media channels.

Aisha is an assistant producer and multimedia journalist at the BBC. Based in Manchester, she got her start as a researcher and now produces sports coverage for the BBC News Channel and works as a reporter for BBC Asian Network News. Aisha was invited to be a panellist at the 2022 Women in Media Conference, which is run by the University of Manchester. She is a Journalism Diversity Fund recipient who can speak Punjabi and is passionate about supporting people from under-represented backgrounds into journalism.

Damian is a European real estate reporter at Bloomberg News and contributes articles to other UK-based publications such as City A.M. He has a background in print journalism as well as experience working in Paris at Radio France International. Damian received a bursary from the Journalism Diversity Fund and studied for his NCTJ Diploma in Journalism as part of his master’s degree at the University of Sheffield. He now also mentors young people with the charity Shadow to Shine.

Catrin is editor-in-chief at Insurance Insider. She’s risen through the ranks at the publication, starting as a senior reporter before becoming news editor and managing editor. Prior to joining Insurance Insider, Catrin was a reporter at SNL Financial and has won seven industry awards for her reporting, including Features Journalist of the Year at the Willis Towers Watson Media Awards in 2021 and 2022. Before working in B2B publishing, Catrin – who also speaks German – was a news reporter at the Worthing Herald.

Amrit is a journalist at Sky News, covering a range of stories across the UK and occasionally around the globe. He joined Sky News as a trainee in 2021, straight after completing his A Levels. Amrit has a deep interest and passion in representing under-served communities and under-represented issues. His efforts were recognised at The British Sikh Awards 2023, where he won the Media, Arts and Cultural Awareness Award. He was named Apprentice of the Year at the NCTJ Awards for Excellence 2023. Before joining Sky News, Amrit served as a member of the UK Youth Parliament and represented his constituency of Slough for five years.

Charlotte is a press officer at  Headway – the brain injury association. She was among the first to benefit from the Community News Project, and after three years as a Devon-based reporter for Reach, Charlotte moved into the communications world as a media and communication officer at the Royal Voluntary Service.

Emaan is a journalist at the BBC World Service. As a BBC apprentice, Emaan worked on BBC News and the BBC Politics Unit in Millbank, where she helped cover Prime Minister’s Questions and featured in her own original stories on BBC Two’s Politics Live. She has also worked on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. Emaan won the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award at the NCTJ Awards for Excellence 2023.