Solutions Journalist
New York, NY
TOPICS
Health
International Development
Journalism
Writing
When Sarika Bansal left the beige cubicles of consulting life at McKinsey & Company, she really left. Whether interviewing trash collectors in India or health care workers in rural Zambia, she is always after the solutions angle on a story. What are the most effective responses to the world’s worst social problems? Who is legitimately transforming the developing world? Sarika is editor-in-chief of the illuminating book, Tread Brightly: Notes on Ethical Travel and podcast host of Driving Change: Made in Africa, a series of interviews that aim “to look at the full lives of African leaders.” Her writing and photographs have appeared in The New York Times, Forbes, The Guardian, Fast Company, and several other publications. She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community, and is the current Editorial Director of AFAR Magazine. Previously, she was editor of Medium’s The Development Set, and Director of Partnerships for the Solutions Journalism Network.
Sarika speaks frequently on solutions journalism and ethical travel, including doing trainings at some of the most awarded newsrooms in the country. She also moderates panels and delivers keynotes on issues of global health and social innovation at places like the Aspen Ideas Festival and Women Deliver, and provides speaker coaching at events like the World Economic Forum’s City Series. Expect a broad range of knowledge, a healthy dose of optimism, and a highly critical mind. The future of international reporting is safe in Sarika’s hands.
Part of a journalist’s job is to share stories that demonstrate something other than the status quo. To evoke a sense of possibility in the reader.
This journalist orientation toward looking at solutions is not mainstream. In fact, it’s countercultural.