Experience

MJ Method Communications

• United States
• Business Consulting and Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Founder & CEO

  • Jun 2020 - Present

  New York, United States This boutique Global Communications Consultancy applies its Founder's unique hybrid of strategies, skills and storytelling styles, drawn from both International Journalism and Global Communications - and known collectively as the #MJMethod. Offers clients this range of services, tailored to their needs: • Strategic Communications, Corporate Communications, Crisis Comms, Public Affairs • Cross-Cultural Communications: How to Impact a Smart-but-Skeptical Foreign Audience • Marketing… Show more This boutique Global Communications Consultancy applies its Founder's unique hybrid of strategies, skills and storytelling styles, drawn from both International Journalism and Global Communications - and known collectively as the #MJMethod. Offers clients this range of services, tailored to their needs: • Strategic Communications, Corporate Communications, Crisis Comms, Public Affairs • Cross-Cultural Communications: How to Impact a Smart-but-Skeptical Foreign Audience • Marketing, Branding, Messaging, Content Creation, Impact Stories, CEO Storytelling, etc. • Counseling C-Suite Execs: Broadcast, Print, Digital Media Interviews, Talking-Points, etc. • Media Relations, Story Pitching & Media-Coverage Analysis (Both American & Foreign) • Staff Training: Specialized Curriculum for Soft-Skills Instruction, Coaching & Mentoring For more, visit https://themjmethod.com Show less



Mekong River Commission Secretariat

• Lao People's Democratic Republic
• Non-profit Organizations
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Executive Communications Writer

  • Mar 2022 - Present

  Vientiane, Laos Writing OpEds, Speeches, major reports and Press Releases for this not-for-profit, intergovernmental organization focused on protecting the mighty Mekong River. This Content Creation is actually a hybrid of Strategic Communications and Cross-Cultural Communications, aimed to resonate and raise awareness among foreign audiences, about the challenges faced by Southeast Asia's largest waterway, which is the lifeblood for some 70 million people - such as climate change and hydropower development.



ConnectAID

• Switzerland
• Non-profit Organization Management
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Ambassador

  • Apr 2022 - Present

  Annecy, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France



Medicines for Malaria Venture

• Switzerland
• Non-profit Organizations
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Communications Specialist, Media Relations

  • Mar 2023 - Jun 2023

  Geneva, Switzerland Communications Planning, Strategic Communications, Media Relations, Executive Writing, Brand Building



North American Ecosystem Institute

• United States
• Public Relations and Communications Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Vice President of Global Communications & Media Relations, NY Office

  • Dec 2021 - Jun 2023

  New York, United States *Business development, advising Chinese companies that are expanding into the U.S. and other Western markets, on how to impact their target-audience most persuasively. *Consulting on: Strategic Communications, Corporate Communications, Brand Building, Core Messaging, Media Relations, Content Creation, CEO Storytelling, Staff Training, etc.



Immigrant Care

• United States
• Non-profit Organizations
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Senior Communications Specialist

  • Sep 2020 - Nov 2021

  New York City Metropolitan Area *Amid COVID pandemic, I volunteered for this NGO, focusing on immigrant healthcare. *Strategized with CEO & trained volunteers in how to illuminate “healthcare insecurity” - of documented & undocumented immigrants - via humanized, evidence-based storytelling.



Long Island University

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Adjunct Full Professor of Journalism

  • Feb 2021 - Jun 2021

  Brooklyn, New York, United States During Spring 2021 semester taught: *News Reporting 1 & 2 *Journalism, Social Media & You *Social Media Theory & Practice *Also served as Faculty Advisor to the LIU student newspaper, Seawanhaka.



Huawei

• Australia
• Renewable Energy Semiconductor Manufacturing
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Global Communications Consultant, Media-Relations Specialist

  • Jun 2020 - Nov 2020

  Shenzhen, Guangdong, China • For this controversial Chinese telecoms giant, worked remotely amid COVID, from US. • Analyzed/critiqued all 2020 External Communication products (video, article, social media). • Recommended how to improve effectiveness of those, plus book, documentary projects. • Shared insights into the psyche of Western media - and how to pitch them stories effectively. • Shared insights into China’s foreign audience - and how to communicate with them persuasively.



CGTN (China Global Television Network)

• News Editor, Scriptwriter, Foreign-Media Analyst

  • Mar 2019 - Mar 2020

  Beijing, China Served as News Editor, Scriptwriter and Foreign-Media Analyst for "The Point with Liu Xin" - a top opinion show on the China Global Television Network. This nightly, 30-minute program explores world events from a Beijing perspective. (However, the COVID pandemic forced me to resign and flee back to New York.)



Self-Employed

• Real Estate
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Freelance Foreign Correspondent/International Journalist

  • Jun 1994 - Feb 2020

  As a freelance Foreign Correspondent, I've parachuted into and reported from 30 countries over the past 27 years – mostly in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Southern Africa – for publications like Foreign Policy magazine; French news agency AFP; Christian Science Monitor; Harvard’s Nieman Reports; and South Africa’s Mail & Guardian. Previously based in: Budapest, Hungary; Bratislava, Slovakia; Maseru, Lesotho. From 2001-2005, in the wake of 9/11, was a New York-based UN correspondent covering… Show more As a freelance Foreign Correspondent, I've parachuted into and reported from 30 countries over the past 27 years – mostly in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Southern Africa – for publications like Foreign Policy magazine; French news agency AFP; Christian Science Monitor; Harvard’s Nieman Reports; and South Africa’s Mail & Guardian. Previously based in: Budapest, Hungary; Bratislava, Slovakia; Maseru, Lesotho. From 2001-2005, in the wake of 9/11, was a New York-based UN correspondent covering terrorism, Iraq, Afghanistan, peacekeeping, etc. Show less



Renmin University of China

• China
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Visiting Professor of International Journalism

  • Feb 2016 - Jan 2020

  Beijing City, China • In Beijing’s oldest Journalism school, teaching in the Graduate program for International Journalism and Communications. • Have developed my own curriculum to teach courses in Environmental Storytelling, International Reporting and Feature Writing - as well as an undergrad course in "English Writing & Speech." • Created a course Webzine as a platform and showcase for my students and their polished, published stories: https://lettersfrombeijing2017.wordpress.com. • Applying my style… Show more • In Beijing’s oldest Journalism school, teaching in the Graduate program for International Journalism and Communications. • Have developed my own curriculum to teach courses in Environmental Storytelling, International Reporting and Feature Writing - as well as an undergrad course in "English Writing & Speech." • Created a course Webzine as a platform and showcase for my students and their polished, published stories: https://lettersfrombeijing2017.wordpress.com. • Applying my style of "Cautious Communications" to journalism, in order to effectively "open a window" onto fast-changing China - and many of the challenges it faces. Show less



PrincetoNow Education Services Inc.

• China
• Education Administration Programs
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Senior Specialist, University Application Essays

  • Mar 2017 - Dec 2019

  Shenzhen, Guangdong, China In this booming Chinese metropolis, I coach some of the city's best and brightest teens through the essay-writing portion of their application to top American universities.



Mars

• United States
• Design Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Global Communications Consultant

  • Jan 2018 - Dec 2018

  Beijing City, China At the Mars Corporation's Global Food Safety Center in Beijing, my part-time consultancy focused on training and coaching Chinese members of the Communications team to produce a range of internal and external written-communications. The aim was to persuasively impact our foreign audience through what I call "message-driven, evidence-based, humanized content."



Beijing Foreign Studies University

• Professional Training and Coaching
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Guest Lecturer

  • Mar 2016 - May 2018

  Beijing City, China I'm a frequent contributor to this unique Master's program in International Multimedia Journalism, hosted by BFSU and led by the University of Bolton.



Shanghai International Studies University

• China
• Higher Education
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Visiting Professor

  • Sep 2017 - Nov 2017

  Shanghai Suburb, China In the SISU Master's program in International Journalism, led 32 grad students through my short, intensive "Foreign Reporting from Shanghai" course. Created a course Webzine, as a platform and showcase for all the stories that the students produced and polished: https://lettersfromshanghai2017.wordpress.com.



U.S. Embassy in China

• Communications Consultant, Storytelling Specialist

  • Aug 2016 - Mar 2017

  Beijing City, China *In one of the world’s worst-polluted countries – and its greatest emitter of greenhouse gases – I led my own Communications-and-Advocacy-through-Storytelling project, The Chinese Champions of Environmental Protection. *Trained Chinese environmental activists in how to write and share their own story of awakening and inspiration, as they began to make a difference in their own communities. The aim: a how-to guide to raise awareness, as well as inspire legions of others. *The stories… Show more *In one of the world’s worst-polluted countries – and its greatest emitter of greenhouse gases – I led my own Communications-and-Advocacy-through-Storytelling project, The Chinese Champions of Environmental Protection. *Trained Chinese environmental activists in how to write and share their own story of awakening and inspiration, as they began to make a difference in their own communities. The aim: a how-to guide to raise awareness, as well as inspire legions of others. *The stories published online in English communicated a dual message: more Chinese now care about the environment, and more Chinese are now taking steps to protect it. Show less



Transitions Online

• South Africa
• Advertising Services

• Senior Journalism Trainer

  • Dec 2006 - Aug 2016

  Prague Train international participants through the pound-the-pavement reporting project of TOL's Foreign Correspondent Training Course. Have also trained Roma-minority journalists in Eastern Europe.



Hong Kong Baptist University

• Hong Kong
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Visiting Scholar

  • Sep 2009 - Apr 2016

  Hong Kong Within HKBU's renowned International Journalism program, I teach the short, intensive course I created: "Foreign Reporting from Hong Kong." (Will return in February 2016.)



International Labor Organization

• Switzerland
• International Affairs
• 700 & Above Employee

• Communications Consultant

  • Nov 2015 - Feb 2016

  Beijing City, China Providing ILO staff in Beijing with writing-skills and media training, serving as Editor-in-Chief of the ILO-Beijing newsletter, and delivering other written-communications products to help raise awareness of ILO efforts to promote "Decent Work" in the world's second-largest economy.



Management Sciences for Health

• United States
• Non-profit Organizations
• 700 & Above Employee

• Communications Consultant

  • Apr 2015 - Jun 2015

  Lesotho In a country that suffers the world's second-highest rate of HIV infection, produced a storytelling project that chronicled - through stories and photos - MSH's impact on Lesotho's HIV Orphans and Vulnerable Children.



Freelance

• Egypt
• Human Resources
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Foreign Correspondent

  • 1994 - Jun 2015

  Based in Budapest, Hungary; Bratislava, Slovakia; Maseru, Lesotho; New York, NY Foreign correspondent, reporting from 30 countries, for Foreign Policy, Agence France-Presse, Christian Science Monitor, Global Post, South Africa's Mail & Guardian, and many others.



The Mantle

• International Affairs

• Correspondent

  • 2010 - Apr 2015

  Southern Africa/Central Europe Produce "Postcards" that open a window onto daily life, first while I was based in Central Europe, then in Southern Africa.



AFP

• France
• Media Production
• 700 & Above Employee

• Correspondent

  • Sep 2014 - Feb 2015

  Lesotho Soon after a coup-attempt in August 2014 rocked this tiny African kingdom, I became the lone Western correspondent living in-country to report on the instability that followed - for the AFP, and many others.



The Christian Science Monitor

• United States
• Online Audio and Video Media
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Correspondent

  • Oct 1995 - Nov 2014

  Slovakia Formerly its Budapest-based correspondent, then at the United Nations, and back to Central Europe, in Bratislava.



World Vision USA

• United States
• Non-profit Organizations
• 400 - 500 Employee

• Communications Consultant

  • Apr 2014 - May 2014

  Lesotho Designed and led an awareness-raising, storytelling training for Lesotho journalists on Maternal-Child Health.



Jhpiego

• United States
• Non-profit Organizations
• 700 & Above Employee

• Communications Consultant

  • Sep 2013 - Nov 2013

  Lesotho Designed and led a training for Lesotho journalists on Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision - the most controversial, thus most sensitive, of HIV-prevention methods.



University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Trnava, Slovakia

• Adjunct Professor

  • Sep 2007 - Jun 2009

  Taught Journalism



The New School

• Education Administration Programs

• Master of Science in International Affairs

  • 2004 - 2006

  Conflict and Security

• Adjunct Professor

  • 2002 - 2006

  George Polk Journalist-in-Residence, Faculty Advisor to the Student Newspaper, Journalism Course Instructor