Lavin Exclusive Speaker
Investigative journalist Andrea Elliott puts a human face to a wide array of topics, from child poverty to Muslim life in America. Her series on homelessness (soon to be a book) won the George Polk Award, and prompted the City of New York to remove more than 400 children from substandard shelters. Previously, her series “An Imam in America” earned her a Pulitzer Prize.
Elliott’s recent five-part series, Invisible Child, examined homelessness through the lens of an 11-year-old Brooklyn girl, and helped reignite a conversation about the dire state of poverty in America. Elliott is also a distinguished chronicler of Muslims in America. Gaining unparalleled access to the nation’s Muslim communities, her stories have explored the travails of a young Egyptian imam in Brooklyn, the challenges of Muslims serving in the U.S. military, and the simmering conflicts between Muslim immigrants and African-American converts to Islam. Her stories broke new ground in the study of radicalization, illuminating why a subset of young western Muslims have taken the militant path.
Elliott’s coverage of Islam in America earned her the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2007, along with many other awards, and is featured in Best Newspaper Writing of 2007 and Islam for Journalists. Her cover story on suicide bombers in Morocco won an Overseas Press Club award. In their citation, the judges wrote that Elliott’s “account, beautifully written, provides an unparalleled look into the making of terrorists and is a reporting tour de force.” Part of the Investigations team at The Times, Elliott has appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air and Talk of the Nation, CNN, and the BBC.