2026 PRIZE OF EXCELLENCE AWARDEE

Nadia Bilbassy-Charters is an award-winning international journalist, foreign correspondent, author, and Washington Bureau Chief for Al Arabiya News Channel. Over nearly four decades, she has reported from conflict zones, presidential institutions, and diplomatic forums, becoming one of the Arab world’s most respected voices on U.S. foreign policy, international diplomacy, and global affairs.

Born in Gaza, Bilbassy-Charters began her career during the First Intifada after working with the International Committee of the Red Cross. She was recruited by Agence France-Presse and quickly gained recognition for her perceptive reporting from the world’s most volatile regions.

A pioneer in Arab broadcast journalism, she became the first Arab journalist permanently based in Africa for a major Arab television network. From Nairobi, Kenya, she covered conflicts and humanitarian crises across Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. She also reported on Sri Lanka’s civil war, consistently highlighting the human consequences of conflict and political upheaval.

Since moving to Washington, D.C., in 2003, Bilbassy-Charters has covered U.S. presidential administrations, national elections, summits, and military conflicts. She reported from Iraq during the U.S.-led invasion as an embedded journalist, covered proceedings at Guantánamo Bay, and reports from the White House, Capitol Hill, Pentagon, and State Department.

Her interviews include U.S. Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush; Palestinian Presidents Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas; British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Queen Noor of Jordan; U.S. Secretaries of State Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, John Kerry, Mike Pompeo, and Antony Blinken; and others. Her incisive questioning and knowledge of international affairs have established her as a trusted journalist.

Bilbassy-Charters is a committed advocate for press freedom and journalistic excellence. She has served multiple terms as president of the White House Foreign Press Group, representing international correspondents covering the United States. She regularly addresses universities, think tanks, diplomatic forums, and conferences on global affairs, media ethics, leadership, and journalism’s evolving role.

She holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from City University in London. In January 2027, HarperCollins will publish her memoir, recounting her journey from Gaza to the world’s centers of power. Through stories of war, diplomacy, resilience, and truth, the book offers a perspective on the events and personalities shaping the twenty-first century.

Bilbassy-Charters continues to inform and inspire audiences while building understanding across cultures. Her career reflects an unwavering commitment to reporting and journalism’s power to illuminate events and connect people around the world.