Pivoting to the People: Karen Attiah, Mehdi Hasan, Olufemi Taiwo and Versha Sharma
Date and Time
Dec 3, 2025 6:00 pm
Location
14th & V
2021 14th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20009
Dec 3, 2025 6:00 pm
14th & V
Join Karen Attiah, Mehdi Hasan, Olufemi Taiwo and Versha Sharma for a panel conversation about the need to build platforms that serve the masses when institutions refuse or fail to do so.
Speakers
Mehdi Hasan is an award-winning British-American journalist, broadcaster, and author. He is the founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief of the new media company Zeteo. Mehdi is also a Guardian columnist, host of “Head to Head” on Al Jazeera English, and the best-selling author of *Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking*. He previously worked as an anchor at MSNBC and columnist for *The Intercept*.
Karen Attiah is a journalist and former columnist for *The Washington Post*, known for her insightful work on race, gender, human rights, and international affairs. She is also Founder and Lead Instructor for the Resistance Studies Series. A native of Dallas, Texas, Karen is a former Fulbright Scholar to Ghana and has a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She has reported from countries including Nigeria, Curaçao, Ghana, and Germany. Her work has appeared in various global outlets, including the *Associated Press*. In 2016, she became *The Washington Post*’s founding Global Opinions editor, commissioning op-eds on global issues, and was named an Opinions columnist in 2021. Karen has received numerous awards, including the 2019 George Polk Special Award, NABJ’s Journalist of the Year, and *Washingtonian* Magazine’s “Star to Watch” Award. She was an adjunct lecturer at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She is currently working on a book, *Say Your Word, Then Leave*, about the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University and a fellow at the Climate and Community Institute. He is the author of the critically acclaimed books *Elite Capture* and *Reconsidering Reparations*, a contributor to Greta Thunberg’s *The Climate Book*, and a past recipient of a Marguerite Casey Freedom Scholar fellowship.
Versha Rani Sharma is an American journalist and editor. She was editor in chief of Teen Vogue until its merger with Vogue November 2025. From 2015 to 2021 she was managing editor at NowThis, where she shared in a 2018 Edward R. Murrow Award for a documentary on Hurricane Maria's effects on Puerto Rico. She is on the board of the Online News Association.
