We’re thrilled to share that former Washington Post columnist and Global Opinions editor Karen Attiah will be part of the 2026 IIJ Freelance Conference after all.
While Karen is no longer able to join us live on March 5, we’ll be bringing you an exclusive recorded keynote conversation next week, and it will be available to conference registrants in the SoundPath platform.
Karen Attiah is a journalist, editor, and educator known for her incisive work on race, gender, human rights, and international affairs. In 2016, she became The Washington Post’s founding Global Opinions editor, commissioning bold op-eds on global issues and amplifying voices too often excluded from mainstream discourse. She later became an Opinions columnist.
A native of Dallas, Texas, Karen is a former Fulbright Scholar to Ghana and holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She has reported from Nigeria, Curaçao, Ghana, and Germany, and her work has appeared in outlets including the Associated Press.
Karen is the founder and lead instructor of the Resistance Studies Series, an online education platform focused on power, media, and liberation movements. After parting ways with the Post, she built an independent platform through her newsletter and courses, quickly attracting tens of thousands of subscribers and selling out her first class.
Her awards include the 2019 George Polk Special Award, NABJ’s Journalist of the Year, and Washingtonian Magazine’s “Star to Watch.” She is currently working on a book, Say Your Word, Then Leave, about the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In our recorded keynote conversation, Karen will reflect on navigating institutional power, building independence, the future of opinion journalism, and what it means to speak boldly in this moment.
📩 Have a question you’d like Karen to answer?Submit questions now for her to answer in the keynote conversation!
🎙️Want access to Karen’s keynote interview?
Register for the 2026 IIJ Freelance Conference to receive full access to the recorded interview, along with:
12 live sessions designed for independent and creator journalists
Editors from outlets including The New York Times, Business Insider, Eater, Education Week, The Hechinger Report, Defector, and more
10+ hours of recorded Q&A’s with editors
Pitch guides for 20+ publications
A freelance toolbox filled with sample budgets, contracts, and practical resources
If you’ve been waiting to register, consider this your sign.
👉 Register now to gain access to Karen Attiah’s exclusive keynote interview and the full IIJ conference experience.
We can’t wait to bring you this conversation.
The IIJ freelance conference, hosted on SoundPath, is designed with independent journalists and solopreneurs in mind. Join us on March 5 and 6 for “Solo Together,” and find your community while building a sustainable business. Attendees will learn from live sessions on useful AI tools, journalism that makes an impact, networking sessions, how to secure fellowships, and more. Speakers include: The Handbasket founder Marisa Kabas, journalist and author Vanessa Hua, as well as editors from Business Insider, Defector, Eater, Education Week, Hechinger Report, HuffPost, the New York Times, Outlier Media, the Walrus, and more! All this is available for only $99, including recordings, available to watch until April 6!
Support for the 2026 IIJ conference comes from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and Democracy Fund.
Calendar
🗓️ This Thursday and Friday, March 5 and 6 - Join us for Solo Together: a conference for independent journalists and creators to find community and build thriving businesses. Speakers include education journalist Kavitha Cardoza; New York Times’ Modern Love editor Daniel Jones; Christina Samuels, deputy managing editor, The Hechinger Report; GQ editor Alyssa Bereznak; and more. Grab your spot for only $99!
🗓️ Thursday, April 2 - The first session of the spring Business of Freelancing course, taught by independent journalists and entrepreneurs Emma Carew Grovum and Nicki Mayo. Register here before March 13 for just $199!
🗓️ Friday, April 17 - The IIJ and the Society of Freelance Journalists are hosting a meetup at this year’s International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy! 🇮🇹 Join us at La Biblioteca del Conte at 5pm local time for drinks and light appetizers with your fellow freelancers. RSVP here for updates!
🗓️ Wednesday, April 22 - At the American Society of Journalists and Authors’ 2026 online conference, the IIJ is presenting a panel on “Creating Entrepreneurship Systems That Work For You” from 3-3:50 p.m. ET . Hear from IIJ leaders Katherine Reynolds Lewis and Ann Marie Awad, as well as independent journalists Olga Lucia Torres and Clayton Gutzmore. Register for the conference here and save 15% with the code ASJA26GRP.
🗓️ June 2-5 - At the Education Writers Association National Seminar, IIJ leaders Benét Wilson, Katherine Reynolds Lewis, and Shernay Williams will be presenting a session on creating entrepreneurship systems that work for you, in Baltimore, MD! Learn more and register here.
