Nancy Prager-Kamel, chairwoman of the Association & Club of Foreign Press Correspondents in the USA, also welcomed the gathering and declared, “The state of our journalist and foreign correspondent community continues to be powerful and healthy. Our awardees embody the best practices in journalism and success in their work. Our professional excellence awardees were chosen from a large pool of applicants who represent the highest standards in journalism worldwide. Our scholarship winners clearly excel at their craft.”

In a letter to the AFPC-USA marking the occasion, Guilherme Canela, UNESCO Chief of Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists, wrote, “Every ceremony to acknowledge the fantastic work journalists do to keep an independent, free and pluralistic media alive and vibrant, should also be a tribute to all those brave men and women who faced and are facing the most terrible conditions -- sometimes, paying the ultimate price – to bring the facts into the daylight.”

Respect for the work journalists do around the world was heard from every speaker.

George Svigos, the executive director of communications for General Motors International, said, "We're really privileged at General Motors to be acquainted with this organization. I hope everyone in this room really understands the power of what you do. When I see the work people are doing in frankly terrifying environments... it is a tremendous service to your communities."

As the program began, the AFPC-USA announced the group has opened two new offices in New York and Washington, DC, through a partnership with WeWork.

McCarthy then welcomed Errol Williams, WeWork’s Senior Vice President of Community and Asset Management for the United States and Canada, to say a few words. “I truly, truly…am honored to join in celebrating you,” Williams said. “I’m also excited to celebrate the Foreign Press Correspondents Association in the United States for the critical work that you do to create a world that is not only connected and informed, but improving and growing.”

Williams also reflected on how AFPC-USA’s goals are aligned with the journalists it was now supporting: “WeWork was founded on the very principle that we are better and stronger if we work together. Just as journalists share information that unites and informs our society, WeWork strives to provide workspaces that inspire new ideas and foster a global community."

Williams and WeWork’s commitment to provide AFPC-USA with two new office spaces and to support journalists with a place for their “courageous” work was applauded heartily by the audience.

Next up was Krista Pilot, the Senior Vice President of External Communications and Strategy for PepsiCo. “One of the reasons that we at PepsiCo support journalists and the AFPC-USA specifically is that we have a shared commitment to transparency and learning,” she said, pointing to AFPC-USA and PepsiCo’s upcoming partnership to increase knowledge and information sharing on sustainability, noting that the company has made a commitment to tackle issues such as waste management, regenerative farming, greenhouse gas reductions, and climate change mitigation.

"Journalists will continue to hold us accountable. Sometimes we don't like it, but that's part of the process," continued Pilot, who went on to present a Professional Excellence Award to Canadian journalist Willy Lowry for his work covering wars. Lowry hails from Canada but is well known for his work in the Middle East as a multimedia producer in Abu Dhabi, UAE, as well as for covering the fall of the Islamic State in Syria, protests in Lebanon, and Easter Bombings in Sri Lanka. As a senior correspondent for The National in Washington D.C., Lowry’s connection to the international community and commitment to truth in the face of adversity earned him the AFPC-USA award for Professional Excellence.

Afterward, Kirit Radia, Director of International News for ABC, took the podium. Radia, who has worked for ABC for 17 years, commented on the state of the news today. “As I find myself saying more and more often in newsrooms, the world is getting crazier, and we aren’t immune from that here in the United States,” he said, bringing to mind statistics from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that show a record number of journalists around the world have been imprisoned simply for doing their work.

“To put it bluntly, we need all of you,” he said. “In a past life I also was a foreign correspondent. I was based in Moscow at a time when Putin returned to the Kremlin amid unprecedented protests in the streets… and across the country. It was the highlight of my career, and I recognized how important it was not just to get the political story right, but to faithfully represent the story of the Russian people and explain their culture and perspective to the American audience. It is that vital role that you all play here.”

Radia presented the award for Professional Excellence to Kourosh Ziabari. Ziabari, an award-winning journalist from Iran who is an Asia Times correspondent, is well known for pieces that have appeared in publications as diverse as Foreign Policy, Al-Monitor, The National Interest, openDemocracy, and an assortment of others throughout the Middle East. Ziabari reaffirmed his commitment to his journalistic mission after receiving the award: “Thank you Foreign Press USA for selecting me as the recipient of the 2022 Professional Excellence Award,” he tweeted. “I will continue doing my best so that reporting on Iran and the Middle East is factual, and to ensure informed audiences can make informed choices.”

Afterward, George Svigos, the aforementioned executive director of communications for General Motors International, presented the next Professional Excellence award to two journalists for their exceptional work.

The first was Brazilian journalist Alessandra Corrêa, who has spent 10 years as a correspondent in the United States writing about issues as diverse as immigration, criminal justice reform, reproductive rights, and elections. “The fact that the Association and Club of Foreign Press Correspondents (AFPC-USA and AFPC-USA Club) offer us this community where we can exchange ideas with other journalists from around the world who are here doing the same job, is very important,” Corrêa wrote upon accepting her award.

The second award was presented to Venezuelan journalist Valeria Massarelli, who works for the international cable news network NTN24 and is also the senior producer of Naim, which analyzes world trends from media trust to fashion and everything in between. “Organizations such as the Association and Club of Foreign Press Correspondents allow us to connect with people in the same hustle as us,” Massarelli wrote later. “The ACFP-USA Club has allowed me to connect with colleagues who have had the same struggles, victories, and challenges as me, which has helped me greatly during my career.”

Sue Ann Pentecost, head of Integrated Strategic Communications for Bayer, USA, was next. She addressed the scholarship and award recipients in the room as "the very best and brightest that the journalism field has to offer.”

“We are especially pleased that through Bayer’s support that foreign journalists have the opportunity to study, work and live in the United States,” she said. “As a global life sciences leader, Bayer supports every opportunity to reaffirm our long-standing commitment to freedom of the press and freedom of speech,” she added, noting that major events like the ongoing war in Ukraine and the reversal of Roe v. Wade in the United States have demonstrated that journalists are more important than ever before.

Pentecost honored Michaela Hass of Germany with the final Professional Excellence award of the evening. Hass works as a freelance correspondent on the West Coast for international media and is a columnist for Süddeutsche Zeitung. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Al-Jazeera, and The Huffington Post in the United States. “I’m truly honored and grateful for my work being recognized by the AFPC-USA,” she wrote. “Working as a freelance correspondent has become more challenging during the pandemic because of budget and travel restrictions, and I’m grateful for your support.”

Sue Ann Pentecost and Segun Olakoyenikan

Pentecost remained at the podium to award the first AFPC-USA scholarship of the evening to Nigerian journalist Segun Olakoyenikan, who is currently pursuing an M.A. at New York University’s (NYU) Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. After working as a finance columnist for the Nigerian newspaper BusinessDay, he went on to work for a wire service where he routinely debunked COVID-19 misinformation. Olakoyenikan’s reputation as a rigorous fact-checker led to him being honored in 2021 for his efforts to fact-check a falsified report from the European Union (EU) about child abductions in Nigeria. “I am very excited and indeed honored to be awarded a scholarship from the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents (AFPC-USA),” he wrote later. “Studying in New York as an international student poses a major financial burden, and I was not exempted in any way. Knowing I have a scholarship that covers my expenses in the city is such a relief."

After Olakoyenikan had returned to his seat, Ed Lewis, Director of Public Policy Communications for Toyota Motor North America, joined the chorus of corporations supporting journalism this evening. "I can say without question that we are honoring an exceptional group of journalists. Toyota supports the basic principles of a free and fair press… we know that reliable, accurate, unbiased journalism helps protect our basic freedoms and the values that we all share,” he said, adding that Toyota’s goals were in line with AFPC-USA: “These essentials define who we are, and underline the scope of our shared humanity.”

Lewis presented two scholarships on Toyota’s behalf to Kaela Malig of the Philippines and Diana Li of China.

Malig is an award-winning multimedia journalist currently pursuing an M.A. at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Although only 24, shehas already won her fourth award from the Society of Publishers Asia (SOPA) Awards for Editorial Excellence. While writing in the Philippines, Malig covered social issues, focusing on women’s rights and child welfare. She has worked with The Washington Post, CNN, and the Philippines’ biggest news organization, GMA Network. “The Association’s generous scholarship allows me to pursue my master’s degree in journalism at Columbia,” she said. “It also gives me an amazing opportunity to be surrounded by an incredible network of journalists whose wisdom I’ll keep to heart.”

Diana Li is a New York-based financial journalist, currently pursuing dual degrees from NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, as well as the Stern School of Business. Li has interned at the Beijing bureau of The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Reuters, and Bloomberg News in New York. "I feel super honored and grateful to the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents (AFPC-USA) for giving help to U.S.-based foreign journalists at a difficult time when inflation and a stronger dollar make lives for us foreign journalists living in the U.S. financially challenging,” Li said.

Damon Jones, the Chief Communications Officer of multinational consumer goods manufacturer Procter & Gamble, was next up, and he honored award and scholarship recipients with a few thoughtful words. "On behalf of Procter & Gamble I would like to congratulate all of you... The images you put out into the world, the stories you tell... have the power to document history as it is, not how we want it to be,” he said.

Jones presented two journalists with awards, the first being Shone Sateesh, a multimedia journalist from India with more than 10 years of experience. Sateesh is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, focusing on long-form narratives. Sateesh rose to prominence in India in large part because of his critical coverage of the country’s caste system and its intersections with human rights and policy. His work has appeared in Al Jazeera, DW.com, The Straits Times, Livemint, Scroll.in, and Firstpost.com. “It is incredibly thrilling, humbling, and an honor to receive the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents (AFPC) scholarship award,” he wrote. “As a journalist from a marginalized caste from a developing country like India, the recognition reinforces my resolve to continue reporting on under-reported stories about underserved communities.”

China’s Yucheng Tang was the next scholarship recipient. Tang, who grew up in a rural environment before pursuing a journalism degree in Shanghai, has become known for exploring ideas that intersect technology, science, humanity, and the lives of Asian immigrants in the United States. He has worked for The New York Times, where he profiled a group of Chinese student filmmakers exploring transgender issues. Tang thanked the AFPC-USA for “fueling my courage during the transition from my early career to [the] next stage” and says he aims to “tell good stories from both sides” of the U.S.-China relationship, which is currently fraught.

The last executive speaker, Cameron Batten of Volkswagen, noted that the AFPC-USA’s policies and approaches to journalism were similar to Volkswagen’s own commitment to transparency. “I will tell you that Volkswagen believes in great storytelling… we work day in and day out, employing former journalists who believe in freedom of speech and telling great stories,” said Batten. “It’s how we restored trust in our company over the last decade in the USA,” he added, a nod to Volkswagen’s efforts to restore trust in its brand over the last decade following controversy over its emissions testing practices.

Batten presented the final scholarships of the evening, the first to New Zealand’s Pete McKenzie, who is currently based in New York. McKenzie has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, and New Zealand publications like North & South and New Zealand Geographic. McKenzie is also a qualified attorney and previously served as an infantry officer in New Zealand's Army Reserve. He is pursuing a Master’s degree in Global Politics from Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, where he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in addition to his scholarship from the AFPC-USA. “The AFPC-USA support means I’ll be able to spend more time focused entirely on deepening my understanding of the world around me,” he wrote. “It also empowers me to work on much more ambitious and complicated projects than I would be able to otherwise, explaining hidden connections that take time, effort, and resources to explore.”

The final scholarship was awarded to the Swedish journalist Anna Westerberg, who has studied and practiced journalism in the United Kingdom and Costa Rica in addition to her home country. She is now pursuing a Master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University’s Graduate School for Journalism. “I am extremely honored that an organization such as the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents (AFPC-USA) recognizes me as a journalist,” she wrote. “It truly spurs me on and makes me even more determined to reach my goals.”