Zain Verjee

Zain Verjee (born February 11, 1974) is a Kenyan journalist. She is a former CNN anchor and correspondent, and now works in public relations. Her communications firm, Zain Verjee Group, has worked with Bloomberg Media, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Equity Group Foundation of Kenya, World Health Organization, The MiSK Foundation, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa on their public relations.

Verjee is also a startup founder and content creator, co-founding aKoma Media, a continental network of workspaces for Africa's creative and cultural economy, in 2015. Her other ventures include Amplify, a content creator fellowship with participants from East/West Africa and the US, in partnership with MasterCard Foundation.

Verjee lives in the Los Angeles area and Nairobi. She spent 14 years at CNN as an anchor and correspondent, living in Atlanta, Washington DC and London. Prior to leaving CNN in April 2014, Verjee was the anchor of CNN International's European daytime program ''World One''. She worked as a newsreader for The Situation Room, as a State Department correspondent, and as a co-anchor of CNN International's ''Your World Today'' with Jim Clancy.

Education

Verjee went to Hillcrest Prep School and Hillcrest Secondary School in Nairobi and later received her undergraduate degree in English from McGill University in Montreal. She graduated from Oxford University with a Masters of Studies degree in Creative Writing.

Career

Verjee joined CNN in 2000, prior to which she was a news reader on Kenya Television Network, Nairobi and as a radio DJ for 98.4 Capital FM. As the State Department correspondent covering Condoleezza Rice, Verjee travelled the world covering US foreign policy. Among her journeys, she covered the trip Rice took to Libya, and eventually was a lead reporter covering the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.

In July 2006, she reported from the Korean DMZ, winning an award for the coverage. In September 2006, she conducted an interview with former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami on his first visit to Chicago.

In November 2014, Verjee announced she was leaving CNN after 14 years to create her own media production company. Zain Verjee Group is based in New York and Nairobi with a focus on African businesses and lifestyle stories.

Personal life

Verjee is an Ismaili Muslim, a minority group in the Shia sect of Islam. When she was 23, she published a children's book, ''Live & On the Air''. It explores experiences of a young girl who moves from rural Kenya to Nairobi to work as a broadcaster.

In January 2014, Verjee reported that she had struggled with psoriasis since her childhood and though it affected the way she related with others, she won the battle against the disease through eating well and maintaining a good mental attitude.

References

External links

Zain Verjee's profile
on CNN.com
*

May 20, 2001.
Indian Express profile
August 18, 2003.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verjee, Zain
1974 births
Living people
Canadian Ismailis
McGill University alumni
Writers from Nairobi
Kenyan emigrants to Canada
Canadian people of Indian descent
Gujarati people
CNN people
Canadian television news anchors
Indian Muslims
Canadian women television journalists
Khoja Ismailism