Areej Noor is a Somali-American writer, producer, political analyst, and entrepreneur. At MSNBC, she produced UP with Steve Kornacki, a roundtable discussion news program. Prior to that, she did a stint with Al-Jazeera English. Areej began her career as a researcher for the Brookings Institution focused on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. Her writings have been featured in the Times of India, Gulf News, and international editions of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar among other publications. After consulting for the World Bank, she founded STATEMENT. Areej is based in New York City and Cairo.

Lila Nordstrom is a Los Angeles-based writer specializing in analyzing and editing scripts, book-to-film projects, and treatments. As a creative executive at Morningside Entertainment, comedian Jerrod Carmichael’s production pod at 20th Century Fox, she managed the development process and provided creative consultation for multiple TV projects, stand up specials, and features including “Rel” (FOX), “Ramy” (HULU), “Drew Michael” (HBO), and “The Carmichael Show” (NBC). Prior to that she spent three years as a senior member of United Talent Agency’s Story Department.

Peter Jallah is a growth leader with 10+ years of experience providing strategic leadership for companies in the online and new media space. He’s a proven creator, developer, motivator, and experienced strategist. Over the course of his career, Peter has held leadership roles at Blacktag, Microsoft, The Daily Beast and Viacom. He is based in New York City.

Raghda Barakat is an award-winning designer with a career that spans 10 years of experience in graphic design, photography, video production, advertising, and marketing. Through her work in several different sectors, Raghda has gained invaluable expertise, collaborating with diverse clients worldwide and across a broad range of industries. She is currently pursuing an MBA degree at the American University in Cairo.

Chisom Peter Job is a Lagos-based writer, consultant, and researcher covering culture, identity, and technology. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Conde Nast, Al Jazeera English, and Amazon’s Wondery Media. Chisom has working relationships in the entertainment industry both in Africa and abroad. As the creator of CineChat, a newsletter, he interviews people in film and television. Formerly the editor-in-chief of Living Free U.K., an LGBTQ+ organization, Chisom is a 2021 nominee of the Future Awards Africa prize for journalism and a 2022 KeKere Storyteller Cohort.

Franklin Ugobude has worked in marketing and communications for over seven years, creating various forms of content and working in digital marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, content curation, growth marketing and digital strategy. Throughout his career, Franklin has worked to connect with audiences and build campaigns that resonate with them, to promote an offering or simply grow engagement. He is based in Lagos.

Hiba Jama is a recent graduate from Carleton College with a background in Cinema and Media Studies. She received distinction for her thesis film where she explored themes of home, belonging and being first-generation. Prior to STATEMENT, she was the Post-Production Coordinator at A24 where she worked closely on Academy Award-winning films like Everything Everywhere All At Once and Minari. She is based in New York City. 

Ethan Cvitanic graduated from UC San Diego with a Bachelor’s degree in Global Health, prior to completing the Master’s Screenwriting program at the University of Southern California. His directorial debut film, Hit Record, played at several festivals in 2020, and was ultimately nominated for Best Comedy at the Lonely Wolf International Film Festival. He has since created his own screenwriting coaching business, and aims to blend his background in public health with his passion for storytelling. He is based in Los Angeles.

Uchenna Ugwu is a Nigerian Screenwriter and upcoming Producer based in Lagos, Nigeria. Since graduating from the Multichoice Nigeria-sponsored Talent Factory in 2019, Uchenna has gone on to work on both short and long-form television content for Africa Magic; Multichoice Nigeria’s platform for locally produced content and Showmax. Uchenna has written on over 2000+ hours of television as a screenwriter and has worked as Head writer, Interning Script Editor and Story editor on several short and long-form shows, as well as produced a feature-length film.