Rasha Elass returned to the United States in 2015 after covering the Middle East for more than 10 years. She was based in Syria to cover the uprising-turned-civil war as a freelancer for several media outlets, including Thomson Reuters, LA Times, National Public Radio, The World, and International Business Times, often covering the war without a byline for security reasons.
At MacDowell, Elass worked on revising her memoir about Syria, where she was born and partially raised, and where she covered news as a journalist in war time and in peace. She also developed an idea for a new project similarly based on in-depth reporting with full immersion inside a community
Elass holds a master of science degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a master of science in finance from American University. Prior to her career in journalism, Elass worked in New York as a market analyst. She also writes for the Middle East Institute, Reuters Opinion, and Public Radio International among other outlets as a freelancer. She launched the Voices Unheard podcast, which draws on her experience in the Middle East to bring stories from the Arab and Muslim world.
