JEN CHRISTENSEN
Jen Christensen has a lot of favorite stories from her twenty-plus years in journalism, but they all have a common thread: They´ve helped those who have been shortchanged by society see justice-whether the stories focused on families during Hurricane Katrina, women in Gaza or Afghanistan, or a young woman kicked out of her house after she came out. “A complete stranger who saw our report offered her a safe and permanent home,” Christensen says. That´s the impact her stories have. Christensen is the managing editor of CNN´s Health, Medical and Wellness Unit, and she has also worked as an investigative producer/documentarian in CNN´s Special Investigations Unit, where she won Peabody and DuPont awards as a producer for Christiane Amanpour´s God´s (Jewish) Warriors. She´s a longtime leader and the current president of the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association, which demonstrates her dedication to nurturing equality and integrity in America´s newsrooms. “Having a chance to really travel and see a different part of the world nearly every week, and getting the chance to meet and interview so many interesting people-from U.S. presidents to failed suicide bombers-it has been the chance of a lifetime,” Christensen says. But at the end of the day, she adds, “my hope [is] to be a real voice for the voiceless, to create community, and to ultimately help tell the stories of underserved communities.” -KL
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