Resume

KAUKAB JHUMRA SMITH
kaukab.smith@gmail.com
Cell: +(84) 163-4-917-430
Twitter: @kokismith

2009 – present
Freelance Journalist and Consultant

• The Word Ha Noi, Hanoi, Vietnam, November 2011 to present.
  Write and proofread magazine feature stories.
• Salzburg Global Seminar, Washington, D.C., October 2011 to present.
  Recommend program revisions, research funding opportunities and develop grant proposals for pilot project aimed at training journalists and journalism students in the Balkans, Africa and East Asia.
• Aga Khan Foundation Canada, Washington, D.C., February to August 2011.
  Developed and co-wrote strategic paper on ways to strengthen journalism training in Pakistan, based on primary interviews and secondary data. Created proposal and budget on behalf of three-member consulting team. Supported proposal and budget management.
• SmartBrief Inc., Washington, D.C., March 2010 to January 2011.
  Met multiple daily writing and editing deadlines for trade e-newsletters ranging from cable TV and finance to roofing, concrete and energy. Blogged and live-tweeted for the SmartBlog on Social Media.
• Youth Today, Washington, D.C., March 2009 to present.
  Copyedit 36-page monthly nonprofit newspaper published by the American Youth Work Center.

June 2007 – June 2008
Editor-in-chief, Street Sense, Washington, D.C.

• Grew circulation by 26% to nearly 12,000 for 16-page biweekly nonprofit newspaper.
• Recruited, trained and managed all-volunteer team of writers, editors, photographers and interns.
• Set editorial calendar, developed story ideas, managed story budgets, edited and approved all final copy and accompanying art, and laid out pages on Adobe InDesign.
• Introduced weekly writers group to encourage submissions from homeless contributors.
• Doubled average daily traffic to accompanying website by revamping online archives, reviving office blog, shaping Facebook presence and introducing email newsletter.

2006
Consultant, United States Agency for International Development, Islamabad, Pakistan

• Media and communications: Strengthened coverage of U.S.-funded projects in Kashmir, NWFP, Balochistan and Sindh by filing multiple stories, photographs and other reports from the field every week to demonstrate their human impact. Stories were distributed to Pakistani and U.S. media, U.S. policymakers, USAID personnel, websites and publications.
• Helped organize and lead local press tours of earthquake recovery zones, sometimes in coordination with the U.S. State Department and the U.S. military.
• Delivered two film projects on the U.S. government’s earthquake recovery effort, writing the scopes of work, choosing a local crew, managing contracts and field visits, and coordinating agency approval of B-roll, bilingual scripts and deliverables.
• Monitoring and evaluations: Evaluated implementation of USAID-funded earthquake recovery programs by traveling to remote areas several days a week to observe progress and interview community members, local leaders and program staff.
• Liaisoned with UN, donor and nonprofit relief agencies and Pakistani officials on behalf of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance.

May 2004 – Dec. 2005
Reporter/Editor/Web Producer, Maryland Newsline and Capital News Service, University of Maryland, College Park, Md.

• Broke story of increased participation by Muslim delegates at 2004 Democratic National Convention. Published in more than 24 newspapers nationally, including in The Washington Post.
• Built award-winning multimedia reports and edited features, breaking news, headlines and captions for online newsmagazine.
• Covered Maryland politics for daily wire service, including stories on state legislators on Capitol Hill and state candidates for the U.S. Senate and the House.

Fall 2004
Graduate Intern, Nation/Politics/World, washingtonpost.com, Arlington, Va.

• Monitored news wires and crafted headlines, summaries and photo captions for national, international and political news pages using in-house content management tools.
• Fact-checked speeches by presidential candidates for election special features.

2003 – 2004
Volunteer, Eugene Weekly, Eugene, Ore.

• Reported on religion and disabilities news and reviewed community theatre for alternative newsweekly.
• Won SPJ professional award for cover story on Eugene’s Muslim community.

2001 – 2003
English and Drama Faculty, Karachi Grammar School, Karachi, Pakistan

• Taught English language and literature to 7^th, 8^th and 9^th grades.
• Advised school drama club and produced and directed annual theater festivals.

2000 – 2001
Content Writer, BuyerZone.com, Watertown, Mass.

• Researched and wrote syndicated content on technology and small business – including buyer’s guides, tip sheets, columns, feature stories and news reports – for online and print outlets like Yahoo! Small Business, the American City Business Journals and Entrepreneur magazine.

2006
Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Region 2
Shared first place, online news reporting
Shared first place, best all-around independent online student publication

2005
Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) DC Pro
Shared third place, general news, daily news

2003
Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Greater Oregon Professional Chapter
First place, religion and values, nondaily newspapers

Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland, College Park, Md.
M.J. (Master of Journalism), December 2005
Cumulative GPA: 3.9 out of 4.0
2004 – 2005 Gridiron Fellow

Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass.
B.A. with highest departmental honors in English, December 1999
Minor: Journalism
Summa cum laude
1996 – 1999 Wien International Scholar

National Press Club (Washington, D.C.)
South Asian Journalists Association
Phi Beta Kappa

Computers: Experienced in Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, WordPress, HTML, social media, online videography, audio editing, digital photography, computer-assisted reporting with MS Access and Excel, PC and Mac platforms.

Languages: Bilingual in English and Hindi/Urdu. Moderate skill in French. Learning Vietnamese.