Summary of Madison Activities
IRIS NRC welcomed multimedia, international journalist Erica Ayisi to UW-Madison, where she engaged with students, faculty, and community members through a series of conversations centered on global Black identity and storytelling. During her visit, Ayisi led an interactive session with over 70 students, exploring themes of diaspora and identity through the lens of her latest Center-supported project, Swallowed by Sea. 2023 Reporting Fellow Audrey Thibert captured highlights from this powerful discussion in a published article.
Ayisi also headlined a public event, “Reporting the Global Black Experience.” In her talk, she reflected on more than a decade of reporting on Black culture across the globe – sharing stories of food, fashion, art, and politics that provided a unique window into the lives and voices shaping the African diaspora.
Erica’s Biography
Erica Ayisi is an international freelance journalist focusing on human feature stories around the world. Her work appears in NBCNEWS.com, Mongabay, Rhode Island PBS Weekly, The Root, ESSENCE, Lonely Planet, Afroelle Magazine, xoNecole, and other publications.
Some of her reporting includes a profile on Bose Ogulu- ‘momager’ to Afrobeat star Burna Boy, stories on surfing communities in Ghana, Black atheism in London, colorism within Jamaican politics, ballet dancing in Nigeria, the legacy of civil rights activist Recy Taylor, the business of chocolate across Africa, a documentary on whaling merchant Paul Cuffee, as well as several other reports-each capturing diverse global experiences primarily from the African diaspora and other communities of color. She has also worked as an on-air reporter for Spectrum News 1 in central Massachusetts and for ETV in Ghana.
Erica has a long history as an educator, having taught media literacy, television production, and English Language Arts at both the middle and high school levels in the United States.
She is a two-time Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Grantee publishing ‘Swallowed by Sea’- an investigative project exploring the impact of climate change on coastal communities in Ghana and ‘If This Hair Could Talk’-a deep dive into ethical sourcing of human hair extensions within the Cambodian and American human hair trade industry.
Erica’s passion for telling international stories has earned her a Distinguished Alumni & Friends of the Worcester Public Schools Achievement Award, a Ceremonial Key to the City of Worcester, Massachusetts, the 2021 Ethel Payne African Reporting Fellowship and a Salute to Excellence Award for International Reporting from the National Association of Black Journalists. She is also 2024 Diversity Fellow for the Society of Environmental Journalists Annual Conference.
A graduate of New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), Erica holds a masters and bachelors degree in Communication Arts. She is also the founder of Akosua’s Closet-an African sourced online boutique shop.
An avid traveler, Erica enjoys exploring off the beaten path adventures around the world.
She is currently a full-time multimedia Indigenous Affairs Reporter with PBS Wisconsin in collaboration with ICT (formerly Indian Country Today). In this role, Erica reports on the 12 Native American Tribes in Wisconsin.
Interested in getting in touch? You can contact Erica here.