2021 Scholarship and Internship Support Recipients

SAJA is pleased to have granted $20,000 in scholarships and $3,000 in internship support this year to help support students pursuing studies and careers in journalism. This is the second year in a row we have made such a large investment.

We believe this investment will help advance reporting on South Asia and its diaspora, as well as provide crucial support to journalists of South Asian backgrounds, and help better the journalism industry as a whole.

Congratulations to all the recipients!

Scholarship Winners

Waqas Ahmed
Waqas is currently working with the Boston Globe to create an internal newsroom tool for content and conversation discovery. Waqas is studying at New York University this fall.

Sriharsha Devulapalli
Sriharsha will be attending Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in the fall, where he will be in the data journalism program. Sriharsha previously worked as a reporter at India’s business daily Mint.

Shradha Dinesh 
Shradha is currently the editor-in-chief of the high school paper, The Blaze, in Ashburn, Virginia, which has been covering the pandemic and its impact on the student body. In the fall, Shradha will be attending William & Mary college.

Anissa Gardizy
Anissa is currently working as a digital producer and reporter for The Boston Globe while finishing a bachelor’s degree in journalism at Emerson College. Previously, Anissa also reported for The Information in San Francisco and The Worcester Telegram & Gazette in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Wajeeha Malik
Wajeeha will be attending Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in the fall. In 2018, Wajeeha was awarded SAJA’s Reporting Fellowship to write about sociopolitical changes in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Vishal Manve 
Vishal is currently a master’s student in international law and diplomacy at Tufts University and is attending Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism’s summer program on data analysis and visualization. Vishal previously worked as a journalist in Mumbai, India.

Saumya Monga 
Saumya is a student at San Jose State University, and graduating next year with a bachelor’s in journalism. Saumya currently works as a social media marketing intern and writes for the San Jose chapter of Her Campus.

Haya Panjwani
Haya is currently a legislative fellow for NPR’s Texas Newsroom. Haya is attending the University of Houston, and will graduate next year with a bachelor’s in political science and journalism.

Erum Salam
Erum is currently a digital producer and reporter for The Guardian, covering news around the U.S. In the fall, Erum will be attending Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in the fall.

Sanjna Selva
Sanjna will be attending Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in the fall, where Sanjna will be in the documentary program.

Internship Award Winner

Nuha Dolby 
Nuha is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, studying English and math. Currently, Nuha is working on a project with the Pulitzer Center that looks at public versus private hospitals in Bangladesh, and the implications of health care quality during the COVID-19 pandemic.