Isha Sesay facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Isha Sesay
|
|
|---|---|
Isha Sesay (right) and Nima Elbagir (left) at the 2015 Peabody Awards
|
|
| Born |
Isha Isatu Sesay
6 January 1976 London, England
|
| Education | English |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | News presenter journalist |
| Years active | 1998–present |
|
Notable credit(s)
|
HLN CNN CNN International Sky Sports News ITN BBC W.E. Can Lead |
| Relatives | Kadi Sesay (mother) |
Isha Isatu Sesay (born on January 6, 1976) is a British journalist. Her family comes from Sierra Leone in Africa. For many years, from 2005 to 2018, she worked as a news anchor and reporter for CNN International. She was based in Atlanta, Georgia, and later in Los Angeles, California. She hosted news shows like CNN Newsroom Live from Los Angeles. She also presented the 360 Bulletin on Anderson Cooper 360°. In 2012, Isha also joined HLN as a co-anchor for Evening Express. She left CNN in 2018 to focus on helping African girls get an education through a project called W.E. Can Lead. She also wanted to write a book and work on other personal projects.
Contents
Early Life and School
Isha Sesay was born in London, England, in 1976. Her parents were from the Temne group in Sierra Leone. When she was seven, she moved with her family back to Sierra Leone. She grew up there, following the Muslim faith. Isha has an older sister and a younger brother.
Her mother, Dr. Kadi Sesay, used to teach at Fourah Bay College. In 1992, Dr. Sesay became an advisor to the government. Isha's father worked as a legal advisor for a marketing board. He passed away in 1988.
Isha went to school at the private Fourah Bay College School in Freetown. She also attended St. Joseph's Secondary School in Freetown. When she was 16, in 1992, she moved to the UK to continue her studies. After finishing her A-levels, she was accepted into Trinity College, Cambridge. There, she studied English. While studying, she worked as a waitress. She decided she wanted to be a television journalist, even though she had thought about becoming an actress before. In her last year of college, she started writing to media companies to find work.
Her Journalism Career
Starting Her Career
After college, Isha Sesay began her TV career at the BBC. She started as an unpaid helper for the talk show Kilroy. Later, she was hired as a full-time employee. In 1998, she moved to Glasgow to work for BBC Scotland. After working behind the scenes for a while, she got her first job as a TV announcer on BBC Choice. She then presented many different shows for the BBC, CNN, and TWI. In March 2002, she joined Sky.
Working at Sky
At Sky, Isha worked for more than three years as an anchor on Good Morning Sports Fans for Sky Sports News. She remembers meeting former boxer Michael Watson and interviewing Ellen MacArthur as special moments. She also traveled with the Arsenal football team after a charity match. Later, she moved to ITN, where she anchored the ITV Morning News program. She was also a newsreader on the breakfast show GMTV.
Joining CNN
In November 2005, Isha Sesay became a news anchor and reporter for CNN International. She was based at CNN's main office in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. In April 2007, she traveled to Nigeria to report on the presidential election. She interviewed both the outgoing president, Olusegun Obasanjo, and the new president, Umaru Yar'Adua. Later that year, she was in South Africa to cover the start of the Global Elders group.
Hosting News Shows
In 2009, Isha became the host of the first part of the weekday news program International Desk. In 2011, she became the presenter of BackStory. On April 16, 2012, BackStory became a weekend-only show. Isha was then chosen to be the anchor of a new show called CNN NewsCenter.
Besides her work on CNN International, Isha also helped with Anderson Cooper 360° on CNN. She presented the 360 Bulletin starting in January 2011. The next year, she also became a presenter for Evening Express on HLN. She is now based in Los Angeles, United States.
Leaving CNN
On August 2, 2018, Isha Sesay announced she was leaving CNN after 13 years. She mentioned that the media's focus on the United States President Donald Trump was one reason for her decision. Isha said she would write a book about the kidnapping of Chibok girls in Nigeria. She also planned to continue working on issues in Africa.
W.E. Can Lead
| Established | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Legal status | Active |
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
|
Staff
|
Sharon Debary, Natalie Au, Robin Cutshaw, Stacey Brice Washington, William Asiko, Judithe Registre, Iris Kargbo, Rosaline Kargbo, Haja Koroma |
In 2014, Isha Sesay started W.E. Can Lead (Women Everywhere Can Lead). This is a non-profit organization that helps girls in Africa get an education. The goal is to help them become future leaders. In August 2018, the program mostly worked with Nigerian girls, but it is open to girls from all over Africa.
The program has two main parts. First, girls learn important skills like managing money, thinking critically, and staying healthy. They also learn how to build confidence. After one year, they can apply for the Young Leader development program. Girls who don't get a spot can still attend yearly camps and listen to inspiring speakers. The girls in the program receive money to help pay for school fees, uniforms, and other supplies. In August 2018, more than 600 girls, aged 12 to 18, were part of the program.
In January 2017, actor Idris Elba helped raise money for W.E. Can Lead by auctioning a date with him. They worked together again in 2019. They started a raffle where people could win a McLaren 720S Coupé.
Recent Activities
Since 2018, Isha Sesay has been working as a freelance presenter and speaker.
She worked with Bellanaija and AWB on a five-day series called “#ENDSARS: The Struggle to Save Nigeria.” This series looked into the youth-led movement in Nigeria and shared stories of bravery.
Isha, along with Senegalese journalist Aboubacry Ba, hosted the Aiteo CAF Awards 2018. This event took place in Dakar, Senegal, on January 8, 2019.
In June 2018, she led a question-and-answer session with the director of the documentary Youth Unstoppable, Slater Jewell-Kemker. The documentary is about young people working for environmental causes.
For World Refugee Day in 2018, Isha spoke with Samantha Nutt. Samantha is the founder of War Child the USA, an organization that helps children in war zones.
In April 2019, Isha hosted a public discussion with Michelle Obama. The event was called Becoming: an intimate conversation with Michelle Obama. It took place in front of 20,000 guests in Paris and Amsterdam.
Her book Beneath the Tamarind Tree is about the kidnapping of Chibok girls in 2014. It was published in July 2019 by HarperCollins and also as an audiobook.
In June 2019, Isha Sesay was a speaker at the Women Deliver Conference in Vancouver, Canada. This is an international conference that talks about topics like gender equality and the health of girls.
She also spoke at the 2019 Brilliant Minds event in Stockholm, Sweden. This event was started by Spotify founder Daniel Ek. It aims to encourage new ideas in music and technology.
In September 2019, Isha was a guest speaker on the BBC program Africa Today for two days. She talked about how women are shown in the media.
Also in September 2019, she was one of the hosts of the Global Citizen Festival with Bozoma Saint John. This event combines live music with talks about important global problems. It is linked to the Global Poverty Project.
In September 2019, she was also a speaker at the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI) Place for Peace event.
Personal Life
Isha Sesay was married to Leif Coorlim, who worked at CNN. They are now divorced. Isha welcomed her daughter on February 17, 2023, after undergoing IVF treatment.
