Senada Sokollu - Multimedia Journalist

Senada Sokollu grew up in Munich - a city she still calls home today. But she was drawn out into the world at an early age: to places where politics is not just theory, but tangible reality. After a master's degree in political science at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and in-depth journalistic training at the Bavarian Academy for Television with renowned media makers such as Martin Weiss, Hans Öchsner and Friedhelm Brebeck, her journey really took off.

Senada is a journalist with sharpness, depth and tireless curiosity. She reports in several languages on complex global issues - for international media companies, in TV studios, in front of the camera and behind the editing desk. Whether live broadcasting, reporting, presenting or social media: she masters the entire repertoire of modern journalistic work - with reliability, an analytical eye and journalistic integrity.

At the age of 25, she was already working for the ARD studio in Vienna under the direction of Susanne Glass and Thomas Morawski - and reported from Brussels and Kosovo for the ARD morning and night magazine. Later she was part of the editorial team of the BR-Rundshow.

In 2013, she moved to the heart of a troubled country: Istanbul. She worked there as a Turkey correspondent for Deutsche Welle until 2017 - at a time of political unrest and growing press censorship. She reported on the economy, corruption scandals, the refugee crisis on the Turkish-Syrian border and the Gezi Park protests - as the first foreign journalist ever on the ground. Her eyewitness reports gave a global audience an insight into the inner workings of a country at a tipping point.

Further stations followed: from 2017 to 2020, she reported for Euronews and wrote for the German Huffington Post. At the Bundeswehr's crisis training in Hammelburg, she stood out as the most mentally resilient participant - proof of her mental strength and stamina in extreme situations.

In addition to the harsh political reality, Senada is also committed to humanity: since 2017, she has been supporting widowed women in rural regions of Turkey with a self-initiated social project - with the aim of giving them a new quality of life and financial independence through manual work.

In 2025, she launched a project close to her heart: her own podcast "Echo of the Unheard". In emotional, in-depth interviews conducted in English, she gives a voice to those who are otherwise rarely heard - people from crisis and war zones, members of minorities, survivors. Guests have included a survivor of the Srebrenica genocide and Oscar-nominated Syrian documentary filmmaker Waad al-Kateab, who won an Emmy and the Palme d'Or at Cannes for her film "For Sama". The podcast sheds light on topics such as migration, refugees, human rights and international politics - areas in which Senada is at home as a journalist and acts with expertise and empathy.

Today she works as CvD, planner and reporter at SWR and reports on social hotspots and backgrounds. In 2023, she moderated the 3rd Munich Poverty Conference - organized by the City of Munich.

Senada Sokollu stands for courageous, independent journalism - with attitude, depth and heart.

She is currently enrolled in a postgraduate program for investigative journalism at the renowned Columbia University in New York, which she will complete in 2026.