Joan Erakit

With a background in communications, development, and administration, Joan has worked for Africa Center for Peace & Democracy, Open Society Foundations, and​ Inter Press Service. She has also worked as a consultant for the ​United Nations Population Fund, as well as a United Nations Correspondent for ​Inter Press Service ​and a teacher at ​Scuola Holden. Splitting her time between the US and Italy, Joan currently runs Open Borders, a three-part social innovation project focused on storytelling to promote inclusivity, integration, and education, and a creative agency called ​Little Bird Creatives​. Her writings have been published by ​Cool Hunting, The HuffPost, Marie Claire, Essence, The Minneapolis City Pages, The World Post, Inter Press Service, La Voce di New York ​and ​OkayAfrica.