Leyla Doss

Over the last 16 years, I've moved from high-stakes investigative reporting to leading communications strategy for organizations that need to build long-term, sustainable trust with audiences and the press.

My interest in strategy started when I realized that even the most important story goes nowhere without a plan behind it.​

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I began my career covering the Arab Spring for the Financial Times and The Guardian, but the turning point  came at Egypt Independent. When management tried to censor our team and shut us down, we didn't walk away, we launched a digital final issue that went viral, proving just how hungry the public was for independent journalism. 

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That defiance led a group of us to co-found Mada Masr, which grew into Egypt's leading independent news outlet and an international award-winning example of investigative reporting from Egypt and the Arab world.

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Going through this taught me something beyond journalism: I wasn't just reporting. I was helping build an organization. Today, it's described as a groundbreaking outlet that has "kept press freedom alive in Egypt." 

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From young activists creating a utopian city in Tahrir Square to bakers striking over wages, I've always told human stories about systemic and global political issues, making them readable, interesting, and engaging. My print reporting has appeared in The Guardian, The Financial Times, Mada Masr, Limes, and Verily, covering Middle Eastern politics across Egypt, Libya, Algeria, and North Africa. I also investigated the deliberate killing of protesters by police in Egypt in 2012 and covered US and European foreign policy and its regional impact.

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​From there, I moved into strategic communications, where my journalism toolkit - finding the "so what" and connecting with audiences - became the foundation for building global influence.

 

I've led campaigns for organizations like TIMEP, Just Vision (and its partner outlet +972 Magazine), 350.org, the Nile Project, and For Our Future, that led to results and real impact, including increased public awareness, campaign wins, and policy change. 

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I also produce and fact-check podcasts, with work appearing on Kerning Cultures Network, TED podcasts, Campside Media, Cerdan Stories, Wondery and Audible, including entire seasons reaching 10M+ monthly listeners.

 Working at that scale taught me to think in long arcs: taking massive, complex topics and making them feel intimate and human.

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​My career has been a progression of zooming out. Print was the granular word. Podcasts were the narrative arc. Strategic communications is the campaign level. Today, I work at the biggest picture — helping media outlets, non-profits, and globally focused companies strengthen their storytelling and audience engagement through research, interview coaching, media outreach and communications strategies as a whole. 

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​As a board member of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association (AMEJA), I also work to strengthen the ecosystem that makes this kind of work possible.

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Let's work together to ensure your company or organization's stories are accurate, compelling, and widely seen.