Leah Harding is an Arabic-speaking, Emmy-nominated media consultant and host of Disengaged, an award-winning podcast. Prior to her work in policy communications, Leah was an international journalist based in the Middle East for nearly a decade.

She began her career in 2011 as a reporter at WUFT-TV/FM, the local NPR/PBS affiliate station in Gainesville, Florida, covering initiatives supporting unhoused individuals. In 2014, she joined Al Jazeera English in Doha, Qatar where she helped launch the network’s first interactive Newshour, NewsGrid.

Her reporting has earned her multiple awards including an Emmy nomination. She has covered major events including four U.S. election cycles and has worked in some of the world’s most challenging environments, becoming the first international correspondent to broadcast live from Ethiopia during the 2019 attempted coup and reporting on the climate crisis from Antarctica.

Following her transition from journalism, Leah served as a policy communications media consultant at Rud Pedersen Public Affairs in Brussels, where she supported tech, environmental and various other sector clients in navigating complex political landscapes in the EU through strategic media and message development.

In addition to her consulting work, Leah is a frequent public speaker and panel guest on topics of self-advocacy, women's empowerment and navigating professional transitions with authenticity. She is passionate about creating supportive spaces for women in media, politics and leadership.

Recently based in Washington, D.C., Leah has lived in Jordan, Ethiopia, Kenya, New Zealand and Qatar and has visited at least 70 countries across all seven continents. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunication-News and a minor in Arabic Language and Literature from the University of Florida and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Public Diplomacy and Global Communications at Syracuse University.

Leah is an advanced scuba diver and passionate hiker, with a deep love for animal rehabilitation. During the pandemic, she helped Fur Bae Rescue rehome more than 300 abandoned dogs to North America from Qatar. Her adopted Doberman, Josie, and former street cat, Jefferson, are the stars of her Instagram.

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