• Saturday, 21 December 2024
Polly Irungu, a Kenyan-born photographer, has landed a top White House position

Polly Irungu, a Kenyan-born photographer, has landed a top White House position

Kenyan-born journalist, Polly Irungu, has landed the first official photo editor job at the White House, US.

She made the announcement on her Twitter account yesterday, noting that she was the first person to hold the position in Vice President Kamala Harris's Office.

"I'm thrilled to be the first official photo editor for the Biden-Harris Administration's Office of the Vice President." "To say I am honored and grateful is an understatement," she wrote, attaching a photo of herself standing outside US President Joe Biden's official residence.

She joins fellow Kenyan Joy Ngugi at the White House. In Biden's administration, she works as a video producer and editor in the Office of Digital Strategy.

Ms. Ngugi also announced her new job on Twitter in January of last year.

Ms. Irungu is the founder of Black Women Photographers, a global community and directory of over 1,000 black female photographers who advocate for their recognition and right to work.

Achievements
She is a self-taught photographer and writer whose work has appeared in a variety of publications, including the New York Times, Reuters, Global Citizen, BBC News, MEFeater, Refinery29, The Washington Post, BuzzFeed, and CNN.

She was most recently a digital editor at New York Public Radio (WNYC). She graduated from the University of Oregon with a journalism degree in 2017.

Ms. Irungu was born in Nairobi and has lived all over the world, from Kansas to Oregon, Washington, D.C., Arkansas, and finally Brooklyn, New York.

She is currently a member of the Twitter and LinkedIn creator programs, as well as a teacher at the International Centre of Photography.

She is also a 2022 IWMF Gwen Ifill Fellow, a program aimed at addressing the lack of diversity in leadership positions in US newsrooms.

Ms. Irungu celebrated her mother, Dr. Jane Irungu, who also landed a new position as Utah State University's first vice-president of administration, in a LinkedIn post earlier this week.

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