Anera Names Media Relations Officer

Washington, DC, January 5, 2009 – American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) is pleased to announce that Laurie Kassman is joining the headquarters staff as Media Relations Officer on January 12. Kassman comes to Anera from the Middle East Institute, where she served as the Director of Communications and Outreach for nearly four years.

Previously, Kassman served as a correspondent with Voice of America (VOA), where she covered international events and US foreign policy for more than two decades in a number of bureaus throughout the Middle East, Europe, and Central America. From 1993-1997, she served as VOA’s Cairo bureau chief, where she reported on the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process and other regional stories. In subsequent postings in London and Washington, Kassman traveled on reporting assignments to the Middle East and continued to report on US policy toward in the region.

Prior to VOA, Kassman worked for commercial newspapers and radio networks in New York, Paris, Buenos Aires, and Mexico City.

“Laurie has an extensive network of contacts in media, both domestic and abroad,” said Bill Corcoran, Anera President. “The Anera team is thrilled that she will apply her winning personality and expertise in Middle East affairs and media relations to the task of raising Anera’s status as a leading humanitarian organization for Palestinians and needy people in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan.”