Masih Alinejad is an Iranian-American journalist, author, and women’s rights activist. Alinejad currently works as a presenter/producer at VOA Persian Service, a correspondent for Radio Farda, a frequent contributor to Manoto television, and a contributing editor to IranWire. Alinejad focuses on criticism of the status of human rights in Iran, especially women’s rights in Iran. She now lives in exile in New York City, and has won several awards, including the 2015 Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy women’s rights award, the Omid Journalism Award from the Mehdi Semsar Foundation, and a “Highly Commended” AIB Media Excellence Award.

She has said she is not opposed to the hijab, but believes it should be a matter of personal choice. Alinejad has been leading the swelling protests against Iran’s “morality police” in the wake of the death of Mahsa Amini using social media to spread awareness and demand action.

Alinejad has been published in a variety of newspapers and magazines, including Huffington Post, Time magazine and the Washington Post. Her memoir, The Wind in My Hair, was published in 2018. It deals with her journey from a tiny village in northern Iran to become a journalist and create an online movement that sparked the nationwide protests against compulsory hijab.