Celebrating the journeys of the women behind our first Fellowship
Every story has a beginning.
For the women who took part in the first MWP Fellowship, that beginning was an opportunity to develop their journalism, publish original stories and become part of a growing community of migrant and racialised women changing the media landscape.
Throughout August, MWP Fellowship Voices will share a series of conversations with our first Fellowship cohort. In these short interviews, each fellow reflects on her journey into community journalism, the story she published through the Fellowship, the challenges she has overcome and the impact the programme has had on her confidence, skills and career.
These conversations are reflections and stories of growth, resilience and the importance of creating spaces where women from migrant and racialised communities can develop their voices and tell the stories that matter to them.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll introduce seven fellows and invite you to hear directly from the women who helped shape the first edition of the MWP Fellowship.
We hope their experiences will inspire future applicants, strengthen our growing community and demonstrate why programmes like this matter.
Over the coming weeks, we will publish one conversation at a time, featuring seven member of our first Fellowship cohort:
- Christiana Opoku Afriyie
- Sana Faqir
- Lorelai Patnaik
- Neha Thomas
- Omowunmi Ola-Edagbami
- Maria Farsoon
- Meher Vepari
Each interview explores the fellow’s journey, the story she published, what she learned through the Fellowship and her advice for future participants.
Looking Ahead
Applications for the 2026 MWP Emerging Women Journalists Fellowship will open later this month.
If you’re a migrant or racialised woman studying journalism or media—or a recent graduate—in Scotland, we hope these conversations encourage you to apply and become part of our next cohort.
We also invite universities, media organisations, funders and supporters to join us in helping create more opportunities for the next generation of women journalists.
Follow the series throughout August and discover the voices behind the Fellowship.
Explore the original journalism created by our previous Fellowship cohort in our website.
To make our Fellowship stories more accessible, all articles are also available in audio, allowing audiences to listen to each story in addition to reading it.
This project was made possible thanks to the generous support of The National Lottery Community Fund, FunderBirds, National Union of Journalists Glasgow, Edge Fund, and the kindness of individual donors.
A special thank you to our Fellow, JinLing Wu, who brought this series together editing and producing all of the Fellowship Voices videos. We are incredibly grateful for your creativity, dedication and hard work.
