Hi, I’m Kanzi.
I tell stories that help people care for each other and the places they love.
I’m a storyteller and former reporter, and I’ve spent my career helping people listen to one another. These days I’m writing picture books that help children fall in love with the natural world, so they’ll want to look after it.
Now writing
Raised to Preserve
A picture book series about real places that are changing with the climate. Each book is told by the place itself, with help from the scientists who study it and the people who know it best.
Book one
The Lake
Great Salt Lake, Utah
A pink, salty lake where millions of birds stop to rest, and where the water is slowly going down.
Book two
The Ice
Canadian Arctic
A seal pup growing up on sea ice that arrives a little later each winter.
Book three
The Glaciers
Norway
Old rivers of ice, slowly pulling back up the mountains.
This project is part of the UN-affiliated WYSE Global Changemakers Programme (2026).
About
Numbers can tell us what’s happening. Stories help us care about it.
I started out as a reporter in Beirut. I spent a lot of time with families who had fled the war in Syria, listening to what they had been through. It taught me to listen first, and showed me how much one person’s story can mean to the people who hear it.
I studied media and communications, with a minor in computer science, at the American University of Beirut. I also joined the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change, where my team worked with UNDP on the water crisis in Uganda.
Then came Dublin. I helped build the editorial team at a small publishing start-up, and later spent eight years at Qualtrics working on communications and engagement. Along the way I started a Green Team that helped our office reach net-zero.
These days I live in Salt Lake City. I love helping more people feel at home in the mountains, and I’m putting together dinners with local chefs to raise money for asylum seekers. In 2026 I finished a master’s in energy at BI Norwegian Business School, because I wanted to understand the climate side of things as well as the people side.
I speak English and Arabic.
10+
years in journalism and communications
7,000+
colleagues I’ve worked with and for
$35,000+
raised for community programs
Work
Where I’ve worked
2018 – 2026
Qualtrics · Dublin and Salt Lake City
Eight years and four roles in communications, change and engagement, for teams of up to 7,000 people. Highlights include growing a small AI pilot into a company-wide program, designing AI learning that helped thousands of colleagues try new tools, writing keynotes for our annual conference, and starting the Green Team in Dublin.
2016 – 2018
Bookwitty · Dublin
I was the first person on the team in Dublin, helped build the editorial side, and produced more than 300 long-form pieces.
Earlier
Journalism · Beirut
Reporter at Beirut.com and editorial coordinator at Keeward, a digital publisher working across the Middle East and Europe.
Community
Things I do outside work
Utah
Opening up the outdoors
I co-led Color the Wasatch and Salt Lake Area Queer Climbers, two groups that help more people feel welcome in the mountains. Together we raised more than $35,000 and started Utah’s first snow program for BIPOC skiers and snowboarders.
Salt Lake City
Dinners for asylum seekers
Bringing local chefs and vendors together for dinners that raise money for organizations supporting asylum seekers.
Lebanon
Refugee support
I volunteered in camps with families who had fled Syria, helped fundraise with UNRWA for schools and repairs, and later raised $5,000 to help rebuild in Beirut.
Education
Where I’ve studied
2026
BI Norwegian Business School
Executive Master of Management in Energy. I wrote my thesis on AI in renewable energy with Statkraft, and my classmates asked me to be their Class Representative and give our graduation speech.
2014
American University of Beirut
B.A. in Media and Communications, cum laude, with a minor in Computer Science.
Along the way
Programs
WYSE Global Changemakers (2026) · McKinsey Emerging Leadership Program (2023)
Say hello
Whether you’re curious about the books, want to work together, or just want to chat about climate, community or storytelling, please get in touch.
kanzi19@gmail.com
