Forbidden Stories expands its Board of Directors, and appoints a new Bureau
February 21, 2022
Since its founding more than four years ago, Forbidden Stories has produced groundbreaking and collaborative investigative journalism with powerful global impact. Top news organizations and journalists from around the world have collaborated under the leadership of Forbidden Stories to produce award-winning series, including the Pegasus Project, the Daphne Project, Green Blood and the Cartel Project. As the recognition for our work has grown, so too have our operations, which now include a full-time team of 10 staff members, strong editorial partnerships, and wide-ranging institutional support from foundations in Europe and the United States.
To advise us as we expand our mission and reach, Forbidden Stories is pleased to welcome five new members to its board of directors. As a news organization based in France, the expansion of our board to include members of various nationalities also reflects the emphasis we place on international partnerships and collaborations:
“In four years, Forbidden Stories has grown at a rapid pace. Our investigations have had a worldwide impact and our partnerships have multiplied. We are very happy to be able to surround ourselves with important players from the journalism, entrepreneurship, and civil society worlds to support us in this evolution.” said Laurent Richard, founder and executive director of Forbidden Stories.
“Because of the ambitious work of Forbidden Stories, corrupt forces who seek to silence and intimidate journalists now know that there is a global network of reporters watching their misdeeds and that stories cannot so easily be killed,” said new board chair Lynette Clemetson. “It is an honor to help steer the growth and reach of such an important journalism organization, and all of us look forward to serving and working together.”
Please join us in welcoming the following new Forbidden Stories Board Members:
Lynette Clemetson
Chair
Lynette Clemetson is the Director of Wallace House, Knight-Wallace Fellowships and the Livingston Awards at the University of Michigan. A longtime journalist, she worked as a correspondent for Newsweek magazine, and for The New York Times, and senior director of strategy and new initiatives at NPR. Read more.
Luisa Handem Piette
Treasurer
Luisa Handem Piette is a highly regarded communications executive with vast experience as a broadcaster, human rights activist, media development officer and broadcaster. She has served in senior media positions with various organizations over the past three decades, including United Press International, UNESCO, the BBC World Service, Voice of America (VOA) and, in the private sector, with Fortune 50 companies in the high-tech industry. Read more.
Rémi Labed
Member
Rémi Labed is a French investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker. He advises and assists Forbidden Stories since its creation, both on its use of investigation and collaboration software and on its digital security. Read more.
Laurence Franc-Menget
Member
Doctor in Law and Member of the Paris Bar, Laurence Franc-Menget is a partner in the Disputes group in the Paris office of Herbert Smith Freehills. She has extensive experience both in international commercial arbitration and investment arbitration. Read more.
Joanne Levine
Member
Joanne Levine is an award winning producer and media executive with three decades of experience working, reporting and leading teams around the world. Her distinguished career includes more than 10 years at ABC News, garnering myriad awards along the way, including two Emmys for her work in Iraq, and a Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for her reporting on rape as a weapon of war during the Rwandan genocide. Read more.
The Board also includes two members who have been present since the beginning of Forbidden Stories:
Edouard Perrin
General secretary
Edouard Perrin is a French investigative reporter. In 2014, He brought to the ICIJ the Luxembourg Leaks investigation, based on secret documents, that revealed widespread aggressive tax avoidance by some of the world’s biggest companies. Read more.
Bastian Obermayer
Member
2017 Pulitzer prize winner, Bastian Obermayer is the deputy head of the investigative unit of the Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany’s biggest newspaper. He’s also member of the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Read more.