Denise Ajiri is a data reporter and researcher for ICIJ.
She has worked on the Pandora Papers, Cyprus Confidential, Caspian Cabals, and China Targets investigations. Her work often bridges data journalism and investigative reporting with a strong focus on cross-border financial, political and economic wrongdoing.
Ajiri is an award-winning journalist and analyst whose reporting has appeared in outlets across the United States and Europe. In addition to her work on ICIJ projects, she has contributed to collaborative projects with Univision/Columbia University and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), and worked as a journalist at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Persian service, Radio Farda.
She holds a bachelor’s degree from Tehran University and a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, where she was a Stabile investigative fellow. She later returned to Columbia as a postdoctoral research scholar and currently serves as an adjunct faculty member.
Ajiri is a recipient of the Online News Association’s MJ Bear Fellowship and later won an ONA award for her reporting on Iranian elections.
