Mariam Ashraf is a researcher, writer, and documentarian based in Brookline, Massachusetts. 

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Like most twelve-year-olds who grew up one mile away from a drug manufacturing plant, Mariam dreamed of becoming a scientist. Until one day at work, she learned the plant had contaminated the local drinking water. Researchers were studying it as a possible link to the area's rising cancer rate. Yet, no outlet covered it, and no one talked about it. 

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She studied Public Health and Spanish Literature at the University of Maryland, then worked at the Health Affairs Journal before starting a Master of Science in Journalism at Boston University. 

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Mariam’s journalistic work is a tapestry of realities that slip everyday eyes. She uses data, conversation, and moving image to tell global stories, covering urgent topics including police profiling, the effects of war on access to medication, AI development, and environmental racial justice.

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Drawing on her upbringing in an artistic milieu, Mariam also writes and has worked on several of her own short films. She won the Ovarlea festival with "Portrait of Maryam", shot entirely on a camcorder. She speaks four languages, including Spanish, Urdu, and Pashto, and has been learning Dari as a fourth.  

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