Shada Islam is an influential Brussels-based specialist on European Union affairs who works independently as a commentator, advisor, analyst, strategist and media trainer. Her areas of interest and specification include Europe, Asia, Africa, Geopolitics, Trade, Migration, Inclusion, Diversity and Women’s Empowerment. She runs her own Brussels-based global strategy and advisory media company, New Horizons Project (NHP).
Shada is a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Natolin) and a Solvay Fellow at the Vrije University Brussel (VUB). In 2017, she was selected as one of the 20 most influential women in Brussels by the magazine Politico. In 2023, she was identified as one of 50 top influencers in Brussels by ZN Consulting.
She is recipient the career award 2023 by the European Journalist Association in Catalonia.
Shada is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Development. She is a member of the European Policy Centre’s Strategic Council and Senior Advisor for its Europe in the World programme.
She is also Senior Advisor to counsel clients on geopolitical trends and Inclusive diversity at Burson Cohn & Wolfe Brussels.
Shada has spent most of her professional life researching, writing, analysing and speaking about the European Union and its relations with Asia and Africa as well as EU Development Policy, Trade Policy and Migration.
Through her work and personal actions, she has spotlighted the strong global role and power of women. As a firm believer in equal opportunities and a long-standing diversity activist, Shada is also an important voice on issues related to fighting racism and promoting the rights of minorities in Europe.
Over the last three decades, starting as the EU correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review, a renowned pan-Asian newsweekly, she built up a global reputation as a leading commentator, analyst and writer as well as a fresh and original thought-leader on the EU’s domestic and foreign policy agendas.
As a journalist reporting for the Review and other publications, including West Africa Magazine, Middle East International as well as DPA, the BBC, Radio France Internationale and Radio Netherlands, Shada gained valuable insights into the world of policy, business, academia and media in Europe, Asia and Africa and established an extensive global network of government and non-governmental contacts.
Over the years, she has interviewed and talked to presidents, prime ministers, ministers, senior policymakers and business leaders as well as authors and academics.
She is especially attracted to interaction with young people, including students, and is a great believer in the transformational quality of younger people and women. She has been and remains a strong advocate for stronger representation of ethnic minorities in EU institutions and is a leading voice for a fairer and more inclusive Europe including through #BrusselsSoWhite
Shada is active as:
An inspirational speaker at international conferences and policy panels on all issues related to Europe’s global role, 21st Century geopolitics, trade, EU relations with Asia and Africa, migration and inclusion.
A much-respected lecturer on Europe-Asia relations at the College of Europe in Natolin.
An insightful audiovisual commentator, Shada is often interviewed by international audiovisual media, including Euronews.
A regular op-ed writer on Europe, Africa, Asia and Migration and other topical questions in the Guardian, Politico, China Daily and the South China Morning Post as well as in academic journals.
A much-in-demand chair/moderator/facilitator for international conferences, including those organised by the European Commission, the European Parliament, the United Nations, the OECD and the World Trade Organisation.
Senior Advisor to several international consultancies and on the advisory committee of several think tanks including European Policy Centre.
Media and public speaking trainer.
