Nelson was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,[citation needed] to a German mother and Iranian father.[2] She was raised in Milwaukee as well as in Iran where her family resided for several years.[3]
In total, she was a newspaper reporter for more than 20 years.
NPR
Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson at the 69th Annual Peabody Awards for Covering Afghanistan
Nelson joined NPR in 2006. Her reports are featured on several NPR programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, andWeekend Edition.[1] In 2006, she founded the NPR's permanent bureau in Kabul, which was the first permanent presence in Afghanistan for a US broadcast network.
For her coverage of Afghanistan, Nelson received a Peabody Award in 2010.[4] The award recognized Nelson's efforts over the previous year, which included a series on Afghan citizens turning to drugs to escape everyday miseries and the country's limited ability to offer rehabilitation; the story of determined girls breaking societal taboos and facing dangers to pursue an education; and a detailed account of how US Marines struggle to establish trust with locals in order to combat the Taliban. Peabody judges concluded that "No reporter in any medium gives us a better sense of the variety of life inside Afghanistan."
In June 2010, Nelson was assigned to cover the Arab World from NPR's Cairo, Egypt, bureau.[5]
She received the Gracie Award and Overseas Press Club Award in 2010.[1] In 2011, she received the 59th Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award for courageous journalism, the first non-newspaper journalist to receive the award. She has received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Colby College. Nelson's reporting on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring uprisings, and subsequent developments in the Middle East were credited for her receiving these honors.[6][1]