Davar Ardalan

Davar Ardalan is a veteran storyteller, and entrepreneur working at the intersection of communications and artificial intelligence. At PIF, she's responsible for chronicling the story of innovation within American federal agencies through the work of the fellows. A veteran journalist, Ardalan founded IVOW, an AI and cultural storytelling startup after 20+ years at NPR News.

At NPR, as a Senior Producer of Weekend Edition and Morning Edition, Ardalan was responsible for editorial and production decisions that required elaborate coordination and planning, such as shaping Morning Edition broadcasts from Baghdad, Kabul and New Orleans. Ardalan has also served as Director of Storytelling at the open innovation agency SecondMuse. There, she helmed storytelling efforts for various campaigns, including NASA's International Space Apps Challenge and Australian Aid innovation programs in Timor-Leste, Tonga and Fiji.

Ardalan, who has also served as Managing Editor and character writer at Hanson Robotics, has been recognized with a 2017 NASA Team Leadership award for Space Apps, a Gracie Award from the American Women in Radio and Television and a shout-out in the popular comic strip Zippy. In May 2014, she was the recipient of a United States Ellis Island Medal of Honor for individual achievement and for promoting cultural unity.

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