E'jaaz Mason
He/Him/His
Lede New Orleans
E’jaaz Mason is a filmmaker, educator, and community engagement specialist. He is the co-founder of Lede New Orleans, a community journalism nonprofit that equips young creatives with skills, tools and resources to transform local media.
Prior to co-founding Lede, Mason spent five years teaching multimedia storytelling in local public high schools, where he founded the award-winning digital media program at New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School.
Mason has extensive experience in the film industry. In 2015, Mason and long-time collaborator, Edward Buckles Jr., began work on a project that shed light on the government’s mishandling of PTSD and lack of investment in adequate mental health support for the generation of children who experienced Hurricane Katrina. This project would go on to become the HBO/Time Studios documentary Katrina Babies, winning two awards at the Tribeca Film Festival and shortlisted for Best Documentary by the International Documentary Association.
Mason is an alumni of the prestigious John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University. During his fellowship, he created the Environmental Justice Film Festival, an interactive film screening and community engagement series about climate change and environmental equity.