Isha Isatu Sesay (/ˈaɪʃə səˈseɪ/ ⓘ EYE-shə sə-SAY; born 6 January 1976) is a British journalist of Sierra Leonean descent.

[1] Born in London, England in 1976 to Temne parents from Sierra Leone, Sesay returned with them at the age of seven to their homeland.

Isha's father worked as a legal advisor to the SLPMB (Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board); he died in 1988.

After graduating, Sesay began her television career as a researcher for the BBC talk show Kilroy, initially as an unpaid intern.

[5] She considers the high points of this period to be meeting former boxer Michael Watson,[6] interviewing Ellen MacArthur, and travelling with members of the Arsenal football team following an exhibition match at Reebok Stadium in Manchester in support of Nwankwo Kanu's heart foundation.

[5] In November 2005, Sesay became a news anchor and correspondent at CNN International, based at the network's global headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States.

[9][10] Sesay announced that she will be writing a book about the abduction of Chibok girls in Nigeria, and that she plans to continue her engagement with African issues.

After one year in which the girls learn basic skills like financial literacy, critical thinking and good health practices as well how to build self-esteem and self-awareness, they can apply to take part in the Young Leader development program.

[18] Sesay, alongside the Senegalese journalist Aboubacry Ba, was the emcee of the Aiteo CAF Awards 2018, celebrated at the Centre international de conférences Abdou Diouf (CICAD) on Tuesday, 8 January 2019 in Dakar, Senegal.

[19][20] In June 2018, she led a Q&A round with the director of the documentary Youth unstoppable Slater Jewell-Kemker and her executive producer Adrian Grenierdes.

[21][22] On the occasion of the 2018 World Refugee Day, Sesay spoke with Samantha Nutt, founder of War Child the USA, an organization to help and protect children from warzones.

[24][25] Her book Beneath the Tamarind Tree about the abduction of Chibok girls in 2014 was published in July 2019 by HarperCollins and as an audiobook on different platforms.

The event was initiated in 2015 by Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek and serial entrepreneur Arash Pournouri.

[29][30] In September 2019, Sesay was invited as a guest speaker in the BBC program Africa today for two days, where she talked on women's representation in the media.