Click to zoom Nadira Hira
Writer
FORTUNE

Nadira A. Hira is a general assignment writer at FORTUNE, where her subjects have ranged widely — from rapper and Def Jam CEO Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter (for the 2005 Power Issue) to tech guru Bill Gross — with an increasing focus on stories for and about Generation Y, the fastest growing segment of the American workforce. She authored Fortune's widely discussed 2007 cover story on Gen Yers and their impact on corporate America, and writes a blog for Gen Yers called "The Gig" on fortune.com.

In 2007, Hira was a recipient of the NewsBios 30 Under 30 award, which showcases up-and-coming business and financial reporters and editors. And she has twice been nominated for a National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence award (for features on Carter and education nonprofit Management Leadership for Tomorrow).

Hira is also a contributor to various other publications — among them, Essence, Smithsonian and BestLife magazines — and has been featured on a variety of major television and radio outlets, including HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, VH1's The Fabulous Life, CBS's The Early Show, BET's Black Carpet, ABC's America's Black Forum, MSNBC, CNBC and BBC-A. Prior to signing on at FORTUNE, Hira was an editorial talent consultant for Time Inc., canvassing some of the industry's top talent for the company, and a contributor to MTV News online and on-air, focusing on the 2004 presidential race through the network's Choose or Lose 2004 campaign. Before that, Hira was a staff writer at Savoy magazine, where she dabbled in photo and editing, in addition to writing a lifestyle column called "Out and About" highlighting such personalities as Wynton Marsalis and NASCAR driver Bill Lester.

Hira has a B.A. in English with a creative writing emphasis from Stanford University, where she edited The Stanford Daily. A would-be poet, sometime bartender and professional sports fan, she calls downtown Manhattan home.