Hollie Mckay

Bring one of the most inspiring human rights investigative reporters and writers, from the conflict zones across the world, into your learning moment.

Expert on

Geopolitics
Inspiration
Adversity
Change
Hope
Culture
Connection

Fee Range

$10,000–$15,000

Travels from

WA, US

Biography

Hollie McKay is a writer, war crimes investigator, and the author of “Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield.” (Jocko Publishing/Di Angelo Publications 2021). She was an investigative and international affairs/war correspondent for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years, where she focused on war, terrorism, and crimes against humanity.

Hollie has worked on the frontlines of several major war zones and covered humanitarian and diplomatic crises in Ukraine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other areas.

Hollie was in Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, where she became one of the few western journalists to stay in the country during and after the government fell to the Taliban. She was then the only American journalist to stay behind for the long haul, witnessing the first four months of the new regime. Hollie was then based in Ukraine to cover the leadup and subsequent invasion by Russian forces. Hollie continued to write and report on Afghanistan for numerous publications, including the New York Post, Empire Media Group, National Review, Liberty Dispatches, National Interest, Deadline Hollywood, The Independent, Dallas Morning News, Skillset Magazine, Recoil Magazine and SmartHer News.

Her globally-spanned coverage, in the form of thousands of print articles and essays, has included exclusive and detailed interviews with numerous captured terrorists, as well as high-ranking government, military, and intelligence officials and leaders from all sides.

Hollie also provided television and radio coverage for dozens of major outlets, including BBC World Service, NPR, ABC News Australia, Fox News, Sky News, The Ben Shapiro Show and KTLA.

Her coffee table book collaboration with combat photographer Jake Simkin entitled “Afghanistan: The End of the U.S. Footprint and Rise of the Taliban Rule” (DiAngelo Publications) is slated for release in Spring 2022.

Hollie is also a 40 Under 40 Honoree with the Middle East Policy Council (MEPC) and a 2022 Media Fellow for the Foundation of Defense of Democracies (FDD) honorary board member for EMERGENCY USA, a non-governmental organization that assists victims of conflict worldwide.  She was the 2021 recipient of the EMERGENCY honors award for “her commitment and dedication to providing surgical and medical care to people affected by war and poverty.”

Hollie serves as the Outreach Director for Burnt Children Relief Foundation (BCRF) to bring severely bomb-burned Syrian children to the U.S. for life-saving treatment.

Hollie is based in Washington, D.C.

Speaker Videos

Importance of Human Connection | What War Teaches Us

While conflict brings out the worst of humanity, it also brings out the absolute best. Survivors of such manmade atrocities teach us what it is to be brave, when there is little choice for the ordinary to become extraordinary.  I have often been struck by how ordinary people are forced to become extraordinary at the drop of a hat – or a bomb. I am both perplexed and inspired by the resilience of these people to withstand pain (physical and psychological), to find hope in the bundling of misery, and to push through the darkness. The key? Faith, hope, and the power of love and holding each other up.

The Art of Storytelling in Hostile Environments

Getting to the truth and shining a light in some of the darkest corners of the globe, is far from a straight-forward task, especially when faced with hostile governments, insurgents and powerful players who will stop at nothing from squashing the truth. But it can and must be done, both now and in the future.

On Investigating War Crimes and Accountability

Repeatedly, we hear and often even see unfathomable crimes being committed by governments, gangsters, warlords, and terrorists against those simply caught in the crossfire of conflict. Who is holding the perpetrators accountable? Why are so many mass murderers and rapists getting away with their crimes in the context of wartime? More must be done.

How Terrorists Think and Operate: Interviewing ISIS

Having spent years interviewing terrorists from various factions, all over the world and with different ranks and responsibilities, Hollie can offer an unprecedented insight into what makes them tick, what they really want, and why they do what they do.