Hekmat is a first year Journalism Masters student at École du Journalisme de Nice in France. Hekmat graduated from Boston College with a BA in International Relations, Economics, and Finance. Hekmat then joined the Venture for America 2020 Fellowship and matched in Birmingham Alabama where he worked on a number of economic development projects within rural Alabama. In the Spring of 2022, Hekmat co-founded Project Onwards. Hekmat now writes for EDJ news, and produces content independently under the name WhatTheHekmat. In the future Hekmat hopes to work as an investigative journalist and to keep writing about the Middle East in hopes of growing American understanding of the region.