Sumi Somaskanda is an American journalist born in Rochester, New York, United States, to parents of Tamil heritage from India. Growing up in a multicultural household helped shape her global outlook and interest in international affairs.

She studied journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in Chicago, earning both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism. During her early career she worked as a reporter in the United States, covering local politics and news in New York state and Washington, D.C.

Somaskanda later moved to Germany after receiving a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship. She spent more than a decade in Berlin working for Deutsche Welle (DW News) as a correspondent and senior presenter, covering European politics, migration, and global diplomacy.

In March 2023, she joined BBC News as a Chief Presenter, based in Washington, D.C., anchoring international news coverage and reporting on U.S. politics and global affairs.