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Neema Roshania Patel was 35, and most recently worked as the Post's editor for next-generation audience development, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Born in Maplewood, Patel worked on her high school newspaper before graduating from Rutgers University with a degree in economics and journalism in 2009, her former colleagues wrote.
She joined the Post in 2016, first as a digital editor before being named deputy editor (and then chief editor) of the newspaper's women's issues podcast, "The Lily," according to her obituary.
Patel left the podcast in 2021 to join the Post's "Next Generation" initiative, aimed at appealing to younger readers.
“Younger audiences want to see their experiences and the experiences of their peers reflected in the journalism they consume,” Patel wrote in an op-ed for the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in April.
“They want to see how policy affects the lives of everyday people. And they want to feel personally connected to what they read. Diverse sourcing makes us more trustworthy arbiters of the news.”
She leaves behind a husband and a son, the Post wrote.
Click here for the full obituary from the Washington Post.
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