As an education reporter for The Philadelphia Tribune — the nation’s oldest newspaper servicing the African American community — Melanie heads a weekly supplement of stories pertaining to the School District of Philadelphia, for which she won the “Best Youth Section” merit award presented by the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA).
Her experience as a middle school teacher through Teach For America has allowed her to better relate to students and apply lessons learned in the classroom to her reporting and feature writing.
Venturing outside of her beat, Melanie was recognized by the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists (PABJ) for her role in covering the campaign and election of President Barack Obama. Other highlights from her general assignment articles include meeting with Grammy-winning rapper T.I., to investigating crime scenes and interviewing some of Pennsylvania’s most notorious prisoners. Melanie’s underlying passion is writing to uplift the Black community.
Born in 1984, Melanie was raised in Syracuse, NY. She earned her Bachelors degree in print journalism from Howard University and Masters degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania.
