Mechelle Hankerson
GRANTEE
Mechelle Hankerson is a Virginia Beach native and went to Virginia Commonwealth University, where she was an award-winning college journalist.
After college, Hankerson was at Raleigh, North Carolina's The News & Observer. After two years, she returned home to work at The Virginian-Pilot. There, she spent months investigating stormwater and recurrent flooding in Virginia Beach after Hurricane Matthew, among other topics. Mechelle went back to Richmond in 2018 to work at the nonprofit startup, The Virginia Mercury, to cover state government. She left to work at WHRO–her first radio reporting job–where she hopes to do journalism that helps her hometown understand and navigate the world around them.
Mechelle lives in Virginia Beach with her two dogs, Moose and Bernie.
