Chandra Thomas

Chandra R. Thomas is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in People, Essence, Ebony, Newsweek, Upscale, Heart & Soul, The American Prospect and Atlanta magazines, along with the The Root and Time.com Websites. She was named Journalist of the Year for 2007 by Region III of the National Association of Black Journalists for a body of work she produced, including a feature story about Hurricane Katrina victims exiled in Atlanta and the first in-depth account of the controversial Genarlow Wilson teen sex case, which ultimately helped contribute to a change in Georgia law and the Georgia teen’s 2007 release from prison. The same year she was also named Print Journalist of the Year by the Atlanta Press Club and awarded a Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellowship. The latter focused on mental health challenges facing the African-American community. “Suicide Mission,” her centerpiece article for the Carter fellowship, garnered a 2009 Mental Health America “Best Feature” award. The proud Clark Atlanta University graduate and New Orleans native has previously served as an associate producer for the Fox affiliate in Atlanta, a producer for the ABC television affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama and as a reporter for The Birmingham Post-Herald newspaper.