Award-winning journalist Melanie Lawson is a product of Houston schools. Journalism has always been in Melanie’s blood, and she has worked at Channel 13 for more than 25 years. She started as a general assignments reporter and went on to co-anchor Live at 5 and the midday Eyewitness News. Melanie also hosts a Sunday morning community affairs program called “Crossroads”.

Melanie has covered virtually every city, state and national election during her career, and won numerous awards for her reporting, including two Emmys. Melanie has interviewed a wide range of notables, including three U.S. Presidents, Henry Kissinger, the Dalai Lama, poet Maya Angelou, Grammy Award winners Destiny’s Child, champion boxer George Foreman, director Spike Lee, legendary journalist Barbara Walters, and evangelists Joel and Victoria Osteen.

Melanie has worked with or serves on the boards of numerous community organizations, including the Houston Ballet, the Children’s Defense Fund, SHAPE Community Center, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Volunteer Houston, the Houston Association of Black Journalists, and the American Leadership Forum. Melanie has been honored as one of YWCA’s “Outstanding Women of the Year” and CCFA’s “Women of Distinction.” She also received the Ben and Julie Rogers Ecumenism Award from the Anti-Defamation League.

Melanie earned a degree in Politics from Princeton University and a joint degree in Law and Journalism from Columbia University. She worked at a Wall Street law firm for three years before returning to Houston and is licensed by the Texas and New York State Bars. Melanie is a proud member of the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, founded by her late father, Reverend William A. Lawson.