Chandra Thomas, Neighbor

<br>Chandra R. Thomas is an award-winning journalist who recently completed a 2010 Kiplinger Public Affairs Journalism Fellowship, a multimedia training program at The Ohio State University. She currently serves as a reporter for the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, a juvenile justice website based out of Kennesaw State University. The former staff writer for Atlanta Magazine 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 in 2006, 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. The latter helped contribute to a change in Georgia law and the young man&#39;s early release from prison. She was named 2007 Print Journalist of the Year by the Atlanta Press Club and in 2009 she won a Mental Health America feature writing award for the work she completed as part of the Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellowship Program. Her freelance work has appeared in Essence, Ebony, People, <i>Newsweek</i> and Upscale magazines. The proud New Orleans native and Clark Atlanta University graduate has served as an associate producer for Fox 5&#39;s Good Day Atlanta program and a contributor to National Public Radio&#39;s &#34;News &amp; Notes&#34; program. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and mentoring aspiring young journalists.