A writer since she won a crisp dollar bill in an elementary school essay contest, Janelle Harris Dixon uses her platform as a journalist, writer and editor to explore the experiences, challenges and diversities of women and people of color, particularly Black folks, who she loves fiercely. 

Her passion for issues around race, class, gender and culture—and all of their complex intersections—has propelled her storytelling since her first op-ed was published in 2004. Since then, Harris Dixon’s work has appeared in more than 40 publications, including Essence, Washington Post, Buzzfeed, Vice, Rolling Stone and Elle. She has been a contributing editor for The Root, BET and Sisters, AARP’s weekly newsletter for Black women. 

An advocate for poor people and a voice for folks who are chronically unheard, she was named a Society of Features Journalism Fellow and a 202Creates Artist-in-Residence, both in 2018, to advance her work in the field. As a ghostwriter, she’s written op-eds, essays and books. 

She launched her boutique editorial services agency, The Write or Die Chick, to create culturally competent content for clients ranging from government contractors to global nonprofit organizations. 

A graduate of Lincoln University, the first HBCU in the country, and a long-time single mother turned recent newlywed, Janelle believes in the spirit-lifting power of prayer and exchanging hellos with strangers on the street. She lives on the ungentrified side of Washington, DC.