Melissa Noel

Melissa Noel is an award-winning international journalist, host and media entrepreneur. She has built a distinguished career in television news and digital media with work that centers on reporting issues impacting the Black diaspora internationally and developing and managing strategic content partnerships.

Melissa is the founder and CEO of Mel&N Media Group and a News and Politics editor at ESSENCE.com. As an experienced travel reporter and Caribbean expert, she is also a contributor to National Geographic Travel and Trip Savvy.com.

She is the creator of Destination Diaspora®, a docuseries and storytelling platform that highlights the impact of the African Diaspora in travel, culture and lifestyle. Melissa is a Pulitzer Center grantee and an Ethel Payne Reporting Fellow for foreign correspondence in Africa. An emerging media entrepreneur, she was named one of the Top 50 Caribbean American Entrepreneurs two years in a row by the Carib Biz Network in 2020 and 2021.

A proud Guyanese American with over a decade of reporting and production experience, Melissa has made a proven impact at the intersections of media, entrepreneurship and social impact.