B. Denise Hawkins is an award-winning journalist and communications consultant
based in the Washington, D.C. area. She is 2021-2022: Journalists in Aging Fellow
(Gerontological Society of America), reporting on the intersection of religion and aging
among African Americans.
With purpose and a passport, storytelling has carried B. Denise around the world to
report on issues that she’s passionate about — health, religion, and higher education —
in Cuba, Spain, Haiti, South Africa, and six countries in West Africa. B. Denise’s stories
and photographs have appeared in publications and news outlets that
include Christianity Today, The Washington Post, United Methodist News Service, NBC,
Religion News Service, Pitt Magazine (University of Pittsburgh), and NEA Today.
She’s held several editorial and communications staff positions. For more than a
decade, B. Denise was a news editor and senior writer at Diverse: Issues in Higher
Education, where she focused on the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and
Universities. Today she is a contributing writer-editor for the magazine. During her
career, B. Denise also held senior-level positions in public relations at Widmeyer
Communications and Hyde Park Communications, where she leveraged her journalism
experience and credentials in STEM and higher education to help her clients shape
their narratives and reach racially diverse audiences.
B. Denise graduated from Howard University, earning a bachelor’s degree in
print journalism and a minor in microbiology. She received her master’s degree in
journalism from Pennsylvania State University