She was the first to tell the world that Haitian President Rene Preval survived the devastating earthquake on Jan. 12,2010. Jacqueline Charles spent 15 months living in Haiti as part of the Miami Herald Media's commitment to having full-time staff stationed in the country following the devastating tragedy. That commitment included capturing a plethora of endless breaking news; covering the election, post-quake reconstruction and cholera epidemic. A documentary on Haiti, a newspaper first, and co-produced by Ms. Charles, —titled 'Nou Bouke' (We're fed Up), was broadcast in more than 50 Public Broadcast Service markets in the United States, and garnered an Emmy Award for Charles.

Born on the coral islands of Turks and Caicos in Grand Turk, Jacqueline Charles was partly raised in Miami's predominately Overtown neighborhood with her Haitian mother and Cuban-American stepfather. A product of Miami Dade County Public Schools, she graduated at the top of her class at Miami Jackson Senior High. Ms. Charles' love for writing was evident as she began her journalism career as a very eager 14-year-old intern at the Miami Herald. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, her beat as the Miami Herald's Caribbean Correspondent and Senior Haiti reporter began with overseas assignments covering the 1994 return of ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Her extensive assignments have taken her to Liberia, Africa; Italy, Kenya and Mexico. Before joining the Herald's foreign desk in 2006 as a full-time correspondent, Ms. Charles covered Miami's impoverished communities, Broward County Schools, local and state government and social services. She is a founding member of the Carolina Association of Black Journalists, a college-affiliated chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ); past president, secretary and scholarship chairwoman for the South Florida Association of Black Journalists and assistant director of the University of Miami/Dow Jones High School Journalism Workshop.

Ms. Charles' numerous awards include NABJ Journalist of the Year;TheSigmaDeltaChiAward,Society of Professional Journalists, 2010; Pulitzer Prize finalist, 2011. She currently serves as a member of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's Journalism and Mass Communication Board of Advisers. In 2015, she was recognized by the University of North Carolina as a Distinguished Alumni, and is the recipient of the Golden Award from the National Alliance for the Advancement of Haitian Professionals for her informative contributions. Other honors include: 25 Haitian-American Changemakers by the New York-based Haitian Roundtable 1804 List, 2014; recognition by Haiti's Challenges magazine as one of the country's leading journalists. Ms. Charles has been featured on National Public Radio, the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, MSNBC, This Week in South Florida with Michael Putney and with Jim Defede on CBS4. She has also served as a moderator for a 'Back to School' Brunch and School Board candidates' forum for the Association of Haitian Educators of Dade.

Jacqueline Charles is recognized as "Haiti's Ambassador to the World," a title bestowed upon her by former United States President Bill Clinton. She is a Pulitzer finalist who has been recognized for her in-depth, prolific and extensive coverage of Haiti.