From Britney Spears to Wendy Williams, financial guardianships and conservatorships have entered the limelight as legal tools with the potential for abuse. These high-profile cases have led to growing calls for reform. Disability rights organizations also have long advocated for less restrictive alternatives to guardianship for people with disabilities. Guardians, in some states called conservators, […]
Author Archives: Melissa Hellmann
Melissa Hellmann is an award-winning reporter who covers racial, gender and economic inequality.
Prior to joining the Center for Public Integrity in August 2021, she covered marginalized communities for The Seattle Times. She previously worked at Seattle Weekly, the Associated Press, YES! Magazine, TIME Asia, and SF Weekly.
Her reporting has taken her to the homes of migrant families in the outskirts of Beijing, China; Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank; and a Tacoma, Washington, detention center where detained immigrants alleged their medical needs were ignored.
In 2019 she helped restart the Seattle Association of Black Journalists after several years of dormancy. Melissa has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and religious studies from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Journalism degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
