JC Hayward

JC Hayward stands out as a gem in the shining crown of broadcast journalism in Washington, DC. As the DC market's first female news anchor, she celebrated 43 years as an anchor at WUSA television station before retiring in January 2015 as Vice President Media Outreach.

She was also the face of JCHayward.com, a fun and entertaining website where fans and followers could follow her life journey through photos, videos, and events.

Before coming to the Washington market, JC worked for the CBS affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia for two years. She was one of the first African Americans to enter the field of broadcast journalism in 1970 after completing a special graduate program at Columbia University in New York.

Over JC's expansive career she was consistently rated one of the top news people in journalism. She was inducted into the National Association of Black Broadcast Journalists Hall of Fame, voted Washingtonian Magazine's Washingtonian of the Year, featured in Ebony and Jet Magazines, and received two honorary doctorate degrees from her alma mater Howard University and Southeastern University.

JC produced several award winning documentaries including the 1972 one hour program, "Sahel: The Border of Hell", which won two Emmy Awards. She and her crew were the first journalists to document the African drought that had caused almost a million deaths. In 1977, she traveled to Kenya and Uganda to produce a documentary on Ugandan refugees, "We Shall Return", which earned her a Bronze Medal from the 1980 International Film Festival in New York. She also produced "Somalia: The Silent Tragedy", a documentary on the world's largest refugee crisis at that time. It was syndicated by the Public Broadcasting System and broadcast in England, Australia and the Caribbean.

She interviewed phenomenal celebrities including First Lady Nancy Reagan, Maya Angelou, Luciano Pavarotti, Bishop Desmond Tutu, and Oprah Winfrey. She covered South African President Nelson Mandela's US visit, reporting from Boston, Atlanta, and Miami. She got an exclusive interview with the President while he was in Washington, DC. JC also co-hosted Channel 9's "Everywoman", a daily one-hour talk show that was syndicated in four markets including the Caribbean.

Throughout JC's career, she has always had a passion for volunteering and working with non-profit organizations. A philanthropist at an early age, JC established a college scholarship at Cardozo High School in NW Washington and sponsored three students. One of her greatest joys was bequeathing Howard University one million dollars and giving more than three hundred thousand dollars in scholarships to the university. Service to the community has always been important and through the years, JC has served on numerous boards including Hospice Caring, United Black Fund, Summer Opera Theatre Company, Providence Hospital, Double Nickels and Arena Stage to name a few. She has bequeath $250,000 to Arena Stage, the first theatre in Washington, DC to allow Blacks to perform.