Impactful V.I. Women: Allison Bourne-Vanneck

Growing up, Allison Bourne-Vanneck’s dream was to be a professional golfer – in fact, television and journalism, which has become what she’s best known for, wasn’t even on her radar until she took a communications class her sophomore year at Antilles School that kindled her interest.

The next year, the dream expanded to television when Bourne-Vanneck joined the cast of Graffiti Street, the teen talk show on WTJX Channel 12 that was on air for nearly two decades.

“I’ll never forget being on the set for the first time at WTJX. My heart raced as we filmed underneath the bright studio lights. And during breaks, there was constant laughter amongst us students. I never wanted it to end,” she explained.

But the light bulb truly went off when she first picked up a microphone.

“Graffiti Street had decided to do a beach cleanup on Water Island, and WTJX filmed it,” Bourne-Vanneck said. “I was so excited when our Executive Producer Myron Corbett chose me to lead an interview. I laugh now because he probably saw me staring so hard at that microphone. But as soon as I held it, something clicked. There are times in life when our heart and soul chooses what it wants to do. That was the moment for me.”

From there, Bourne-Vanneck headed to the College of William and Mary, where she played on the women’s golf team, becoming the first African-American female to do so. While she described the experience as an “honor,” her mind had already begun to look at careers outside of golf, and she began to “pivot” from her initial goal of becoming a professional athlete.

“So after graduation, I took some risks,” Bourne-Vanneck said. “I moved back home to run for Miss Virgin Islands. I had never done a pageant, but If I won, I knew I would earn scholarship money for graduate school to pursue a master’s in journalism. I’d also get to compete for Miss America.”

Bourne-Vanneck won the Miss Virgin Islands title in 2005, began writing a column for the Virgin Islands Daily News called “Girls In Sports,” and started a non-profit geared toward ramping up opportunities for female athletes. Life changed for her again after the Miss America Competition, when she returned home to an internship at CBS-TV2. Hired by her mentor and TV2 news director, Netfa Romain, this was her first official foray into broadcast journalism.