_Hanke Gratteau
Hanke Gratteau, a former award-winning journalist, joined the Ounce of Prevention Fund as vice president of public affairs in January 2010. Ms. Gratteau has over three decades’ experience reporting on matters of public interest. She left the Chicago Tribune in 2008, after a long and productive career that saw her rise from an assistant to columnist Mike Royko to managing editor for news, a masthead position at the Midwest’s most influential newspaper.
She most recently served as executive director of the John Howard Association of Illinois, a sentencing and corrections reform advocacy group.At the Tribune, Ms. Gratteau oversaw and directed a wide range of operations and served in a variety of positions, including investigative reporter, columnist, and metropolitan editor before her appointment as managing editor for news.
She received wide recognition during her journalism career. Ms. Gratteau directed the reporting efforts for “Gateway to Gridlock,” an examination of national air traffic congestion that won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism.
Other awards and honors include the 1993 William H. Jones Award for Investigative Reporting; the Golden Bell Award of the Mental Health Association of Illinois for her coverage of mental health issues; and a 2005 honorary doctorate of letters from her alma mater, the University of Illinois. Before joining the Chicago Tribune in 1984, Ms. Gratteau was a reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Daily News.
In January, 2009, Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn appointed Ms. Gratteau to the Illinois Reform Commission, a panel of citizens charged with recommending changes to Illinois laws in the aftermath of the arrest of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Her work for that commission resulted in a successful collaboration with state officials to re-write Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act to increase government transparency.
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