Malveaux was born in Lansing, Michigan, into a New Orleans–based family, with parents both of Louisiana Creole origin: their roots are of French, Spanish, and African descent.

[5] In an episode of Finding Your Roots, it was revealed to Malveaux that her French roots trace back to a 17th-century French-Canadian fur trader from Quebec, that a seventh-great-grandmother on her father's side (the fur trader's wife) was a Native American of the Kaskaskia tribe, and that one of her ancestors in Louisiana was a free black man who himself owned slaves.

degree cum laude in sociology, writing a senior thesis based on a semester she spent at Howard University.

[citation needed] In August 2007, Malveaux was the moderator of the 31st annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists.

[12] In advance of the Democratic and Republican national conventions, Malveaux anchored a 90-minute documentary on Senator Barack Obama as part of a two-part series on the 2008 general election presidential candidates.

Additionally, she served as a panelist questioning the candidates in the Democratic presidential primary debate in South Carolina sponsored by CNN and the Congressional Black Caucus in January 2008.

Her coverage of presidential trips overseas has taken her to Europe, the Balkans, Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia, Latin America, and the Middle East.