Despite growing up in the Windy City, Lee Ann Kim fell in love with San Diego her first day on the job in March 1996. Since then, she's become one of the most recognizable faces on local television news. A versatile reporter and anchor, she's covered the big stories including the Cedar Fires, Santana and Granite Hills high school shootings, the search for Danielle Van Dam, the Heaven's Gate suicides, and the Republican National Convention. Along with breaking news, Lee Ann especially enjoys covering the diverse communities of San Diego County.

"As a first-generation Korean American, I'm passionate about making sure all communities are covered accurately and fairly," says Lee Ann. And with her Spanish speaking skills, Lee Ann has been instrumental in covering many stories in Mexico and San Diego's Latino community.

A graduate from the University of Maryland, College Park, Lee Ann began her career as a radio reporter at Capitol News Service in Annapolis, covering Maryland state politics for several Washington DC area radio stations. Her first TV job was at KNWS, the nation's first all-news broadcast station in Houston, TX, where she was a one-man-band reporter. Then in 1994 she moved to Tuscaloosa, AL where she became the main news anchor at WCFT, the CBS affiliate in Crimson Tide country. In 1995, she headed to the Ozarks to become the first minority to anchor the news in Springfield, MO, where she worked for KY3-TV, the NBC affiliate.

Lee Ann has earned numerous awards for journalistic excellence as well as for her community service including a regional emmy for investigative reporting, Best News Report by the California Chicano News Media Association, the prestigious John Swett Award for best educational reporting in the state, Best News Report by the Asian American Journalists Association, Metropolitan Magazine's Top 40 Under 40, Reader's choice for Best News Anchor by 944 Magazine, and Community Service Leader by the Asian Business Association.

Outside KGTV, Lee Ann dedicates much of her time mentoring students and running the San Diego Asian Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization she started in 2000.

Her proudest accomplishment is the birth of her son Weston, and the adoption of her second son, Samuel from South Korea. She is raising them with her best friend and husband, Louis Song, managing partner of Proven, Inc.

Want to contact Lee Ann? You can e-mail her at leeann_kim@10News.com.