Chicago, Illinois, United States
Kimbriell Kelly is the Editor-in-Chief of Chicago Public Media, the nation’s largest local nonprofit newsroom, overseeing a team of more than 140 talented staff for the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ. She is the former Assistant Managing Editor and Washington Bureau Chief at the Los Angeles Times, where she managed coverage of politics and policy in Washington, D.C. She oversaw coverage of the 2024 presidential campaign, Jan. 6 insurrection, the 2020 Trump election challenge and, in her first year as bureau chief, launched three successful series, the “United States of California,” “Covering Kamala Harris” and “Extreme Heat." She joined the Times in 2019 as deputy editor for enterprise and investigations, editing the immigration coverage that led to the bureau’s first Pulitzer Prize in 17 years. She also led investigations into whether Stephen K. Bannon had lied to lawmakers; that showed why the failure to release $35 million in Pentagon aid to Ukraine was at the center of the impeachment inquiry; and that made public the FBI’s service of a search warrant on prominent Republican Sen. Richard M. Burr seeking information about controversial stock trades, prompting Burr to announce a day later that he would step down as chair of the Intelligence Committee. Kelly is a former investigative reporter at the Washington Post, where she was part of the team that won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for the series “Fatal Force,” uncovering the FBI’s undercounting of fatal officer-involved shootings. She was a 2019 Pulitzer finalist for explanatory reporting for “Murder with Impunity,” a year-long examination of unsolved homicides. She is also the winner of the Polk Award for national reporting, Sigma Delta Chi for public service, and was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize and Selden Ring. Earlier this year, Kelly served as interim investigations editor at the Chicago-based Investigative Project on Race and Equity. Kelly sits on the board of the Fund for Investigative Journalism and steering committee for the Reporters Committe for Freedom of the Press. Prior to moving to Washington, Kelly was a reporter, editor and publisher in metropolitan Chicago, where her investigation into Countrywide Financial’s subprime mortgage lending led to the nation’s largest fair-lending settlement. Kelly was twice named Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University, in 2020 and 2021, and has served as an adjunct professor at Howard University, UC Berkeley, Roosevelt University and American University.
"The Fund for Investigative Journalism is led by board members, staff and volunteers who are dedicated to fostering high-quality investigative reporting that has an impact. Our Board of Directors is comprised entirely of accomplished journalists who review every grant proposal and vote on which to approve. Our Advisory Board, also all journalists, provides strategic guidance and support." -- https://fij.org/
Overseeing the nation’s largest local nonprofit newsroom where I’ll oversee -- a team of more than 140 talented staff for the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ.
"The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press provides pro bono legal representation, amicus curiae support, and other legal resources to protect First Amendment freedoms and the newsgathering rights of journalists." https://www.rcfp.org/what-we-do/
Launching collaborative investigations with local and national media; managing local and national partnerships.