NBC’s Andrea Mitchell and ABC’s Kerry Smith Join the IWMF’s Board
[January 25, 2018, WASHINGTON, D.C.] – The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) welcomes Andrea Mitchell and Kerry Smith – two of the most influential people in broadcast news, and longtime friends of the IWMF – to our board of directors.
Andrea Mitchell, NBC News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” was honored with the IWMF’s 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award for her remarkable career in broadcast news, which spans nearly 50 years, including 40 years at NBC News. Mitchell has unparalleled foreign policy expertise and is among the most accomplished news broadcasters in U.S. history, now covering her seventh presidential administration.
Kerry Smith is a veteran television news producer and program executive with decades of experience, who has been serving as ABC News’ Senior Vice President of Editorial Quality since 2003. She is a founder of the IWMF and returns to the board of directors having served from the organization’s inception in 1990 through 2008, including as the co-chair of the IWMF board in 1998-1999.
“Andrea Mitchell and Kerry Smith represent two powerhouses in the news media from behind and in front of the camera. Both roles are critical to the enterprise, and we are thrilled to have their diversity and wealth of experience to support gender equity and safety for female journalists,” said Elisa Lees Muñoz, the IWMF’s executive director.
Andrea Mitchell
Andrea Mitchell, NBC News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” is the network’s leading voice on U.S. foreign policy and international diplomacy. Additionally, Mitchell reports on intelligence and national security issues across all NBC News and MSNBC properties.
A pioneer in her field, Mitchell is known for her tenacity and veteran analysis as she pursues answers, interviews newsmakers, and traverses the globe to report on the State Department.
During the 2016 election cycle, Mitchell led coverage of Hillary Clinton’s second presidential campaign from its launch in April 2015. Her more than 20 years of reporting on the Clintons earned her the unofficial role as “dean of the Clinton press corps” as she traveled with the campaign across the country, anchoring her eponymous show and reporting for network broadcasts “TODAY” and “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” at campaign rallies, debates and both political conventions. Mitchell regularly appears on “Meet the Press with Chuck Todd” as a panelist and has substituted as guest moderator on occasion.
She has received numerous accolades for her work, in addition to being honored with the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. She has been recognized with the prestigious Matrix Award for excellence in broadcast journalism, a Gracie Award for Outstanding Reporter, the International Radio and Television Society Foundation’s Giant of Broadcasting and Electronic Arts Honor, the John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism, among many others.
Mitchell joined NBC News in 1978 as a general correspondent based in Washington, D.C. In 1979, she was named NBC News energy correspondent. In that capacity, she reported on the energy crisis and the Three Mile Island nuclear incident. Before joining NBC News, she was a correspondent for WDVM-TV (then WTOP), the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C. From 1967-1976, she was a broadcast journalist for KYW Radio and KYW-TV in Philadelphia.
Mitchell received a B.A. degree in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania where she is a past vice chair of the Board of Trustees and currently serves as chair of the Board of Overseers of the School of Arts and Sciences. She is also a member of the Gridiron Club.
Kerry Smith
Smith is the senior vice president of editorial quality for ABC News. She is responsible for the editorial standards for all multimedia programming, and serves as the senior advisor to news division platforms, with oversight on all ABC News editorial partnerships. Smith directs news employees in division-wide best practices, and supervises producers and correspondents who report on sensitive issues. Previously, she was the senior Washington editor for ABC News, supervising the bureau’s coverage and coordinating the content for all of its programs. She was instrumental in the startup of ABCNews.com website and served as the executive in charge of “This Week.”
As a television news producer and program executive, Smith has worked for World News Tonight, Good Morning America, Nightline, ABC News magazines, Day One, Primetime Live and 20/20. A former investigative producer, Smith has produced documentaries, news programing and special events broadcasts for ABC News. Her work has been honored with Peabody, DuPont and Emmy awards for long-form journalism and breaking news coverage.
In addition to the IWMF, Smith also serves on the board of directors for Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues (RISC. She is also a member of the Advisory Boards of the nonprofit journalism organizations ProPublica and TheGroundTruth Project, and is a member of the leadership council on The Committee to Protect Journalists. She was a 2015 Sulzberger Fellow at the Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University.
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ABOUT THE IWMF
Since 1990, the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) has worked to unleash the potential of women journalists as champions of press freedom to transform the global news media. We seek to ensure that women journalists worldwide are fully supported, protected, recognized and rewarded for their vital contributions at all levels of the news media. Learn more at www.iwmf.org
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For media inquiries please contact Jennifer Hyman, the IWMF’s communications director at jhyman@iwmf.org