Lee Ann Kim
Lee Ann Kim is the founding executive director of the San Diego Asian Film Foundation, which serves more than 30,000 people a year through its media arts programming. A former newscaster for KGTV, Lee Ann refounded the San Diego chapter of AAJA in 1999, then served as chapter president for two years, during which she helped attract the national AAJA convention to San Diego. Lee Ann earned many local, state, and national awards for her reporting, including an Emmy for investigative reporting. She was also chosen as San Diego Metropolitan Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 and one of Bank of America’s Neighborhood Heroes. She and her husband, Louis Song, are raising two beautiful boys, one of them adopted from South Korea.
Daniel K. Lew
Daniel K. Lew is the managing editor and chief photographer at California Horsetrader magazine, the state’s oldest and most widely distributed horse publication. He writes, photographs and travels to horse shows and equestrian events throughout the year.
Prior to joining California Horsetrader in 2001, Daniel was the senior art director and a photographer at San Diego Ranch Coast Newspaper Group, which publishes the Rancho Santa Fe Review, Carmel Valley News, Del Mar Village Voice, and Carlsbad Coastline Review.
Daniel has also worked on the sales and business side of publications as managing editor of North Coast Current, editor of Asia in America magazine, and advertising manager of 78 Magazine.
He also operates his own business, Spotlight Graphic Design & Photography. In his spare time, Daniel loves visiting theme parks (especially Disney parks), uses a culinary-arts background to develop recipes for his cookbooks in progress, and volunteers for Flying Samaritans and the San Diego Asian Film Foundation Street Team.
Darlynne Reyes Menkin
With 25 years experience under her belt, Darlynne Reyes Menkin has worn many hats throughout her journalism career. She landed her first job right out of college as a news anchor & reporter for a small Radio station in Lebanon, New Hampshire. From there, she moved onto KYW-TV in Philadelphia where she learned how to run the Assignment Desk, write and produce for the early morning and evening newscasts. Â Darlynne and her husband Marc decided to follow their dream and moved to San Diego in 1990. Â She was hired as Consumer Bob’s Producer and worked at Channel 8 from 1990 – 1998. Â During her KFMB days, she also did some freelance entertainment reporting which made her realize how much she missed being on-air. Â After she left KFMB, Daniels Cablevision hired her as their main news anchor and News Director which eventually led to reporting gigs in Las Vegas and back in San Diego at KSWB-TV and then Fox 6 News.
Darlynne is currently a travel writer and runs “Where You Want To Be Tours” with her husband. Â The company specializes in unique tours and corporate teambuilding adventures of hidden San Diego!
Michael James Rocha
Michael James Rocha has more than 20 years of experience in the communication industry – as a writer, editor, lecturer, professor, designer, art director and consultant. He is the CEO and Creative Director of m+m innovation, a full-service creative communications agency based in San Diego. He also is the front page designer for The San Diego Union-Tribune, the largest media company in the San Diego region. He has worked at several newspapers, including the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the Pasadena Star-News, The Orange County Register and The San Diego Union-Tribune. Most recently, he was the features design editor and niche publications design editor at the Union-Tribune, overseeing the design and art direction of the newspaper’s features products and specialty magazines. He has conducted workshops for the Journalism Association of Community Colleges, California Intercollegiate Press Association, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, Asian American Journalists Association and Society for News Design. He is an adjunct professor of magazine design at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego.
Savy Hak
Savy Hak is the owner and president of Savy Marketing, a consulting and promotional products company in San Diego. Â Savy has been involved with AAJA since she was a high school student. Since then, she has written for various local publications including her college newspaper at SDSU where she majored in Political Science. She graduated from UCSD with her masters from the school of IR/PS focused on international management and strategic marketing.
