Esther Yoon-Ji Kang

Esther Yoon-Ji Kang is a reporter on the Race, Class and Communities desk. She is also co-host of WBEZ’s Shoes Off: A Sexy Asians Podcast.

Prior to arriving at WBEZ, she was a breaking news producer at the Tribune Company and an editor at Chicago magazine. Esther has also covered education and juvenile court, and did a stint in communications at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago before returning to journalism. Her work has appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition, as well as Marketplace and Here and Now.

Esther has won numerous national and local awards, including a Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists and a regional Edward R. Murrow Award. Her work has also been recognized by the Asian American Journalists Association and the National Association of Black Journalists.

Esther graduated from Northwestern University and has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at the journalism school. Born in South Korea, she grew up in Paraguay and the D.C. area. She lives in Chicago with her family.