She moved in 1994 to become the main anchor at WCFT, the CBS affiliate station in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In 1995, she then moved to Springfield, Missouri to work at KYTV, the local NBC affiliate, where she became the first person of color to anchor the news in the Ozarks. In 1996, she accepted an offer from KGTV to work in San Diego, starting in March 1996. While working for KGTV news, Kim covered Santana and Granite Hills high school shootings, the search for Danielle van Dam, the Heaven's Gate suicides, and the 1996 Republican National Convention. In 2005, she was promoted to the 5:30 pm weekday anchor position. In 2006, she was named as co-host of the newly created hour-long 4:00 pm news program called 10-4 San Diego, which was later cancelled due to low ratings in August 2006. In August 2008, Lee Ann chose not to accept the station's offer of a lower salary and longer hours and left the news business. San Diego Asian Film Festival Kim started the San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF) in 2000, inspired by a conversation she had overheard while speaking at a local technology company. The first SDAFF was held in August 2000 on the campus of the University of California, San Diego with five features, multiple shorts, and guest appearances from Margaret Cho and Tamlyn Tomita. In 2002, the organization running the SDAFF applied for nonprofit status as the San Diego Asian Film Foundation. After the scope of the San Diego Asian Film Foundation grew beyond film, the nonprofit was rebranded the Pacific Arts Movement (Pac-Arts) in 2012. Kim served as the executive director the San Diego Asian Film Foundation and Pac-Arts until she retired from the nonprofit in April 2016. Awards She has received numerous awards for her work including an Emmy Award for investigative reporting, the California Teacher's Association award for best educational reporting for her coverage of bilingual education, and best news report by the California Chicano News Media Association, and two national Asian American Journalists Association awards for best reporting in Asian and non-Asian related issues. Since leaving KGTV, Kim has been honored for her nonprofit work including being awarded the 2010 KPBS Hero of the Month award, a 10News Leadership Award, San Diego Magazine′s Top 50 People to Watch in 2009, and she was featured on the cover of San Diego Family Magazine in May 2010.