Monica Kaufman Biography Favorites Color Baby Blue Food Lasagna Quote “It’s what you do with what you have that makes you what you are.” Time of Year Fall Vacation Spot Destin, Florida

Monica Kaufman has led a distinguished career in journalism at WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia as the anchor of Channel 2 Action News at five, six and eleven o'clock. Kaufman has received over twenty-eight Emmy Awards as well as other awards for her work and her "Closeups" segments. She is also a humanitarian who assists in charitable, non-profit and community causes.

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Kaufman is the daughter of Hattie Wallace Jones Edmondson and the late Maurice Jones. Like her mother, Kaufman attended Catholic schools during her formative and high school years. Her mother, who worked her way through school, attended St. Mary's Academy in New Orleans, Louisiana, a prestigious boarding school for black females. Her mother was also one of the first black women to work at the Louisville Post Office.

Kaufman knew at an early age that she would pursue a career in communications. One of her part time jobs in high school included working at the local black owned radio station where she did voice over work and read prayers on the station's religious programs. She also sang country music as a teenager on a television show called Hayloft Hoedown. Kaufman pursued and obtained her B.S. degree in English from the University of Louisville. She also participated in the Summer Program for Minority Groups at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in New York City. Before joining WSB-TV Channel 2, Kaufman worked in public relations for Brown Forman Distiller; as an anchor/reporter for WHAS-TV in Louisville, Kentucky and as a reporter for the Louisville Times. Kaufman began her career as the first African American and the first female to anchor a daily evening newscast in Atlanta at WSB-TV in 1975.

Kaufman is a recipient of numerous awards: the Women's Sports Journalism Award, Citizen Broadcaster of the Year Award, Broadcaster of the Year Award, Women of Achievement Award and the Southern Regional Emmy Awards. She also won first place for her documentary, Hot Flash: Menopause Documentary.

Kaufman is a mother and resides in Atlanta with her mother and husband.



Kaufman was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 21, 2006.