Suzanne Le Mignot
Suzanne Le Mignot serves as CBS News Chicago's weekend morning news anchor and weekday reporter.
Le Mignot joined the station in 1995 as a freelance reporter and became a full-time reporter in 1999. She has covered a wide variety of stories, with a particular concentration on community-related events, including serving as a news correspondent for CBS' Southside neighborhood newsroom from 1999-2000.
Prior to joining CBS, Le Mignot was a news anchor and reporter for WBBM-AM Newsradio 780 (1994-99). She was a news anchor and reporter at WGN-AM (1996) and WTMJ-AM in Milwaukee (1995-96) before returning to WBBM-AM in 1996.
Le Mignot worked as a news anchor and reporter in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (1991-92) at Radio and Television Serbia, Trecan Kanal, and NTV Studio B television stations.
She began her broadcasting career at WUSF-TV in Tampa, Florida, as a production assistant and associate producer (1989-93). She also worked as an anchor at the student-run radio station WBUL, and served as a correspondent for the Tampa Tribune and Tampa-based Urban Business Magazine.
In 2007, LeMignot was honored by The Associated Press in the hard news feature category for her investigative report entitled "Tracking Your Security." Her investigation uncovered that bomb-sniffing dogs at Chicago's Metra train stations could not detect the passing scent of explosives. As a result of that story, Illinois passed a law that requires dog handlers to undergo 180 hours of rigorous training and to pass a new state exam. The report also earned LeMignot a Peter Lisagor Award in the in-depth reporting or series category and a Herman Kogan Award from the Chicago Bar Association.
Le Mignot's 2002 reports on a building with 35 tenants without heat changed the way heat shut-offs are conducted in the City of Chicago during the winter.
Le Mignot has won several other industry awards: a local and national Emmy for her breaking news reports on the Blue Line derailment (2008), a local and national Emmy Award for her breaking news reports about the death of Pope John Paul II (2005); the Illinois Broadcasters Association Silver Dome Award (1997); two Peter Lisagor Awards (1994 and 1996) and the National Association of Black Journalists Leadership Award, while a student (1993).
She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and has served as a Board Member of the National Association of Black Journalists Chicago Chapter.
Le Mignot has served as a mentor and volunteer at Bunche Elementary School in Chicago's Englewood community. She regularly held workshops and planned field trips centered on building self-esteem for young girls. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago & Northwest Indiana.
Additionally, she is on the Board of Directors of PAWS Chicago, the largest no-kill animal shelter in the Midwest. Le Mignot helped set up the first humane education program with PAWS in 2003. PAWS visits schools in the Chicago area, using the program to teach elementary school children about the importance of nurturing animals. The program has also been used by the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago. Le Mignot has served on the Board of Directors of the Better Boys Foundation. The organization provides educational assistance to boys and girls in the North Lawndale community on Chicago's west side.
Le Mignot is the recipient of the National Civil Rights Library 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in journalism. In 2017, she was inducted into the National Civil Rights Hall of Fame.
In 2017, Le Mignot also received the "We Dream in Color" Michelle Obama Humanitarian Award for her reports that led to positive change in the lives of those who have endured challenging times.
In 2019, Le Mignot won first place in the Chicago Journalists Association Sarah Brown Boyden Award Competition in the Public Service category for her "Misidentified Man" series of reports. The day before Le Mignot received the award, Senate Bill SB2309 was introduced on November 14, 2019. The bill would make fingerprinting and DNA testing mandatory in John and Jane Doe cases in Illinois. In 2021, she received The Shantieya Smith "We Fight for Her Award" by MOVE and YOVE (Mothers Opposed to Violence Everywhere and Youth Opposed to Violence Everywhere) for her reports bringing attention to missing and murdered black girls and women in Chicago. She was also chosen by Better Magazine in 2021 as one of the top 10 Black Women of Impact in Chicago and chosen by the America Nation Multicultural World Foundation as the 2021 Multicultural Woman of the Year.
She has served as a Trustee of Ray Graham Association for People with Disabilities, an organization that supports children and adults with developmental disabilities in DuPage and Cook counties. Le Mignot has also served on the Board of Trustees of Lifeline Humanitarian Organization. The group provides medical supplies and aid for war orphans throughout former Yugoslavia. She has served on the Advisory Council for Smile Train, an organization that provides life-saving cleft palate surgery for children in need worldwide.
Since 2022, Le Mignot has served as a guest lecturer for science communication courses and workshops at the University of Chicago, helping students pursuing STEM majors and PhD, MD, and MS degrees with their on-camera presence, writing, and ways to simplify complex topics for powerful messaging to the masses.
Le Mignot speaks several foreign languages, including Spanish, French, Serbian, and Patois (a Jamaican dialect).
She graduated with honors from the University of South Florida with a B.A. in Mass Communications and has a certificate in food and health from Stanford and completed the T. Colin Campbell plant-based certificate program at eCornell.
Le Mignot has a daughter and lives in Chicago.
