Lisa Ling
Host of "Our America with Lisa Ling" on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
As a former field correspondent for "The Oprah Winfrey Show," a host of National Geographic's "Explorer" and a contributor to ABC News' "Nightline", Lisa Ling has reported from dozens of countries --- covering stories about gang rape in the Congo, bride burning in India and the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, among other issues that are too often ignored.
Ling got her start in journalism as a correspondent for Channel One News where she covered the civil war in Afghanistan at 21 years of age. She later went on to become a co-host of ABC Daytime's hit show "The View," which won its first daytime Emmy during her time at the show.
Ling's popular docu- series, "Our America with Lisa Ling" premiered on OWN: Oprah Winfrey in February 2011. A multi-faceted look at life in the United States and its subcultures, "Our America" has explored diverse topics such as the transgender community, arranged marriages, life on an American Indian reservation and heroin in the heartland.
Lisa was a special correspondent for CNN's "Planet in Peril" series and served as a contributing editor for USA Today's "USA Weekend" magazine. She is the co-author of "Mother, Sister. Daughter, Bride: Rituals of Womanhood," and "Somewhere Inside: One Sister's Captivity in North Korea and The Other's Fight to Bring Her Home" that she penned with her sister Laura.
In 2011, "SELF Magazine" named Lisa a Woman Doing Good for her creation of Secretsocietyofwomen.org, a unique forum for women.
Ling is a national correspondent for iVolunteer.org, a national web site that encourages volunteerism. In addition, she serves on the Board of Directors for the California Museum.