Kathryn Pilgrim, known professionally as Kitty Pilgrim, has worked throughout her career as international journalist and author. She was a CNNanchor and correspondent for 25 years. She is active in the world of foreign policy, covering many international issues. She is currently a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is founder of her own company, Kitty Pilgrim Media, based in New York.
Pilgrim is a devoted advocate of Women Peace and Security and gives speeches on that topic in many venues around the world. As one of the early reporters at CNN she is often asked to speak on the role of the media in society. She publishes her own podcast Pilgrim's Progress - a program that interviews women who make a difference in their communities and the world.[1]
Education, fellowships and organizations
She is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations,[2] a member of Chatham House[3] in London, and a member of the NACFP, National Committee on American Foreign Policy. [4] In 2024 she became a adjunct senior fellow in the Office of the president at East-West Center in Honolulu. She accepted a nonresident Fellowship in Women Peace and Security at WIIS (Women in International Security) in 2024 and continues to work with that organization. Many of her academic fellowships involve security issues in various regions of the world. She was a fellow at the Salzburg Global Seminar in Salzburg, Austria, for Asian Pacific security, a fellow at the East–West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, for Asian economic and security issues,[5] and a Hong Kong journalism fellow and a fellow in the East–West Center's Korean Journalism exchange.
Pilgrim graduated from Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York, with a degree in political science. She studied Russian, economics and political science, which ultimately led to her career in journalism. She delivered the commencement speech for the Class of 2012, earning an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Manhattanville College.[6] She currently teaches Women Peace and Security and Critical Thinking at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. In 2025, she is teaching in the Leadership for Change program at the Bard College summer session in Brooklyn NY.
She is interested in science and exploration, particularly ocean science and arctic regions, and is a fellow in the Royal Geographical Society in London, and a full member of the Explorer's Club of New York City. .[6] She participates in various scientific meetings on oceanography and arctic security.
Journalist
Pilgrim worked as New York-based anchor and correspondent for CNN for 25years. Her travels have taken her on special assignments to Russia, Cuba, China, Japan, South Korea, Europe, and parts of Africa. In domestic reporting she covered economics, politics, and a range of other topics. She was part of the CNN team that broadcast continuously in New York during the September 11 attacks and in the weeks thereafter.[9]
Kitty Pilgrim began her career as a New York City-based news anchor and correspondent for CNN, starting in 1986 as a production assistant, and was named correspondent shortly thereafter.[10] She anchored her own morning show, Early Edition, in 1998 and 1999 and served as an anchor for CNN, CNNI, CNNfn, and Headline News for more than a decade.[11] Starting in 2001, she was prime-time back-up anchor for the 7PM hour on CNN, a position she held for a decade.
She also served as a correspondent for CNN's Southeast Bureau and was the lead correspondent in CNN's coverage of the Birmingham, Alabamaanti-abortion violence in 1998 and the subsequent hunt for suspect Eric Rudolph. She was also part of the CNN Moneyline team that won an Overseas Press Club Award for its live broadcasts from Havana, Cuba, in 1995. Pilgrim has won an Emmy, Peabody and the New York Society of Black Journalists Award for field reporting on social and economic issues in South Africa.[6]
Author and speaking engagements
Pilgrim travels the world on speaking engagements regarding Women Peace and Security, Leadership Communications and the role of the media. Her recent appearances include multiple panels at the annual global meeting of the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society in Paris,[12] the Annual Women Peace and Security Symposium at the Naval War College, training seminars at US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey California, the Women Peace and Security Series at the Military Women's Memorial,[13] the New York Times TEDx lecture series.[14]
Pilgrim has also written fiction - romantic thrillers with an international flavor, featuring an archaeologist John Sinclair, and a female oceanographer, Cordelia Stapleton.[15] In 2010 she signed a two-book deal with New York publisher Charles Scribner's Sons.[16] Her novels The Explorer's Code.[17] and The Stolen Chalice, were published by Scribner. Her third novel "Summer of Fire" came out in 2014. Her romantic thrillers are characterized by their diverse locations and "around the world" approach.[18] According to WorldCat, the book is held in 588 libraries.[19]Her debut novel, The Explorer's Code, was quickly followed by a sequel "the Stolen Chalice". The book is held in 421 libraries.[20] A third novel based on the same characters. "Summer of Fire" was published by River Grove. The book is held in 65 libraries.[21]
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