Speaker Profile

Award-winning journalist Mina Kimes is an NFL analyst, senior writer, podcast host and television contributor for ESPN. 

In June 2020, Kimes was named an NFL analyst, joining ESPN’s daily news and information show, NFL Live. She also offers football analysis on Get Up, SportsCenter, First Take and more.

Kimes has been at the forefront of ESPN’s podcasting efforts. She hosts The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny football podcast and helped launch the ESPN Daily podcast in October 2019. 

An acclaimed writer, Kimes has written many memorable features for ESPN. She penned the first ESPN Cover Story in October 2019 – the incredible survival story of NFL wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and his mother – when ESPN The Magazine transitioned to a new digital format. Her many notable ESPN The Magazine cover stories included profiles of NFL players like Von Miller, Antonio Brown, Baker Mayfield and Aaron Rodgers. 

Prior to ESPN, Kimes was an investigative reporter for Bloomberg News (2013) and a business writer for Fortune Magazine (2007-13).

Kimes is also a two-time finalist for the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting, Kimes received a National Headliner Award first place honor in 2019 for magazine feature writing. She was the inaugural recipient of the SABEW’s (Society of American Business Editors and Writers) Larry Birger Young Business Journalist prize, honoring journalists under age 30. Other organizations that have recognized her work include the New York Press Club, the National Press Club, and the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

Kimes graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with a bachelor of arts in English.