Angela Kennecke

1966 • CATEGORY

BUSINESS • HOMETOWN

SIOUX FALLS, SD • NOMINATED BY

ELIZABETH MEYER When Angela Kennecke was 5-years-old, her grandfather introduced her to the tape recorder. She loved to interview family members and then listen to the recording. When she was 12, Angela was watching a Barbara Walters Special on TV and knew she wanted to conduct interviews when she grew up. Angela pursued her dream of becoming a journalist, beginning by writing for her town paper while in middle school. She was editor of her high school newspaper and worked for a publishing company, writing grammar and vocabulary textbooks, starting at the age of 18.

Angela graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Iowa and later received her master’s degree from Webster University in communications management. She started her career with KELOLAND Media Group as a Rapid City Bureau reporter in 1989. Her first assignment was on the set of the movie, Dances with Wolves, filmed in the Black Hills, starring Kevin Costner. She thought it was going to be a very glamorous job. It wasn’t. After that first exciting story, she covered everything from the city council to car accidents, as the reporter, videographer, and editor.

In the spring of 1990, Angela was promoted to weekend reporter in Sioux Falls, followed by morning news anchor and producer. At the age of 25, she moved into the coveted top spot on the evening news; only the second woman at KELO-TV to hold that position. She created the franchise “Your Money Matters,” which is still a popular news feature today. She spent 22 years on the nightshift while raising her three children, many of those years as a single parent.

As an investigative reporter, Angela has uncovered fraud and corruption, resulting in changes to state laws. For three years,

Angela investigated the “GEAR UP” grant scandal in South Dakota. She exposed a lack of oversight and accountability with federal funds. Angela discovered that $60 million dollars had been put into GEAR UP to get South Dakota’s Native American children into college, yet there was no data to show any students attended college because of the program. Public pressure following her GEAR UP investigation led to the creation of an accountability board within state government and conflict-of-interest disclosures for those on boards and serving in public office. Angela’s investigations also helped military veterans get the Purple Hearts they were owed. Her investigation into a fake fish and vegetable farm near Brookings resulted in federal charges against the con artists. In 2018, Angela received a legislative commendation for excellence in investigative reporting in service to the people of South Dakota. In 2021, she discovered that dozens of South Dakotans had their identities stolen to obtain more than $1 million in fraudulent federal SBA loans during the pandemic. Angela helped raise millions of dollars for the Children’s Miracle Network as a telethon host and storyteller. Angela also served as an adjunct instructor for South Dakota State University in the journalism department for four years. During one of Angela’s investigations, she met a small-town business owner, named Steve Frey, who asked her to write his life story. The Day His Heart Stopped Crying is an inspirational book of second chances, which has sold more than 2,000 copies.

Over the last decade, many of Angela’s stories focused on the growing opioid crisis. On May 16, 2018, the day her 21-year-old daughter, Emily, died of fentanyl poisoning, Angela was working on an investigation involving overdose deaths. Angela has told Emily’s story nationwide and even internationally. Angela created a non-profit organization called Emily’s Hope because she never gave up hope on her daughter and is now offering hope to other families struggling with addiction. Emily’s Hope has pledged $250,000 to the Avera Addiction Care Center for treatment scholarships and another $100,000 for adolescent substance use disorder treatment. The charity’s education initiative has developed prevention curriculum which is focused on teaching elementary school children about their brain and addiction.

Angela’s response to the loss of her beautiful and beloved daughter has been to turn her heartbreak into action. Her work on Emily’s Hope and the KELOLAND News Special Report on the Opioid Crisis earned her two regional Emmy Awards in 2019.

Angela and her husband Jeff have three children, Abby, Jordan, and Adam.