Spotlight On: Kim Hughes, Assistant General Counsel, Microsoft

In honor of International Women’s History Month 2026, we are turning the spotlight on an attorney who’s been a significant contributor since 2021.

Kim Hughes is Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft and is one of ProJourn’s earliest volunteers. She helps expand the legal resources available to news organizations by bringing in-house counsel together with law-firm attorneys through ProJourn’s two-in-a-box model.

Hughes, a corporate attorney by training, regularly works with seasoned media attorneys through ProJourn to gain hands-on experience in media law, including pro bono pre-publication review of articles and access to public records. She also assists news organizations enrolled in the program with business-related legal matters, such as privacy and data retention policies.

I volunteer with ProJourn because I care about quality, independent local journalism. Accurate, thoughtful reporting helps everyone understand what’s happening in their communities and strengthens civic life. I enjoy working with journalists because they’re mission-driven, practical, and genuinely committed to getting things right. I also appreciate how thoughtfully and proactively journalists engage with legal questions, and how targeted legal guidance can help move important stories forward with confidence.

Kim Hughes, Microsoft

Through ProJourn, Hughes is building media-law expertise while helping journalists navigate legal issues that can affect what they publish and the public information they can access. The end result is something whole communities benefit from.

ProJourn is grateful for Kim’s steadfast contributions to the program.

Learn more about ProJourn’s Pre-Publication Review work.

Interested in making a difference? Visit projourn.org/volunteer to learn more.