Actress, writer, director, producer, activist and champion of social issues, Kim Fields, has been named the Los Angeles Press Club’s 2025 Bill Rosendahl Public Service Awardee.
“We are truly delighted to have selected Kim Fields as the 2025 LA Press Club Public Service Awardee,” said press club president Danny Bakewell, Jr. “From child actor to highly in-demand director, writer and producer, Kim Fields has evolved and established herself as a leader in the entertainment business. But with all that she has accomplished, she has never forgotten to give back to those less fortunate and has continuously led a life of service for the benefit of all.”
Fields first gained fame as a child actress on the television series Good Times (1978–1979), and rose to greater prominence for her role as Dorothy “Tootie” Ramsey on the NBC sitcom Diff’rent Strokes, as well as its spin-off The Facts of Life. Many still recognize her catchphrase, “We’re in troouu-ble! ”
She currently stars as Regina Upshaw in Netflix’s The Upshaws.
Fields has been an advocate and passionate champion for social issues her entire career, using her platforms to help numerous causes, including as a Celebrity Ambassador for the Red Cross.
Fields is of Caribbean heritage and has created and produced a global PSA campaign for those affected by the hurricanes in the Caribbean region. She has spent decades providing community service in underserved areas and to charities nationwide. She recently launched “One Cup At A Time” on her social media platforms — a conversation series for meaningful dialogue on sensitive, uncomfortable current events and topics.
The Public Service Award will be presented at the 67th SoCal Journalism Awards Gala on Sunday, June 22, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel DTLA.
The full Line-up is as follows:
Kim Fields – The Bill Rosendahl Public Service Award for Contributions to Society
Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times/ESPN – The Joseph M. Quinn Award for Lifetime Achievement
Clarissa Ward, CNN – The Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism
In addition, we are celebrating LA’s local TV stations for their crucial coverage of the 2025 wildfires. They all proved the need for local news in a time when the media landscape is shrinking. This special award will be given to: ABC7, CBS Los Angeles, FOX11, KCAL, KTLA, NBC4, Spectrum News 1, Telemundo and Univision.
Some 600 journalists and media executives are expected to attend this prestigious event.
The SoCal Journalism Awards Gala is a fundraiser for this 501c3 charitable organization and makes it possible for us to fund our educational programming and mentorship program for young journalists from underserved communities, as well as provide grants for investigative journalism, defend the First Amendment, give out scholarships and more. All contributions are tax-deductible.
For more information about this event or to sponsor, advertise or buy tickets, go to www.LApressclub.org or contact LAPC Executive Director Diana Ljungaeus at 310.210.1860 or email Diana-AT-LApressclub.org.
The LAPC is one of the oldest and most respected journalist organizations in the nation, with a storied history of honoring the most celebrated reporters of the past century. In recent years, the Los Angeles Press Club has continued to uphold its tradition of acknowledging excellence in spite of the fact that journalism itself has struggled in the face of ever-declining budgets.
Photo credit: Matt Sayles
