Women At The Helm 2013
President and CEO, GLAAD
Media virtuoso Sarah Kate Ellis is the brains behind some of our national media brands’ biggest success stories—and she’ll use her wide-ranging experience in her new role, as president and CEO of GLAAD. Her direction and ideas have energized outlets including Real Simple, Vogue, House & Garden, InStyle and New York, and she’s also using those skills to empower our community. As a cochair of OUT at Time, Inc., this outspoken advocate and brilliant communications strategist led programming to spotlight the diversity of the LGBT community and worked to educate the organization’s straight allies on LGBT issues. Throughout her career, she has earned seven MIN awards for marketing innovation, two President’s Awards, and MIN’s Sales Executive Team of the Year award in 2012, and recently served as Senior Vice President of Global Marketing at Martini Media. You might also recognize Ellis from the memoir she co-authored with her wife Kristen Ellis-Henderson in 2011, Times Two: Two Women in Love and the Happy Family They Made, an autobiography about their simultaneous pregnancies and road to motherhood. What’s she up to now? Let’s just say the board of directors of GLAAD didn’t have to look far to find the perfect candidate to serve as their new leader: Ellis will step into the role in January, in GLAAD’s NYC office. Ellis says she’s excited to further cultivate GLAAD’s work in the media and share stories from our community: “I look forward to creating a world where LGBT people and our families have the freedom to joyously—and openly—live a life they love!”
Today, business owners incorporate their beliefs in fairness and equality into their work. Nonprofit directors combine their passion for social justice with managerial prowess. Meet the new wave of out leaders who talk the talk and walk the walk.
CAROLYN DEVITO
President and Owner, Unique Salon & Spas
Carolyn DeVito comes from a long line of talented hairstylists, so her family wasn’t surprised when she dove into the beauty industry as a hair assistant at age 16—but they didn’t know how far she could take it. Before long, the Long Island-based stylist had her own chair. In six months, she was promoted to a junior stylist position; within a year, DeVito was servicing 20 clients a day. Over the next 20 years, she serviced clients in high-end salons and paid close attention to the business side of the industry, educating herself on how things work from the ground up. Finally, she decided to go for her dream and open her own salon. “I never imagined what would come next,” she tells GO. Just three years later, DeVito was able to open a second salon, and within five years, she had four locations. She created her own brand of “I am Unique” hair care and Unique skin care products, and has added medi-spa services including laser enhancements, injectables, spray tanning and more. “My mission is to help as many women as I can, in any way that I can,” DeVito says. “I have joined many networking groups to share my story and make sure they all know they have support.”
