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.
ALICIA HARDESTY
Founder and Creative Director, Original Tomboy
Alicia Hardesty can’t remember a time when she wasn’t obsessed with clothing, even as a young tomboy growing up in Brandenburg, Kentucky. After earning her fashion degree in Colorado, Hardesty worked in menswear with Aeropostale and designed for several brands on both coasts before running a modest Kickstarter campaign and launching her own brand, Original Tomboy. Almost immediately, her designs were featured in magazines and she was cast in the tenth season of Project Runway, where she finished in eighth place and used her charming “tomboy from Kentucky” reputation to promote the brand. “Fashion is always changing, and it allows for creativity and expression in all areas; room to experiment with new concepts, designs and direction,” she says. “I’ve learned that no matter how great your product, service or idea is, marketing and getting it out there in front of your target audience is the most important thing. Keep your message simple and easy to understand.” Now, when she isn’t doing appearances, interviews, fashion shows, custom orders and managing her business online, Hardesty fosters collaborations with smart, likeminded groups like Project X Squared. She is currently in talks with Amnesty International. And her recent TEDxYouth talk at Caltech has sparked a passion to do even more work with young people.
