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.
SIERRA DOWD
Founder and Co-President, Be More Heroic
Sierra Dowd has always been a community activist for social change, especially on the issue of bullying. Two years ago, unsatisfied with the limitations of her volunteer work, Dowd quit her 9-to- 5 job in public relations to dedicate herself full-time to create an anti-bullying nonprofit. Thus, Be More Heroic was born. By September 2012, Dowd and her business partner had already developed a two-part curriculum, gathered a team of young activists and started traveling the country. “No one is born with hatred, but somewhere along the way we get lost or feel defeated,” she says. “I believe everyone is still hopeful, they want to see change within themselves and their world. That hope has inspired me to move forward even in the toughest of times, when I couldn’t eat, when I had $2 in my bank account. I’m going to do my best to bring positive change, one community at a time.” Be More Heroic’s progressive approach includes exploring not only the stories of victims, but also teaching the perspective of the bully and the responsibility of the bystander. The interactive program features inspiring personal stories, digital media and music, along with guidance and suggestions. Best of all, Be More Heroic implements a sustainable team program in which students are challenged to build from the service projects that touch their lives. The team program has reached more than 20,000 students nationwide, from elementary schools to the collegiate level. With Dowd behind the wheel, we don’t think this movement will be slowing down anytime soon.
