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.
NICOLE RIVERA AND
MARIA VASPASIANO
Co-Founders and Designers
Guilty jean. Jewelry
When Maria and Nicole met in 2008, their mutual love of fashion sparked an instant attraction. Inspired by spirituality, self-expression and each other, the pair began taking old pieces of jewelry that didn’t quite represent their vision accurately and giving them a whole new design. They quickly moved on to create entirely original pieces, fusing Maria’s funky, vintage style with Nicole’s dark, bohemian-goth look. “Our passion for creating new expressive accessories, which had been a hobby for both of us since childhood, organically became a business once friends and family started requesting pieces,†they tell us. Today, that business is taking off. Guilty jean. has been featured in HudsonMOD, Fashion Affair Magazine and on Fab.com. Clients appreciate the special attention that Maria and Nicole pay to the energy each individual piece carries. Made of mixed metals, charms and semi-precious stones from around the globe, every handmade piece comes with a stone properties card to enable a deeper, more unique connection between the jewelry and its owner. The ever-growing line of Guilty jean. products is finding happy fashionistas worldwide through multi-brand platforms, including OpenSky.com and numerous open air markets. New Yorkers can find Guilty jean. jewelry at the Hester Street Fair, open seasonally from April through October. And here’s some even sweeter news: Maria recently proposed to Nicole with an exclusive Guilty jean. diamond skull engagement ring and they’re excited to set a date.
