Sarah Kate Ellis (born November 27, 1971) is an American media executive, journalist, and author, most widely known for launching and turning around media brands within magazines such as ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'', ''

InStyle ''InStyle'' was an American monthly women's fashion magazine founded in 1994. It was published in the United States by Dotdash Meredith. In February 2022, it was announced that InStyle would cease print publications and move to a digital-only f ...

'', ''

Real Simple ''Real Simple'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. The magazine features articles and information related to homemaking, childcare, cooking, and emotional well-being. The magazine is distinguished by its clean, unclut ...

'', and ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

''. After Ellis's graduation from

Russell Sage College Russell Sage College (often Russell Sage or RSC) is a co-educational college with two campuses located in Albany and Troy, New York, approximately north of New York City in the Capital District. Russell Sage College offers both undergraduat ...

in 1993 with a degree in Sociology and minor in Women's Studies, she began her career in media through the re-launch of

Condé Nast Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Montrose Nast, and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. The company's med ...

's House & Garden. In January 2014, Ellis was appointed president and CEO of

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portraya ...

, the largest U.S. lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization.

Early years

Ellis was born and raised on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

, where she attended

Staten Island Academy Staten Island Academy is a coeducational, college-preparatory day school located on a campus in Staten Island, New York City, United States. Founded in 1884 by Anton Methfessel, it is the oldest independent school on Staten Island, and is the only ...

. She and her older brother Spencer were raised by their parents, Barbara and Ken Ellis. During her youth, Ellis was an athlete; she participated in

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shootin ...

and was a Junior Olympic swimmer. While attending

, Ellis led a media campaign against the college administration's attempt to shut down the only women's center on campus and, in her senior year of college, Ellis came out of the closet as a lesbian. In 2011, Ellis was selected to attend the Tuck Executive Education program at

Tuck School of Business The Tuck School of Business (also known as Tuck, and formally known as the Amos Tuck School of Administration and Finance) is the graduate business school of Dartmouth College, a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Founded i ...

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

and completed it in 2012.

Media work

In 1995, Ellis began her profession in media. She first worked at mass media company Condé Nast, which laid the groundwork for her career advancement. Initially, Ellis worked at Condé Nast's '' House and Garden''. From there, she moved to ''New York'' magazine as a senior manager, then to ''In Style'' as a director. Following her tenure at ''In Style'', Ellis launched and directed the turnaround of ''Real Simple'', which led her to ''Vogue'' where she oversaw 10 lifestyle group brands. Ellis specialized in marketing and applied her abilities most effectively through leadership roles. Extending the reach of her efforts, Ellis involved herself as co-chair of OUT at Time Inc., the company's LGBT employee resource group, where she led programming to spotlight the diversity of the LGBT community (2008-2013).

LGBT rights activism

Ellis began her activism for the LGBT community in 1992, when she marched on Washington to support the rights of women and then marched again in 1993 to support the rights of LGBT people. On January 1, 2014, Ellis began as president and CEO of GLAAD, the only U.S. organization working to move lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality forward through the power of the media. One of the first campaigns Ellis pursued at GLAAD was the organization's 2014 protest against the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade, specifically the parade's ban of lesbian and gay participants. In an article in the ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Ta ...

'', Ellis wrote about her Irish-American heritage and sexual orientation, calling on parade organizers to end the ban.

Personal life

In 2011, Ellis co-authored a memoir with her wife, Kristen Ellis-Henderson, titled ''Times Two, Two Women in Love and the Happy Family They Made'', released by Simon & Schuster. The autobiography chronicled their simultaneous pregnancies and road to motherhood—it was nominated for a Stonewall Book Award. In 2013, the couple was featured on the "Gay Marriage Already Won" cover of TIME Magazine. Ellis and her wife were also profiled in a special New York Times Style section about marriage equality following its legalization in New York State and were the subjects of The Huffington Post's three-part documentary web series titled "Here Come the Brides." They were named one of GO Magazine's Most Captivating Couples of 2012 and are the mothers of two children. Ellis's marriage was the first marriage ceremony performed for a same-sex couple in the Episcopal Church of New York State. Ellis is also a

Vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquial ...

member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

References

External links