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KATE WARD 309 2nd St, Apt 1D, Brooklyn, NY 11215, (646) 784-0583, [email protected] ​ ______

EXPERIENCE 2013-2019 Bustle Digital Group – Editor-in-Chief New York, N.Y. ​ ​​ Expertise in building and acquiring brands: -Spearheaded and oversaw Bustle’s 2013 launch and Romper’s 2015 launch, developing voice, vision, mission, and strategy for both sites -Oversaw and managed the 2017 acquisition of , the 2018 acquisition of The Zoe Report, and the 2018 acquisition of Mic, and restructured vision and strategy for each sites' content -Spearheaded and oversaw Bustle's overseas expansion in the UK in 2018 -Using data-informed approach, Grew Bustle’s UVs to 50 million+ in four years, Romper’s to 11 million+ in less than two years, Bustle UK's to 3 million+ in six months, and diversified and increased Elite Daily's 20 million audience in less than one year Expertise across editorial, video, branded content, and social: -Built BDG’s video operations to 20+ members, and oversaw daily production and OTT project development -Oversaw Bustle Digital Group’s revenue-generating social strategy across multiple platforms, growing its overall social following to 11.5 million+ on and 7 million+ on -Conceptualized Bustle Digital Group's revenue-generating Instagram Stories series strategy, becoming the first publisher to launch weekly series programming on the platform -Oversaw operations of editorial team, which produced ~400 pieces of content per day across all five brands -Oversaw revenue-generating tentpole programming, and conceptualized and launched Bustle Digital Group's premium digital issue strategy Expertise in large-scale management and inter-department execution: -Managed team of ~100 across five brands (Bustle, Elite Daily, Romper, The Zoe Report, Mic) and six departments (editorial, social, video, operations, branded content, brand initiatives) -Collaborated with product team on future CMS- and design-related projects, sales on future revenue-driving initiatives, and business development on future strategic partnerships -Collaborated with events team (Flavorpill) to conceptualize and execute BDG's Rule Breakers festival

2012-2013 Hollywood.com – Executive Editor New York, N.Y. ​ ​​ -Managed staff of ~15 editors and writers -Spearheaded Hollywood.com’s rebranding and relaunching efforts by developing new voice and vision, overseeing redesign, and developing marketing, social, and editorial strategy -Developed plan for site’s day-to-day operations

2010-2012 Entertainment Weekly’s EW.com – Assistant News Director New York, N.Y. ​ ​​ EW.com was awarded the Eddie for Best Online News Coverage, Consumer at the 2011 Folio Awards -Supervised staff of approximately 5-10 EW.com writers and editors -Researched, identified, and directed site content, assigning ~80% of daily articles -Spearheaded revival of pop culture blog PopWatch (2011 min Award finalist for Best Blog)

2007-2010 Entertainment Weekly – Correspondent New York, N.Y. ​ ​​ -Reported and wrote features, sidebars, News + Notes stories, and more

EDUCATION 2003-2007 Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism – Bachelor of Science Evanston, Ill. ​ ​​ Major: Journalism, Minor: English

2002 National High School Institute – CHERUB program Evanston, Ill. ​ ​​

AWARDS 2019 Future Leaders Award | 2018 Ad Age 40 Under 40 | 2017 Folio’s Top Women in Media | ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2015 Forbes 30 Under 30 | 2015 ’s Most Influential Women in NYC Tech | 2015 Silicon Alley 100 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​