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 Elite Daily, 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 Facebook and 7 million+ on Instagram -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 Digiday Future Leaders Award | 2018 Ad Age 40 Under 40 | 2017 Folio’s Top Women in Media | ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2015 Forbes 30 Under 30 | 2015 Business Insider’s Most Influential Women in NYC Tech | 2015 Silicon Alley 100 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​.