Amy DuBois Barnett

Early life

Barnett was born in New York City. She attended Brown University as an undergraduate, then worked briefly in finance before enrolling at Parsons for a certificate in fashion merchandise. She worked at Lord & Taylor before moving to Ireland to study writing and literature at University College in Dublin; she then attended Columbia University for an MFA in creative writing.

Career

While at Columbia University, Barnett wrote for a website called Fashion Planet, which became the magazine Fashion Almanac. Initially interested in going into the fashion industry, the experience shaped Barnett's interest in journalism, and Barnett became Fashion Almanac's managing editor.

After earning her MFA, Barnett went on to be the editor-in-chief of Honey magazine, then the managing editor of Teen People, where in 2003 she became the first African-American editor-in-chief of one of Time, Inc.'s "mainstream consumer magazine[s]." She then became the deputy editor of Harper’s Bazaar, then worked with Essence magazine before joining Ebony in 2010.

While at Ebony, Barnett led the magazine's first redesign in its 66-year history. She also grew Ebony’s base by 11 percent in 2011, and introduce new franchises such as the “Black Wealth”, the Ebony Beauty Awards and “50 Finest”. For her outstanding work at Ebony as well as her other editing positions, Barnett received eight Salute to Excellence Awards in 2012 as well as the Media Executive of the Year in 2012 by Target Market News.

In April 2014, Barnett left Ebony; shortly thereafter she was announced as executive editor for The Undefeated, then a still-forthcoming ESPN sports and culture website focused on African-American audiences, led by Jason Whitlock.