Wendy Wilson '96
Chair, Diversity

Wendy L. Wilson serves as news editor for ESSENCE magazine. In this role she is responsible for assigning various in-depth feature stories as well as profiles, special reports, and commentaries for the news section. She is the former news editor for ESSENCE.com where she provided daily news coverage and content for the Web including breaking news and exclusive stories. She has interviewed some of the most prominent and notable African-American luminaries of our time including Dr. William H. Cosby, actress Viola Davis, Dr. Maya Angelou, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Rev. Al Sharpton. In October 2010, she was invited to attend the African-American Online Summit meeting at the White House where she met with several members of the Obama administration including President Barack Obama.

Wilson is the recipient of the 2011 New York Association of Black Journalists award in the International coverage category for editing a story on child slavery in Ghana. She also won the 2010 New York Association of Black Journalists award in the Magazine Public Affairs category and in the Online/New Media category for Public Affairs.
 
After joining ESSENCE in 2005 as a staff writer, she contributed to several mainstay articles including, ESSENCE’s "25 Most Beautiful Women," "25 Best Companies," "Women of Influence," and the "12-month Home Ownership Campaign," which won the 2007 National Association of Black Journalist Award for best magazine business story.

She has sat on the advisory council for two of ESSENCE’s most inspirational events: The Essence Music Festival and the Essence Woman’s Leadership Conference. She is responsible for recruiting, hiring and managing college students for the ESSENCE Editorial Internship Program.
Wilson is also the recipient of the 2001 Time Inc. President’s Award, one of the most prestigious honors awarded to company employees for her role in adding diversity initiatives to the company’s workforce. In 2012, she was appointed Chair of Diversity on the Skidmore Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Wilson is a graduate of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, where she majored in English with a concentration in creative writing. She then continued her education, graduating from New York University in 2001 with a master’s degree in Journalism. Previously, she has worked at George, InStyle and Teen People magazines.   

In her free time, Wilson is an active member of Fordham United Methodist Church, which she has attended for over 30 years. She is also a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, the American Society of Magazine Editors, and is frequently asked to speak to budding young journalists about the magazine industry. She is a die-hard NY Yankees fan and has an uncanny amount of knowledge about the world of professional wrestling.