Edward Lewis
CEO and Publisher, Essence Communications, Inc | Essence Communications, Inc.
"Magazine publisher and entrepreneur Edward Lewis was born on May 15, 1940 in the Bronx, New York. His father was a night shift janitor at City College; his mother was a factory worker and a beautician. Lewis attended De Witt Clinton High School where he excelled academically and was a star football fullback. Having been recognized as All City, upon graduation from high school, he earned a football scholarship to the University of New Mexico . Lewis received a B.A. degree in Poli-‐ tical Science in 1964 and in 1966, his M.A. degree in Political Science with a minor in International Relations: emphasis on Chinese and Russian History-‐also from the University of New Mexico. He later completed the Small Business Management Program at Harvard University. In 2003, the University of New Mexico awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Letters.
Lewis worked first as an administrative analyst for the Albuquerque Office of the City Manager, from 1964-‐1965 ; then, a financial analyst at First National Bank in New York city from 1965 to 1969. In 1969, he co-‐founded Essence, a magazine specifically targeted to African American women and went on to serve as CEO and publisher of Essence Communications , Inc. for three decades. In the 1980s and 1990s,
Lewis expanded Essence Communications to include a weekly television show, Essence Eyewear, Essence Hosiery, Essence Patterns, a mail order catalogue and Essence
Children’s Books in partnership with Scholastic. Later, he developed the Essence Awards television show and the Essence Music Festival over the Fourth of July weekend, now in its 23rd year and which draws 500,000 attendees annually and generates millions of
dollars to New Orleans and to the state of Louisiana. In 1992, Lewis acquired Income Opportunities from Davis Publishing and, in 1995, co-founded Latina magazine, a bilingual publication geared toward Hispanic women.
In 1997, Lewis became the first African American chairman of the Magazine Publishers of America in its 75 years. In October 2000, Lewis engineered a partnership with Time, Inc. and Essence Communications, Inc., resulting in Time acquiring 49% of Essence. In 2005, Lewis sold the remaining 51% to Time, Inc.. He also sold Latina to the private equity firm, Solera Capital.. Later, he agreed to be Chairman of the Latina Media board and to become Senior Advisor to Solera.
In 2014, Lewis published a memoir, The Man From Essence: Creating A Magazine For Black Women.
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Lewis has served on the boards of: TransAfrica, the Rheedland Foundation (currently, the Harlem Children’s Zone), the New York City Partnership, the Central Park Conservancy, A&P, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Teachers College of Columbia University, Spelman College, Tuskegee University, the Apollo Foundation, and the Harlem Village Academy-a charter school.
Essence magazine ranked seventh in Advertising Age on the 2003 “A –List,” the first time that a targeted African American publication received this honor. Lewis’ personal awards include:
The Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Publishing from Ernst & Young, the Frederick Douglass Award from the New York Urban League, the President’s Award from 100 Black Men of America, Inc., the United Negro College Fund Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Media-Bridge-Builder-Award from the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, the Advertising Federation Diversity Achievement Award, the Henry Luce Lifetime Achievement Award and the Henry Johnson Fisher Lifetime Achievement Award-considered the “Oscar” of publishing, the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2014, he was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame.
He was Chairman of OTB during the Mayor Dinkins administration and served on the Transition Committees of Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor de Blasio.
He is a member of the Black Economic Alliance and a Director of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust.
Lewis is an outspoken advocate on the importance of mentoring and philanthr"
Lewis worked first as an administrative analyst for the Albuquerque Office of the City Manager, from 1964-‐1965 ; then, a financial analyst at First National Bank in New York city from 1965 to 1969. In 1969, he co-‐founded Essence, a magazine specifically targeted to African American women and went on to serve as CEO and publisher of Essence Communications , Inc. for three decades. In the 1980s and 1990s,
Lewis expanded Essence Communications to include a weekly television show, Essence Eyewear, Essence Hosiery, Essence Patterns, a mail order catalogue and Essence
Children’s Books in partnership with Scholastic. Later, he developed the Essence Awards television show and the Essence Music Festival over the Fourth of July weekend, now in its 23rd year and which draws 500,000 attendees annually and generates millions of
dollars to New Orleans and to the state of Louisiana. In 1992, Lewis acquired Income Opportunities from Davis Publishing and, in 1995, co-founded Latina magazine, a bilingual publication geared toward Hispanic women.
In 1997, Lewis became the first African American chairman of the Magazine Publishers of America in its 75 years. In October 2000, Lewis engineered a partnership with Time, Inc. and Essence Communications, Inc., resulting in Time acquiring 49% of Essence. In 2005, Lewis sold the remaining 51% to Time, Inc.. He also sold Latina to the private equity firm, Solera Capital.. Later, he agreed to be Chairman of the Latina Media board and to become Senior Advisor to Solera.
In 2014, Lewis published a memoir, The Man From Essence: Creating A Magazine For Black Women.
,
Lewis has served on the boards of: TransAfrica, the Rheedland Foundation (currently, the Harlem Children’s Zone), the New York City Partnership, the Central Park Conservancy, A&P, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Teachers College of Columbia University, Spelman College, Tuskegee University, the Apollo Foundation, and the Harlem Village Academy-a charter school.
Essence magazine ranked seventh in Advertising Age on the 2003 “A –List,” the first time that a targeted African American publication received this honor. Lewis’ personal awards include:
The Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Publishing from Ernst & Young, the Frederick Douglass Award from the New York Urban League, the President’s Award from 100 Black Men of America, Inc., the United Negro College Fund Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Media-Bridge-Builder-Award from the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, the Advertising Federation Diversity Achievement Award, the Henry Luce Lifetime Achievement Award and the Henry Johnson Fisher Lifetime Achievement Award-considered the “Oscar” of publishing, the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2014, he was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame.
He was Chairman of OTB during the Mayor Dinkins administration and served on the Transition Committees of Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor de Blasio.
He is a member of the Black Economic Alliance and a Director of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust.
Lewis is an outspoken advocate on the importance of mentoring and philanthr"