Amy DuBois Barnett facts for kids

Amy DuBois Barnett (born in 1969) is a talented American magazine editor. She has led many popular magazines. Amy was the editor-in-chief of Ebony, Honey, and Teen People magazines. She was also a deputy editor at Harper's Bazaar.

Amy DuBois Barnett made history as the first African-American woman to lead a major mainstream magazine in the United States. She is also a skilled writer. She has written many short stories. In 2008, she published an advice book for women called Get Yours!. This book was nominated for an NAACP Image Award.

Early Life and Education

Amy DuBois Barnett was born in Hyde Park, Chicago. Her parents are Stephen and Marguerite Ross Barnett. Her mother, Marguerite, was the first Black woman to lead a major research university.

Amy went to Brown University for her college studies. There, she joined the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She studied French and political science. After college, she briefly worked in finance. Then, she went to Parsons to learn about fashion. She worked at a store called Lord & Taylor.

Later, Amy moved to Ireland. She studied writing and literature at University College Dublin. She then returned to the U.S. to attend Columbia University. She earned a special degree in creative writing there.

Amy's Career in Magazines

While studying at Columbia University, Amy started writing for a website called Fashion Planet. This website later became a magazine called Fashion Almanac. Amy was interested in fashion at first. But this experience made her interested in journalism instead. She became the managing editor for Fashion Almanac.

After finishing her studies, Amy worked at Essence magazine. She was the lifestyle editor there. In 2000, she became the editor-in-chief of Honey magazine. In 2003, she joined Time Inc.. She became the managing editor of Teen People. This made her the first African-American editor-in-chief of a major "mainstream consumer magazine."

Next, Amy became the deputy editor of Harper’s Bazaar. In 2010, she joined Ebony magazine as its editor-in-chief.

Leading Ebony Magazine

While at Ebony, Amy DuBois Barnett made big changes. She led the magazine's first redesign in 66 years. This made the magazine look fresh and new.

In 2011, Amy joined the board of the American Society of Magazine Editors. She served on this board for three terms. For her great work at Ebony and other magazines, Amy received many awards. In 2012, she won eight Salute to Excellence Awards. She was also named Media Executive of the Year by Target Market News in 2012.

In April 2014, Amy left Ebony. Soon after, she became an executive editor for The Undefeated. This was a new ESPN website. It focused on sports and culture for African-American audiences.

In 2017, Amy joined TheGrio. She became an executive vice president there. In 2019, Amy left TheGrio. She then joined BET as a senior vice president. She became the general manager of BET Digital.

Books by Amy DuBois Barnett

• Get Yours! How to Have Everything You Ever Dreamed of and More (Random House), 2007

Selected Writings

• "Do Not Uncover Buried Things" Obsidian III, Vol. 1 No. 1 1999
• "Mirror Image" in Gumbo: A Celebration of African American Writing (Anthology), edited by Marita Golden, 2002
• "What Are You, Anyway?" The Brown Reader: 50 Writers Remember College Hill, 2014