Magazines

Troy Young is president of Hearst Magazines, one of the world’s largest publishers of monthly magazines, with more than 300 editions and 240 websites globally, including more than 25 titles in the U.S. He is also a senior vice president of Hearst.

Young joined Hearst in 2013 as president of Hearst Magazines Digital Media, where he built a continuously growing division that creates and manages the content, technology, operations, product and business development strategies for 20 digital brands in the U.S. The portfolio includes Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s BAZAAR and Delish, as well as Sweet, a collaboration with Snapchat on its Discover platform.

In 2015, Young was named Adweek’s Magazine Executive of the Year, an honor that recognized him for unifying Hearst’s “print and digital brands into a single, well-oiled machine whose traffic has surged,” leading to a 75 percent increase in revenue, and for his development of MediaOS, “a combined CMS, ad sales and data strategy tool for all Hearst properties.” In 2014, Young was inducted to MIN’s Digital Hall of Fame, and in 2013 he was named to the FOLIO 100, a list of the most influential and impactful media professionals of the year. Young was also one of MIN’s Most Intriguing People the same year.

A media executive and entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in digital publishing and advertising, Young was previously president of Say Media. Prior to Say, Young held several executive positions at Omnicom’s digital agency Organic, including the role of chief experience officer, where he advised on strategy and created award-winning work for clients including American Express, Virgin Mobile, Sirius XM, Chrysler and Bank of America. He has held numerous advisory roles with digital media, mobile and commerce companies and currently serves on the boards of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Digital Content Next (DCN).

Debi Chirichella is executive vice president, chief financial officer and director of global operations for Hearst Magazines, one of the world's largest publishers of monthly magazines, with 25 U.S. titles and close to 300 international editions.

She joined Hearst Magazines as senior vice president and chief financial officer in November 2011, overseeing the company’s strategic financial planning and reporting. Previously, Chirichella spent seven years at Condé Nast, where she served in a number of executive positions. From 2008 until early 2011, she was chief operating officer of Condé Nast Digital; simultaneously, beginning in 2010, she was COO of the Fairchild Fashion Group. Before that, she was chief financial officer of Condé Nast Publications.

Earlier in her career, Chirichella held several high-level planning, finance and operations roles at Primedia, and most recently, she served as CFO/COO at Prometheus Global Media.

Chirichella is a graduate of Princeton University and received her master’s degree in business from Harvard University. She currently resides in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, with her husband and three children.

Kate Lewis is chief content officer of Hearst Magazines, one of the world’s largest publishers of monthly magazines, with more than 300 international editions and 25 U.S. brands in print. In this role, Lewis directs content strategy for Hearst Magazines brands across print and digital, overseeing all editors-in-chief and digital directors.

Lewis joined Hearst Magazines Digital Media in 2014 as vice president, content operations and editorial director. She was promoted to senior vice president in 2016. Under her leadership, monthly unique visitors across the Hearst Magazines Digital Media portfolio more than tripled. Lewis also oversaw content and strategy for the portfolio’s social media—which grew to an audience of 220 million—and was responsible for both editorial video and branded content.

Previously, Lewis was senior vice president and editorial director at Say Media, overseeing content operations, editorial strategy and development for Say’s portfolio of digital brands including xoJane, Remodelista and ReadWrite. Lewis also managed a network of partner sites, as well as the shared services department that provided support and strategy for audience development, social media and partnerships.

Prior to Say Media, Lewis was a senior executive director of human resources at Condé Nast Publications. Before that, she was managing editor at Self for 10 years, overseeing editorial and production, digital projects, book publishing, events and television partnerships.

Lewis was named to Advertising Age’s Women to Watch list in 2018. In 2017, she was inducted to MIN’s Digital Hall of Fame, and in 2016, was named to FOLIO’s Top Women in Media list.

Jeff Hamill is executive vice president and chief media officer of Hearst Magazines, one of the world’s largest publishers of monthly magazines. He is responsible for advertising pricing strategy across the company’s portfolio including corporate contract and agency negotiations.

Hearst Magazines publishes more than 300 editions and 240 websites around the world, with more than 25 titles in the U.S.

Hamill joined Hearst Magazines in 1983 as a part of Hearst’s industry leading publishing training program and has held senior advertising sales management positions at multiple Hearst titles including Redbook, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping. From 2000 to 2019 he led Hearst Integrated Media, the corporate sales and marketing arm of Hearst Magazines. Additionally, he is a member of the MPA Ad Marketing Committee, the New York Advertising Club Media Action Committee and is a former board member of the New York chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Hamill is a graduate of Washington & Lee University where he serves on the Williams School of Business board of advisors. 

Keesha Jean-Baptiste is senior vice president, chief talent officer for Hearst Magazines, overseeing the division’s people and culture, including talent, engagement, leadership and employee experience. 

Before joining Hearst in 2018, she was senior vice president of talent, engagement and inclusion at the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s), the leading trade association representing the advertising agency industry. At the 4A’s, Jean-Baptiste led the production of thought leadership for the industry and member agencies around recruitment, professional development, leadership and inclusion. She also oversaw diversity-focused initiatives for the 4A’s Foundation, including the Multicultural Advertising Intern Program.

Prior to 4A’s, she spent six years at Wieden+Kennedy beginning in 2011, first as a recruiting manager, and then as director of talent and human resources. During her tenure at Wieden+Kennedy, Jean-Baptiste executed a strategic reimagining of the agency’s human resources department. From 2005 to 2010, she held various senior-level human resources roles at Digitas. She started her career in marketing, also at Digitas, and previously was the business development director at Essence. 

Jean-Baptiste is a graduate of James Madison University and holds a master’s degree from Emerson College.