2010 Conference Speakers

Angela Burt-Murray

Editor-in-Chief, ESSENCE

Angela Burt-Murray is editor-in-chief of ESSENCE, where she oversees editorial content for ESSENCE magazine—the premier lifestyle, fashion and beauty magazine for African-American women—as well as Essence.com—the leading daily online destination to serve that audience. As steward of ESSENCE's editorial content since 2005, Burt-Murray aims to celebrate, inspire, entertain and empower the brand’s audience–which encompasses more than 8 million readers of the monthly magazine and over one million monthly unique users of the website.

Under her leadership, ESSENCE has been recognized for its compelling editorial content both in the magazine and online—which Burt-Murray has successfully expanded into books, television and live events. ESSENCE recently published The Black Women’s Guide to Healthy Living, and two commemorative versions of The Obamas: Portrait of America’s New First Family, as well as a co-branded news special for CNN entitled Black in America: Reclaiming the Dream. Additionally, Burt-Murray is responsible for developing programming based on key topics of interest to the African-American community, as presented annually at the Essence Music Festival’s community-oriented Empowerment Seminars.

Prior to joining ESSENCE, Burt-Murray served as executive editor of TEEN PEOPLE. Previously, Burt-Murray was executive editor at Honey magazine from 2001 to 2003, beauty director at TEEN PEOPLE in 2001, and the fashion and beauty features editor for ESSENCE from 1998 to 2001. Burt-Murray is also the co-author of the critically acclaimed humor book, The Angry Black Woman's Guide to Life (Dutton), and the novel, The Vow (HarperCollins/Amistad). Featured as one of the "40 Under 40" by Crain's New York Business, she appears regularly on CNN, Entertainment Tonight, Good Morning America, MSNBC, NBC Nightly News and The Today Show, to name a few.

Burt-Murray is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, and has served on the boards of Safe Horizons, the nation’s leading domestic violence assistance organization and the American Society of Magazine Editors. A graduate of Hampton University, she resides in New Jersey with her husband and their two children.