#teamEBONY

 

Kierna Mayo
Editorial Director, Digital

Kierna Mayo is the Editorial Director, Digital for EBONY.com. She is the former Editorial Director of Tyra.com, where she developed a cutting-edge, online women’s magazine for Tyra Banks’ Bankable Enterprises. She is also former online editor at Cafemom.com. Kierna has written about culture and lifestyle for over 20 years. Her critically acclaimed writings have appeared in major national magazines including Essence, Marie Claire, Glamour, Seventeen, Vibe and Uptown among others. Most notably, Kierna is also the co-founder and founding Editor-in-Chief of Honey magazine. Recognized for its visionary editorial direction, Honey became the first of a new genre in American magazine publishing—a young, female demographic influenced by an emerging hip-hop culture.

Post Honey, Kierna developed a 1.0 Black girls’ web venture, LikePepper.com, and was later chosen to oversee the new direction of Essence Girl, a magazine supplement for millions of ‘tween and teen African American girls. From there she served as senior editor of Cosmogirl. During her tenure, she became a founding member of the Hearst Diversity Council, an executive body created to increase minority representation within the company. In the earliest part of Kierna’s career she was an editor at The Source magazine where she covered the politics of hip-hop culture, and at City Limits magazine where she served on the development committee of NYC progressive policy think tank, Center for an Urban Future. Kierna’s work has been featured in several books including And It Don’t Stop: The Best American Hip-Hop Journalism of the Last 25 Years, and cited in numerous academic texts including The Invention of Race: Black Culture and the Politics of Representation.

Kierna is a graduate of Hampton University with a BA in Mass Media Arts. She resides in New York City with her husband and two young sons, all of whom wear hoodies. Follow her on Twitter @kiernamayo

Genese Cage
Production Manager, Digital

Genese Cage is the Production Manager for EBONY.com. A Georgia Peach who decided to take a bite out of the Big Apple a year after graduating from Savannah State University (HBCU, baby!) with a B.A. in Mass Communications. She’s worked in digital production for NBC, Bridal Guide Magazine, Six Flags Theme Parks, New York's HOT 97, Scholastic and BET's "106 & Park" before taking her talents to EBONY.com. When she's not crossing "T"s and dotting "I"s to keep #teamEBONY on point, she's putting dresses on her mother's cocker spaniel, Gabby, gossiping about reality TV show ratchetness with her friends and telling you where to find your first (or next) husband on her popular events blog, the adorably-named I Don't Do Clubs.

A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, she resides in Harlem, New York where she reps her pink and green. Follow Genese on Twitter @GeneseJamilah

Jamilah-Asali I. Lemieux
News & Lifestyle Editor, Digital

Jamilah Lemieux is the News & Lifestyle Editor for EBONY.com, a title that cleverly covers many hats. A Chicago native and graduate of Howard University, Jamilah describes herself as "a Hip-Hop Denise Huxtable, who dreams of growing up to be Claire."  In 2005, she created a blog, The Beautiful Struggler, where for more than six years, she galvanized a broad national audience with her meditations on race, relationships and her own less-than-ordinary life. What began as a hobby quickly became a critically acclaimed online destination establishing Jamilah as an emergent and important voice on issues of gender, race and popular culture.

A three-time Black Weblog Award winner, Jamilah has contributed to a host of publications including Essence, JET, Clutch, The Loop, Madame Noire, Black Enterprise Online and Jezebel. She has appeared on a number of radio programs, including NPR's "All Things Considered,” “The Michael Eric Dyson Show,” WBAI's “The Spin” and “Al B. In The Afternoon” on Philadelphia's 900AM WURD. In 2010, she ranked #94 on BlackWeb 2.0's "100 Most Influential Black Women on Twitter." 

A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, she resides in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. You can catch her working, working and also, working...but she loves it!  Follow her on Twitter: @jamilahlemieux

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Melanie Yvette Martin
Editorial Assistant, Digital

Melanie Martin is the Editorial Assistant for EBONY.com. She is a native of Largo, Maryland and an alumna of Temple University where she created, produced and hosted her own radio show, Fabulously Focused. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications, Melanie set her sites on taking a huge bite out of the Big Apple. She pounded the payment and scored a dream internship with style editor, Bobbie Thomas of the NBC Today Show. 

She then began interning for EBONY Magazine’s Style department and found a home in the magically reimagined world of EBONY.com.  When she’s not assisting #teamEBONY, she is enjoying the city nightlife, volunteering with young women and meeting new people from all walks of life. Follow Melanie on Twitter @TheFFgal.

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Armando Amador
Producer, Digital

Armando Amador is a Web Producer for EBONY.com. He is recent graduate of Stony Brook University, where he studied Information System Engineering. He serves as a creative director/designer for GoldRush Clothing and is an active freelance graphic artist. A proud brother of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, Armando enjoys playing basketball, spending time with friends and plotting his global takeover.