Refinery29, the leading media and entertainment company for young women, today announced senior appointments across its North America and International businesses. Amy Emmerich has been elevated to President, North America and will be responsible for cross-functional planning and operations in North America. Kate Ward has been named President, Refinery29 International, and will continue to scale and diversify the company's international business. George Rogers joins the team as Chief Development Officer to lead the company’s Client Solutions group, overseeing ad sales, marketing solutions and client services. Emmerich and Ward will work closely with Rogers to drive revenue growth, brand impact and efficiencies across the business. Emmerich, Ward and Rogers report to co-Founders and co-CEOs, Philippe von Borries and Justin Stefano.
“Amy and Kate are exemplary leaders and executives who have built key areas of the business from scratch,” said von Borries. “They inspire enormous trust in their teams; bring together vision and execution; and truly live our brand. Both Amy and Kate continue to disrupt and innovate and are forever pushing the growth of our business domestically and globally."
Emmerich, an Emmy® award-winning producer with more than 20 years’ experience developing content and programming, joined Refinery29 in 2015 as EVP, Programming, and in 2017, was appointed Chief Content Officer. She developed Refinery29’s female-first video strategy, spearheaded key franchises including Money Diaries; and launched the company’s Originals business, which is projected to grow over 150 percent in 2019. Emmerich has also been instrumental in overseeing the company’s web publishing business, which is achieving record growth. In her new role, Emmerich will be a critical conduit and partner to the revenue organization, driving the commercial development of content across all channels effectively. Emmerich will continue to oversee Editorial, Video, Branded Content and Business Development, as well as the Originals and Experiential businesses.
“Amy is one of the most talented and natural leaders that we’ve had the honor of working with,” continued von Borries. “Since she arrived over four years ago, she has helped evolve our brand from its publishing roots into a full-fledged media and entertainment brand. Her passion for the business and our audience is unmatched in the industry.”
Ward, previously Executive Vice President for Refinery29’s international business, will continue to lead the global operation overseeing all functions of the international business including commercial and brand partnerships, content, operations and business development.
Since launching Refinery29 UK in 2015, Ward has grown Refinery29’s international business exponentially. Under her leadership, Refinery29 UK has become a market leader, with audience growth of 108 percent in three years, triple digit revenue growth for the third year in a row and was awarded Digiday European Publisher of the Year. Ward has led Refinery29’s strategic expansion both into new markets including Germany, and into new business lines including the launch of The 29th, the company’s innovative marketing and creative consultancy, offering clients audience insights, brand and culture strategy and content production capability.
“Kate has built our international business from the ground up, growing our reach, relevance and revenue and driving incredible results year after year,” said Stefano. “She has done an amazing job of taking our values and expanding them into new territories and we’re excited for her to continue to lead our global rollout strategy as we expand our international business.”
As Chief Development Officer, Rogers will lead new business strategy and focus on building large-scale client partnerships that solve the multi-dimensional challenges associated with reaching young people today. He will also support the strategic growth of The 29th. Rogers most recently served as Chief Revenue Officer at WPP, where he was responsible for Global Business Development across the WPP group, securing global accounts including British Airways, Pfizer, Mazda and Johnson & Johnson, among others. He also built Global Team Blue, WPP’s cross-agency marketing capability and helped grow the Ford business to become WPP’s largest account.
“As a trusted member of our Board of Directors for many years, George has been a hugely influential voice on everything from the core business to new client relationships,” continued Stefano. “We are very excited to bring his wealth of expertise in-house to drive new business strategy and grow our key accounts in new and innovative ways.”
About Refinery29
Refinery29 is the leading media and entertainment company focused on women with a global audience footprint of 249 million across all platforms. Through a variety of lifestyle stories, original video programming, social, shareable content, and live experiences, Refinery29 provides its audience with the inspiration and tools to discover and pursue a more independent, stylish, and informed life. Please visit www.refinery29.com, www.refinery29.com/en-ca, www.refinery29.uk and www.refinery29.de for more information and to browse content.
