#LeadershipTuesdays: Creating Change That Impacts The Culture...Elaine Welteroth

“…I know from first-hand experience being a young brown girl growing up in a place where I did not see myself represented on the covers of magazines or in the pages prominently featured, it has an effect on your self-esteem. And so the idea that as a journalist you have a responsibility and opportunity to change that is endlessly inspiring and empowering.”

--Elaine Welteroth, former Editor-In-Chief, Teen Vogue

On Tuesdays, womenatliberty.com presents #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Today we are featuring Elaine Welteroth. 

She is a Northern California native who made history in the fashion and beauty industry as the first black beauty director at Conde Nast and the youngest and only second person of color to be named Editor-In-Chief at any Conde Nast magazine. She is first person in her family to attend college graduating from California State University-Sacramento with a degree in mass communications and journalism in 2007.

A pivotal moment occurred in this young woman’s life when, after contacting Harriette Cole numerous times via letter, email and calls to her assistant, Elaine finally got a chance to speak on the phone with her role model. Harriette Cole, who was then the Editor-In-Chief of Ebony Magazine, was impressed with Elaine and later tapped her to assist with a photo shoot of Serena Williams in Los Angeles California. Her professionalism with that assignment led to an internship and a permanent position at Ebony where she eventually became the Beauty and Style Editor.

Welteroth joined Conde Nast in 2011 as the Beauty & Style editor at Glamour. The company also owns a hosts of other well-known magazines such as Vogue, GQ, The New Yorker and Vanity. In 2012 she was promoted to Beauty and Health director at Teen Vogue. From there she was named editor of the magazine in 2016 and in 2017 she was announced as Teen Vogue’s new Editor-In-Chief.

Known for her commitment to both cultural and workplace diversity, social issues and providing a space for young voices to be heard, one of her most notable accomplishments at Teen Vogue was creating the first ever Teen Vogue Summit in 2017 which featured guests including former first lady and Senator Hillary Clinton, film director Ava Duvernay, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, actress Rowan Blanchard, Compton Mayor Aja Brown, and Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe. 

Welteroth has remained true to her passion even after leaving Teen Vogue this past January. She is currently represented by CAA and is expanding her talents into the film and television industry. Click on @LeadershipTues and see our Twitter timeline to view a recent Forbes video where Ms. Welteroth talks about the power of young people to effect change.

2026 Update: Welteroth is still creating change. None a mother of two young boys along with her husband has Jonathan Singletary, she is still very active working on projects that are close to her heart and bring her joy while living in the Los Angeles, California area. In 2024, she founded BirthFUND to bring awareness to the rising mortality rates of black women during childbirth and assist women in locating and affording midwives to support their child birth experience. 

For more information on Leadership Tuesdays, go to #LeadershipTuesdays. There you'll find resources to help you develop your leadership skills and learn from others who are successful leaders.