Susan L. Taylor is editorial director of ESSENCE magazine. Her career in magazine journalism is one of the most enduring and
legendary in the industry. The driving force behind ESSENCE, Taylor is responsible for the editorial mission and vision of
the award-winning publication and writes the popular In the Spirit column each month. She oversees in a similar capacity
the content of all divisions and productions of the multimedia organization, including The Essence Music Festival and the
Women Who Are Shaping the World Leadership Summit.
Through her monthly column, her numerous public appearances and extensive international travel, Taylor has become an
inspiration to millions of people who see her as a living symbol of the magazine. Her dedication to the well-being of the
African-American community has earned her the trust and respect of people throughout the world.
A fourth-generation entrepreneur, Taylor researched and developed her own line of customized cosmetics and natural skin-care
products and launched a successful business in 1970—the same year ESSENCE debuted. Her company filled a great void in the
market and became highly profitable in its first year. Within weeks of its introduction, the cosmetics company came to the
attention of ESSENCE editors, and Taylor was recruited to help the fledgling publication shape its beauty pages.
In 1971 she was named the magazine’s beauty editor, and a year later her position was expanded to include fashion.
In 1981 she became editor-in-chief of ESSENCE and in 2000, the company’s editorial director.
In her leadership role, Taylor has guided ESSENCE through a period of phenomenal growth, making it the largest and most
highly regarded magazine for Black women in the world. Her efforts have been recognized with distinctive honors and a
monthly readership of nearly eight million, a third of whom are men.
Taylor has been instrumental as well in the growth of the ESSENCE brand, and in 1984, with the launch of Essence,
America’s first nationally syndicated Black-oriented magazine-format television show, she became nationally known.
The weekly program, which ran for four seasons, aired in more than 60 U.S. markets and in several Caribbean and African
countries.
Taylor also served as executive producer of The Essence Awards, the award-winning network television special. She functions
in a similar capacity for the annual Essence Music Festival, which brings chart-topping performers and more than 250,000
people to New Orleans during the Fourth of July holiday each year. Taylor’s Empowerment Seminars, which bring together
some of the most dynamic speakers to address issues of vital concern to African-Americans, have become the highlight of
the Festival.
As arbiter of the style and substance that have made the ESSENCE brand world-famous, Taylor is the guiding force in the
diversified company’s many ventures, including Essence Books, Essence Eyewear and Essence Entertainment.
A much-sought-after speaker, she is also the author of three books — the perennially best-selling
In the Spirit: The Inspirational Writings of Susan L. Taylor,
Lessons in Living and Confirmation: The Spiritual Wisdom That Has Shaped Our Lives,
the latter coauthored with her husband, Khephra Burns.
A graduate of Fordham University, Taylor is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the American
Society of Magazine Editors. She has also served as a member of the Commission on Research in Black Education,
an initiative of the prestigious American Educational Research Association. The aim of the commission is to stimulate
research and policy to improve education for and about people of African ancestry.
She has received numerous awards and citations, notably the highest honor awarded to a publishing professional by the
Magazine Publishers of America, The Henry Johnson Fisher Award, which recognizes people who have dedicated their lives
to the magazine business and helped the industry thrive and expand. In 2002 Taylor was inducted into the American Society
of Magazine Editors (ASME) Hall of Fame, which celebrates the career-long records of excellence and creativity of a
select group of highly influential magazine journalists.
She has received honorary doctoral degrees for a host of prestigious institutions, among them Spelman and Bennett colleges,
Fordham, Delaware State and Fisk universities and from the nation’s first college for African-Americans,
Lincoln University. Taylor is an avid supporter of numerous organizations dedicated to moving Black people forward.
She is a mentor to several youngsters in crisis and is personally committed to serving and empowering the poor and working
with disadvantaged women and teenagers to help them realize their strengths and take charge of their lives. Taylor is
currently cochair of a capital campaign with Danny Glover for Shared Interest, a U.S.–based organization that guarantees
credit to low-income South African families and communities. Taylor is also cofounder of The Future PAC, the first national
Black women’s political action committee. The Future PAC is dedicated to increasing Black women’s political
leadership and the number of progressive Black women elected to political office.