You can’t think about Essence without mentioning Susan L. Taylor, former Editor-In-Chief. She is the primary reason the magazine did as well as it did and became a household name. For this reason and many others, including heading up her own mentorship program, she is being honored with Black Enterprise’s 2015 Legacy Award at the Women of Power Summit taking place March 2-5, 2015 at Fort Lauderdale Marriot Harbor Beach Resort and Spa in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
In honor of her accomplishments, we have listed ten things you should already know about Susan L. Taylor.
1. Susan L. Taylor was Editor-in-Chief of Essence from 1981 through 2000.
2. She was executive producer and host of Essence, the Television Program.
3. Taylor was the first African-American woman to receive The Magazine Publishers of America’s Henry Johnson Fisher Award.
4. She is the author of four books: the best-seller In the Spirit; Lessons in Living; Confirmation: The Spiritual Wisdom That Has Shaped Our Lives, which she co-authored with her husband, Khephra Burns; and her most recent book, All About Love.
5. She is the Founder and CEO of National CARES Mentoring Movement.
6. She was inducted on July 13, 2013, as an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
7. Taylor started her own company, Nequai Cosmetics, before she became an editor at Essence.
8. In 2002, Taylor was inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame.
9. Susan is a co-founder of Future PAC, the first national political action committee devoted to providing a network of support and sources of funding for progressive African American women seeking federal and state-level political offices.
10. A true New Yorker, Taylor was born in Harlem, as a teenager, she lived in Queens and obtained her college degree in the Bronx, from Fordham University.