Amy DuBois Barnett

Magazine editor Amy DuBois Barnett was born on September 5, 1969 in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois to Marguerite Ross and Stephen Barnett. In 1991, she received her B.A. degree in political science and French from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She attended Parsons School of Design at the New School in New York City, New York, where she obtained a certificate in fashion merchandising in 1993. Barnett then earned her M.F.A. degree in creative writing from Columbia University in New York City, New York in 1998. While completing her graduate degree, Barnett worked as a writer and served as managing editor at FashionPlanet.com, from 1996 to 1997. She later became senior editor of the website’s quarterly magazine, Fashion Almanac.

Barnett was hired to work as the fashion and beauty editor for Essence magazine in 1998 before being promoted to its lifestyle editor in 1999. In 2000, she was hired as editor in chief of Honey magazine’s print and digital publications. Then from 2003 to 2005, Barnett served as managing editor of Teen People magazine, making her the first African American woman in a senior editorial role at a national mainstream magazine. She was then hired in 2007 as deputy editor in chief for Harper’s Bazaar’s print and web publications, before being named as editor in chief of Ebony magazine. During her four years at Ebony, Barnett launched multiple editorial franchises, including the Ebony Beauty Awards and Black Wealth. In 2014, Barnett joined Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois as an adjunct professor of management/organizations, before being hired as an executive editor for ESPN’s The Undefeated. In 2015, Barnett left ESPN to found and became president of Polymath, LLC, a production company and consultancy. From 2017 to 2019, Barnett served as executive vice president of Entertainment Studios and chief content editor for TheGrio. She then went on to serve as senior vice president and general manager for Black Entertainment Television Digital; and, in 2022, she became the chief content editor of Outside, Inc., as well as senior advisor for the growth capital and advisory firm Bravo Mondo in 2023.

Barnett has been active in numerous organizations including serving as vice chair of the Brown Alumni Magazine board of editors from 2004 to 2009, a member of the American Society of Magazine Editors board of directors from 2010 to 2016, and as member of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Advisory Board from 2018 to 2020.

During her career, Barnett published several short fiction stories and released a self-help book titled, Get Yours! How to Have Everything You Ever Dreamed of and More, in 2007, earning a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Literary Work/Instructional Award. Barnett also received multiple awards for her creative writing and editorial work including the Media Executive of the Year Award from Target Market News in 2012 and the Trailblazer Award from the New York Association of Black Journalists.

Barnett was married and has one son, Max Robeson. They reside in Los Angeles, California.

Amy DuBois Barnett was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on March 21, 2023.