Kate Ward is Executive Vice President for Refinery29’s international business, the leading digital-media and entertainment company focused on women, where she oversees the company's growth and expansion across both programming and commercial.
In November 2015, Kate launched Refinery29 UK, the company's first international edition, headquartered in London. Since launch, the UK edition has consistently grown its community, with a 50 percent increase in the number of users on Refinery29.uk in 2017 alone, and has been most recently recognised by Digiday's Media Europe Awards as Publisher of the Year. Kate expanded the international offering in 2016 with the launch of Refinery29's German office and .de site.
Prior to Refinery29 Kate spent 8 years at the Endemol Shine Group in a variety of roles from Associate Director of Business Development to Head of Commercial and Strategy at Shine TV. Kate has been named as one of Ad Age's Class of Women to Watch Europe and listed in Management Today's 35 Women Under 35. Kate is also a regular speaker at industry events and serves alongside other industry experts in various roles including judging The Drum Online Media Awards and sitting on the Advisory Committee of the Edinburgh International TV Festival.
Projects
- Refinery29’s Unbothered is made for and by black millennial women“A lot of the time, diversifying content is tied to a financial decision. And while I do think that targeting black women is a very smart financial decision, it was also very important that we communicate that this is out of an authentic desire to fill a void.” A fantastic piece on Refinery29's fastest growing Instagram channel - Unbothered - which is made by and for black millennial women. Read more on Nieman Lab: http://www.niemanlab.org/2019/03/refinery29s-unbothered-is-made-for-and-by-blac
- Photographer Flora Maclean collaborates with Refinery29 to change the way mental health looks onlineAlways one to push positive and inclusive attitudes to mental health, Refinery29 have released a new series of images with photographer Flora Maclean, with the aim to reframe how mental health issues are visualised online. Born out of a frustration with ‘depression stock images’ being mostly populated by white males, the Refinery29 design and photo team – led by Art Director Anna Jay – decided to commission a series of mental health-related stock images to use globally across the R29 sites. Begi
- Refinery29 unveils creative consultancy The29th to develop content for brands - The DrumRefinery29, a WPP-backed media title aimed at young women, has launched a marketing and creative wing called the The29th. This new London-based consultancy will deliver bespoke content for brands and has signed up the Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), which already works with marcomms giant WPP, as its launch client. It will work on WBA's global beauty and cosmetic brands brands – which include Soap & Glory, Sleek, Botanics and Tea Tree & Witch Hazel – alongside the team at WPP. Broadly, The29th w
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Projects credited in
- This International Women’s Day 2019, meet 100 trailblazers redefining the creative industryDiscover our 2020 list here This International Women’s Day, we’ve launched our latest ‘10x10’ – asking 10 influential industry icons to each nominate 10 trailblazing women and non-binary people who they believe are redefining the creator landscape. The result? An incredible list of 100 trailblazers inspiring change. Our list will be accompanied by a takeover on The Dots – look out for brilliant profiles and projects on the platform as we aim to inspire, as important as ever when considering ‘88165
Skills
- Content and Media Writing
- Journalism
Education
Masters Degree in History University of Cambridge
- Cambridge, United Kingdom
Awards
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Publisher of the YearDIGIDAY
Digiday Media Awards EuropeAd Age's Class of Women to Watch EuropeAd Age
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