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Elaine Welteroth (born December 10, 1986) is an American journalist who currently serves as the Editor for Teen Vogue. Welteroth is credited for the continuous addition of magazine pieces which focused on social justice issues and politics. Her promotion to Editor from her previous position of Beauty and Health Director in 2016 makes her the youngest in Condé Nast history to become Editor-in-Chief at the age of 29. Welteroth is also the second African American in Condé Nast's 107-year history to hold such a title. When she served as Beauty & Health Director of Teen Vogue magazine in 2012, Welteroth became the first African-American to serve in such role. Under her leadership, Teen Vogue developed their first YouTube channel, which features content which focuses on diverse subjects from campus-style to cultural appropriation.

Personal Life

As of May 2017, Welteroth is engaged to musician, Jonathan Singletary. The two originally met as children while they attended the same church. The beginning date of their engagement is unknown. Outside of Teen Vogue engagements, Welteroth continuously speaks at varying conferences like the 2017 PATH fourty-year celebration and the 2017 Women of Power Summit through Black Enterprise magazine. During these conferences, she speaks on the topics ranging from integrative technology, activism, women's empowerment, global health, and culture. During the 2015 New York Fashion Week, Welteroth facilitated a discussion about diversity in fashion, beauty standards, and cultural appropriation with former model turned fashion activist, Bethann Hardison, at "The Future of Fashion Talk Series,” sponsored by HQ Events.

Career

Welteroth's first job in her hometown was being a mascot for her local Hometown Buffet, wearing a bird suit. While pursuing a career in media, she continuously lived by the quote, "Bite off more than you can chew. And then chew as fast as you can". As a Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (MAIP) Fellow, Welteroth secured an internship at the advertising, marketing, and public relations firm, Oglivy & Mather, upon graduation from California State University-Sacramento. She then became a content producer for SomaGirls.TV, a defunct digital media company. Welteroth was given her chance to break into the media industry by accepting an unpaid internship at Ebony magazine. In order to obtain the opportunity at Ebony, Welteroth, a recent college grad, sent Harriette Cole, then editor in chief, a written letter asking for an informational interview, an email, and called her assistant numerous times to get through to her. Cole gave her the chance of the lifetime to assist with a cover shoot for Serena Williams in Los Angeles. Impressed with her professionalism on set, Cole decided to fly Welteroth out for an internship at Ebony, working with her. Her opportunity soon became a permanent position as the magazine's Beauty & Style Editor. She later became a beauty writer and editor for Glamour magazine in 2011 and then Senior Beauty Editor before becoming the Beauty & Health Director at Teen Vogue in 2012. Within the February 2013 copy of Teen Vogue, her debut issue, she displayed her unique and creative voice in the article "Natural Wonder" where Welteroth encouraged readers to embrace their natural hair texture while also sharing her favorite natural hair products. On September 8, 2016, Welteroth was honored at the 2016 Fashion Show & Style Awards through Harlem Fashion Row, a platform for multicultural fashion designers, as Editor of the Year. Elaine Welteroth was named Editor of Teen Vogue in May of 2016. Welteroth was named number 47 on The Root's list of 100 influential African-Americans.l African-Americans.☃☃ In 2017, Girls Write Now, a mentorship program based in New York City which encourages at risk girls to find their voices through writing, named her an honoree for their May 23rd awards ceremony.

Social Media Influence

With over 95,000 Instagram followers, Elaine Welteroth quickly developed her brand and Teen Vogue's brand by posting behind the scenes photos and videos of photoshoots, her aesthetically pleasing personal photos, and selfies with celebrities. In 2014, as Teen Vogue's beauty and health director, she was invited by Target to update a Fashion Week Instagram Diary of her experience being backstage at the New York and London Fashion Weeks. Her social media also broadcasts her own accomplishments and Teen Vogue's accomplishments, by sharing personal footage from her day to day personal and career life at least once or twice a day.

Influence on Teen Vogue

Welteroth expanded the magazine's focus and received recognition for the noticeable increase of content in Teen Vogue surrounding the topics of politics and social justice, which included critical coverage of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Welteroth's first issue to print as editor of Teen Vogue had Willow Smith as the cover model and featured headlines like "Cultural Appreciation: Real Girls, Real Beauty, Real Talk". The December 2016 cover featured actresses and feminists, Rowan Blanchard and Yara Shahidi, on the "Smart Girls" issue. Welteroth also allowed Blanchard and Shahidi to serve as guest editors, the first ever in the history of the publication. She also kicked off the "Teen Vogue Book Club" by allowing Blanchard and Shahidi to select their favorite book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Blanchard, Shahidi, and Welteroth used Teen Vogue's Facebook account to live stream a discussion about the book in November 2016, allowing the magazine's target audience to engage with political texts by black women that have shaped the continued work of scholar-activists. Also in the December 2016 issue, a conversation between American actress, Zendaya Coleman, and former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, on the worldwide education of girls was featured in the magazine.

The magazine has flourished under this new direction, which emphasizes digital publication, though the print magazine publication schedule was changed from 10 issues per year, in a small format, to becoming a quarterly publication, in a larger, thicker format. With the new emphasis on digital media, under Welteroth's leadership, Teen Vogue developed their YouTube channel which, as of March 2017, boasts over 500,00 subscribers and over 800 pieces of original content. A featured video is entitled, "A Fact Check on Trump's First Speech to Congress", uploaded March 1, 2017. The video allows viewers to easily recap current President Donald Trump's speech to Congress.

Teen Vogue is continuously noted as a prime example of a magazine that embraces and respects diversity, which is in part due to Welteroth's involvement with the magazine. Their sister magazine, Vogue, released their March 2017 issue “WOMEN RULE: Fashion’s Fearless Females”. The magazine features model Karlie Floss in yellow-face, appropriating East and South Asian culture. Feminist writer, Lara Witt, praised Teen Vogue by stating in the article, "Vogue Magazine Has A Race Problem, And It's Getting Tired", "Rather than participating in the blatant erasure of people of color and our cultures, Vogue’s younger sibling has included features celebrating indigenous, South Asian, East Asian, black and Muslim teens. Thanks to their radical push to be unafraid to represent more than just white, heterosexual, cisgender women, Teen Vogue is providing more readers with representation".

In December 7, 2016, Teen Vogue made an appearance on the award-winning ABC sitcom, Black-ish thanks to Elaine Welteroth. In the episode, "Nothing, but Nepotism", Welteroth plays herself as editor of Teen Vogue while the character, Zoe, is granted the opportunity to intern at Teen Vogue to boost her high school resume by using Dre's, her advertising executive father's, connections. The episode spouted discussions on nepotism in the black community like "On black nepotism and this week's epic 'black-ish' & 'Teen Vogue' crossover" by Blavity writer, Trey Mangum. During the advanced screening of the episode and discussion, Welteroth raised the question, "Is black nepotism just leveling the playing field?" The Teen Vogue feature on Black-ish was not only a cameo, but a chance to discuss a topic in the black community that is often overlooked.