Sarah Kate Ellis (born November 27, 1971) is an American media executive, most widely known for launching and turning around media brands within magazines such as New York, InStyle, Real Simple, and Vogue.
After Ellis's graduation from Russell Sage College (1993) with a degree in Sociology and minor in Women's Studies, she began her career in media through the re-launch of Condé Nast.
In January 2014, Ellis was appointed president and CEO of GLAAD, the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization.
Ellis was born and raised in Staten Island, where she attended Staten Island Academy. She and her older brother Spencer were raised by their parents, Barbara and Ken Ellis. During her youth, Ellis was an athlete; she participated in field hockey and was a Junior Olympic swimmer. While attending Russell Sage College, Ellis led a media campaign against the college administration's attempt to shut down the only women's center on campus and, in her senior year of college, Ellis came out of the closet as a lesbian. In 2011, Ellis was selected to attend the Tuck Executive Education program at Tuck School of Business Dartmouth College and completed it in 2012.
In 1995, Ellis began her profession in media. She first worked at mass media company Condé Nast, which laid the groundwork for her career advancement. Initially, Ellis worked at Condé Nast's House and Garden. From there, she moved to New York magazine as a senior manager, then to In Style as a director. Following her tenure at In Style, Ellis launched and directed the turnaround of Real Simple, which led her to Vogue where she oversaw 10 lifestyle group brands. Ellis specialized in marketing and applied her abilities most effectively through leadership roles. Extending the reach of her efforts, Ellis involved herself as co-chair of OUT at Time Inc., the company's LGBT employee resource group, where she led programming to spotlight the diversity of the LGBT community (2008-2013). Through OUT, she educated the organization’s straight, ally employees on a wide range of LGBT issues by .