New York Out Loud Speakers

Cathie Black is a well-known media executive, best-selling author and now an advisor, board member and investor in digital start-ups and entrepreneurial companies. Black was president, then chairman of Hearst Magazines, one of the world’s largest publishers of monthly magazines for 15 years. She oversaw numerous titles, including: Cosmopolitan, Food Network Magazine, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, O, The Oprah Magazine, Town & Country and nearly 200 international editions.

Black was named to Fortune Magazine’s list of the Most Powerful Women in Business for eleven consecutive years and on Forbes’ Power List for many years as well.

Black’s New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller, “Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life),” has been translated into twelve languages. It offers invaluable lessons about the workplace, leadership and getting ahead with colorful stories of working with media greats like Oprah Winfrey, Rupert Murdoch and Gloria Steinem.

Amy Ferris

Amy Ferris is an author, editor, screenwriter & playwright. Her memoir, Marrying George Clooney, Confessions from a Midlife Crisis,was adapted into an Off-Broadway play in 2012. As a screenwriter, she was nominated for a Best Screenplay Award (BET, Black Reel Award) for her adaptation of the film Funny Valentines. As an editor, she curated Shades of Blue: Writers on Depression, Suicide and Feeling Blue, and co-edited the anthology, Dancing at The Shame Prom.

She recently co-authored the book, Old School Love with Rev Run of RUN DMC fame. Amy serves on a variety of advisory boards supporting women and the arts. She co-founded the Milford Readers and Writers Festival which celebrates the written word. In 2019 she was named one of Women’s eNews 21 Leaders for the 21st Century and in 2021 she was a recipient of NextTribe’s The 12 Women Who Changed the World for 2021. Amy is the Director of The Story Summit Writer’s School. She is currently finishing her second memoir: Messy Love for SheWrites Press, 2023.

Carol Jenkins

Carol Jenkins is President and CEO of the ERA Coalition and the Fund for Women’s Equality, sister organizations dedicated to the adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment. A board member since its inception in 2014, she joined the leadership team in December of 2018.

Previously, Carol Jenkins was founding president of The Women’s Media Center, a national nonprofit organization created to increase coverage and participation of women in media. As president, she conceived the Progressive Women’s Voices program to provide media training for women and girls, and she expanded SheSource, the largest portfolio of women experts in the country.

As former chair and current board member of Amref Health Africa USA, an arm of the largest health NGO in Africa, Ms. Jenkins is engaged in efforts to support health programs for African women and girls.

As a pioneering African American television reporter, Jenkins was an anchor and correspondent for WNBC TV in New York for nearly 25 years. She hosted Carol Jenkins Live, her own daily talk show, on WNYW-TV.  Ms. Jenkins is also an author, the three-time NY Emmy-nominated host of Black America, on CUNY TV, the executive producer, writer and documentary correspondent of an award-winning film, a podcast host, and co-anchor of CUNY TV’s live election night coverage.

Maureen Langan

Maureen Langan is an award-winning Bloomberg Television & Radio host, PBS documentary producer, TEDx Talk speaker, and international standup comedian. She’s been featured at comedy festivals in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and South Africa.

As a performer and keynote speaker, Maureen has worked with entertainment, literary and cultural icons that include Robin Williams, Rosie O’Donnell, Jack Canfield, Marianne Williamson, Gloria Steinem, Danny Glover, Jordin Sparks and Gladys Knight.

Her TEDx Talk, “The Business of Fun,” is inspired by her time performing in South Africa. Maureen’s message of diversity, equity and inclusion had 600 people on their feet when first presented at Monmouth University.