Vox Media names John Legend, entrepreneur and EGOT winner, as new board member

Vox Media, the leading independent modern media company, is pleased to announce the appointment of John Legend to its board of directors. In this role, Legend will actively advise the company on its strategy for growth and new business opportunities and participate in regular board meetings.

Multiplatinum artist John Legend has garnered eleven Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two Emmy Awards, making Legend the first African-American man to earn an EGOT. In addition to releasing six celebrated solo albums, Legend starred in NBC’s “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert” in 2018, winning an Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special and nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor (Limited Series). Legend has been on the TIME 100 list twice, landing on the cover in 2017. Legend joined “The Voice” for Season 16 (2019), winning with his mentee Maelyn Jarmon, and is currently a coach on Season 18. John is a partner in Get Lifted Film Co., which most recently produced the IFC comedy series “Sherman’s Showcase,” “Rhythm + Flow” for Netflix, and the documentary GIVING VOICE, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Their forthcoming projects include David E. Talbert’s holiday film JINGLE JANGLE for Netflix, and “Sherman’s Showcase: Black History Month Spectacular,” a one-hour special on IFC premiering in the summer of 2020. Legend just announced his “Bigger Love 2020” national tour and is set to release new music later this year, including the newly released song “Conversations in the Dark.”

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania who worked for Boston Consulting Group early in his career, Legend possesses business acumen along with his unique creative sensibility. Throughout his life, Legend has been deeply committed to philanthropic efforts, launching several organizations, including the Show Me Campaign, an organization that works to break the cycle of poverty through education. His nonprofit FREEAMERICA funds formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs through a program called Unlocked Futures offering a 16-month accelerator. Founded by John Legend in 2014, FREEAMERICA is a campaign to transform America’s criminal justice system, as a result of policies and practices that have led to the incarceration of 70 million individuals.

“I’m excited to join Vox Media’s board. Vox Media is an innovative company creating content that shapes the conversation about so many of the most important things happening in the world. I’ve been a fan of so much of their work over the years. I’m excited to learn more from the talented board and contribute whatever I can to influence the future of this growing company,” said Mr. Legend.

In addition to Legend’s signature initiatives, he serves on the Board of Directors of Harlem Village Academies and Management Leadership for Tomorrow, and on the Advisory Board for The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Teach for All.

In the past year, Vox Media expanded its editorial, technology, and entertainment capabilities. The company announced a merger with New York Media, the publisher of the iconic 51-year-old title New York Magazine along with digital brands including Vulture, Intelligencer, The Strategist, Grub Street and The Cut; acquired the Academy Award-winning Epic nonfiction storytelling studio, and acquired the Coral platform dedicated to building safer online communities.

“John Legend embodies our company values: he is creative, ambitious, entrepreneurial, and focused on the highest quality work. At the same time, he cares deeply about media and its ability to inform people and change the world for the better. He brings a unique and important perspective to our company, at a time when Vox Media is expanding in many new directions. I am proud to say that he’s an avid consumer of our products, who understands both the business we are trying to build, as well as the creative and journalistic integrity and excellence that provides the foundation for all that we do. I’m delighted to have him join the board of directors,” said CEO and Chairman of Vox Media, Jim Bankoff.

Vox Media reaches more than 125 million people each month on its owned websites, and hundreds of millions more across a slate of 200+ podcasts, a dozen shows on TV and streaming services, live events, a groundbreaking print magazine, web video, social media and beyond. The company’s brands were recently nominated for twelve prestigious National Magazine Awards, including best website for New York and Vox. The company has been named one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies in Media,” an Inc. “Company of the Year,” Digiday’s “Best Company for Parents,” and one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality by the Human Rights Campaign.