Lesley Kennedy

Lesley Kennedy

Features Page Designer

Followers of Lesley Kennedy873 followers
location of Lesley KennedyDenver, Colorado, United States

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  • Timeline

  • About me

    Editorial Director | Content Strategist | Team Leader

  • Education

    • University of Iowa

      1991 - 1996
      B.A. Journalism and Mass Communication and English

      Activities and Societies: The Daily Iowan, managing editor

  • Experience

    • The Palm Beach Post

      Jan 1997 - Jan 2000
      Features Page Designer

      Served as features page designer for award-winning newspaper, collaborating with editors, reporters and photographers to produce innovative and creative sections.

    • Rocky Mountain News

      Sept 2000 - Feb 2009

      Helped manage newspaper features staff to produce daily Spotlight section and webpages. Helped direct presentation, conceptualization of ideas, section covers and online treatments, coordinating with award-winning photo and design teams. Oversaw hundreds of photo shoots. Designed pages, served as features enterprise editor, directed all fashion coverage, regularly updated website and conceived new online features. Helped on special projects as needed. Reported to Features Editor. Circulation: 210,000 daily; 457,000 Saturday Show less

      • Deputy Features Editor

        Jan 2007 - Feb 2009
      • Fashion Editor

        Sept 2000 - Feb 2009
    • Freelance

      Feb 2009 - Jul 2018
      Contributing Reporter and Editor

      Reporter, writer and editor for national and regional clients including Warner Media, TODAY.com, The Denver Post, Meredith Publishing (MORE.com, Recipe.com), History.com and AE Networks, The Seattle Times, ApartmentTherapy.com, Livability.com, YouBeauty.com, iVillage.com, HuffingtonPost.com, WE TV, Fit Pregnancy, The Denver Newspaper Agency, AOL/Huffington Post (ParentDish.com, StyleList.com, Lemondrop.com), CafeMom.com, BabyCenter.com, ColoradoView magazine, FashionEtc.com and more.

    • AOL StyleList

      Aug 2009 - Apr 2011
      Fashion Contributing Writer

      Wrote trend pieces, slide shows, how-tos, news reports, columns and features for top-ranked fashion and beauty site. Interviewed key designers, stylists and experts, covered New York Fashion Week, selected and added images to posts, wrote headlines and captions. Stories regularly featured on AOL’s welcome screen, generating hundreds of thousands of page views.

    • AOL ParentDish

      Oct 2009 - Aug 2011
      News Editor, Reporter and Editor

      As News Editor, conceived, assigned, edited, added videos, photos and SEO and posted daily news stories and columns for top 10-ranked family site. Interacted with freelance reporters and other editors to provide engaging, informative reports. Handled freelancer payroll. As reporter, wrote trend pieces, columns, opinions, product reviews, features and news stories dealing with parenting issues and pop culture. As Evergreen Editor, conceived, assigned, edited and added photos to hundreds of feature stories. Show less

    • More Magazine

      May 2011 - Apr 2013
      More.com Reporter

      Wrote daily news posts relating to women ages 35 and older for the website of More, a national women’s magazine owned by Meredith Corp. Provided story ideas, headlines, links and multimedia. Also wrote feature stories and Q&As and produced fashion slide shows for the site.

    • ShopAtHome.com

      Mar 2013 - Feb 2015
      Senior Managing Editor

      Created and managed content syndication program, writing and editing stories for national and regional media outlets, including McClatchy-Tribune, TODAY.com, iVillage, HuffingtonPost.com and the Denver Post, among others. Oversaw the Online Shopping Report blog, managed freelance reporters. Wrote site marketing copy and messaging, including home page text. Oversaw site's Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram accounts. Handled PR and media relations, including writing press releases and serving as spokesperson. ShopAtHome.com was the largest coupon search engine that connected upwards of 12 million consumers each month to exclusive deals and cash back savings. Show less

    • Elevation Media Group, Inc.

      Mar 2015 - Jun 2018
      Executive Editor

      Led editorial for Denver Life Magazine, Denver Life Home + Design and Denver Life Weddings. Denver Life Magazine circulation: 45,000. Oversaw editorial operations for monthly and biannual regional lifestyle magazine titles, including conceptualizing, assigning, writing, editing and production. Managed small staff of editors and worked closely with freelancers. Oversaw denverlifemagazine.com, including assigning, editing, posting and promotion. Managed editorial calendar, led brainstorming and content meetings, oversaw strategic long-term planning and more. Managed copy flow and deadlines, coordinated with creative director, and top edited, copy edited and proofed all content. Show less

    • National Conference of State Legislatures

      Jul 2018 - now
      • Director of Publications and Digital Content

        Mar 2020 - now
      • Program Director, Digital Communications

        Jul 2019 - Mar 2020
      • Web Editor

        Jul 2018 - Jul 2019
  • Licenses & Certifications

    • AI in the Workplace Certificate

      The Associated Press
      Feb 2025
      View certificate certificate
    • Marketing AI

      Cornell University
      Aug 2023
  • Volunteer Experience

    • Board Member

      Issued by Friends of Slavens School on Sept 2012
      Friends of Slavens SchoolAssociated with Lesley Kennedy