Full Name
Cori Murray
Job Title
Multiplatform Storyteller
Speaker Bio

Cori Murray wears many hats, but first she is a multi-platform storyteller. As the former Deputy Editor at ESSENCE, she led the brand’s digital and print platforms that serve 31 million Black women. Under Ms. Murray’s editorial leadership, ESSENCE won its first American Society for Magazine Editor’s National Magazine Award for Photography in April 2022 and featured a same-sex couple on its cover—a first in the magazine’s 52-year history. The magazine also achieved its highest print advertising revenue since the company’s acquisition by Essence Ventures. For ten years, Ms. Murray led programming for the Black Women in Hollywood awards and served as Co-producer of the annual Oscars week event, ESSENCE’s second largest franchise. In March 2017 she launched and co-hosted the brand’s podcast, Yes Girl!.
 
The writer, editor, producer, and host received an ElevatHER award by the Black Women Film Network in March 2022 in recognition for how she prepares and preserves the untold stories of Black women to empower future generations. Ms. Murray has hosted ESSENCE’s Black Women in Music, presented at the Black Women in Hollywood Awards, and moderated panels at the Essence Festival of Culture — the nation’s largest festival per day attendance. As a cultural critic, she has appeared on numerous national media platforms including CNN, MSNBC, Good Morning America, Access Hollywood, BET, as well as been quoted in The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, among others. She is a sought after mentor with Femme It Forward’s Next Gem Femme program.

Ms. Murray earned her bachelor of arts degree in journalism from Hampton University.

Cori Murray