Game Changer: Joanna Coles

Joanna Coles has certainly got game.

She’s forged her own way, changing the rules with each publication she’s worked with and leading each title into the digital age.

As the former Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan she oversaw the best-selling women’s magazines in the United States and built Cosmo’s audience across platforms. She fearlessly used the brand to inform and empower young women. For these reasons and many more, Coles has been chosen to receive the inaugural Game Changer Award at the 2016 Fragrance Foundation Awards.

The Fragrance Foundation’s Game Changer Award was created to honor an individual or organization that exemplifies creativity and business innovation, something Coles has done at each publication she’s run.

She made Marie Claire into a television property with the docu TV series “Running in Heels” and the Emmy-award winning “Project Runway.” Her love of innovative platforms has not only made Cosmopolitan the leading print publication on Snapchat, but she was also named to Snapchat’s Board of Directors. In addition, Coles is on the board of Women Entrepreneurs New York City, an initiative to expand female entrepreneurship with a focus on underserved women and communities.

Coles was honored on Tuesday, June 7, 2016 at The Fragrance Foundation Awards at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. The Awards, hosted by Alec Baldwin, will also honor Leslie H. Wexner, the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L Brands, with the Hall of Fame Award, and IFF’s Sophia Grojsman, with the Lifetime Achievement, Perfumer award. 

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