2025 MATRIX HONOREE

LUCY KAYLIN

Editorial Director of Hearst Magazines

Lucy Kaylin is the Editorial Director of Hearst Magazines. She began her career at Vogue before joining the staff of GQ, where she rose through the ranks over nearly two decades, finishing her tenure as features editor and mentor to a new generation of young women joining the men’s brand. Kaylin also served as executive editor at Marie Claire and deputy editor at O, The Oprah Magazine before becoming editor-in-chief. During her seven years at the helm, the magazine boasted one of the largest monthly magazine circulations and earned numerous accolades, including two National Magazine Awards and the ASME cover contest (Kaylin’s first year as editor-in-chief), as well as being named Advertising Age’s Magazine of the Year. The author of two non-fiction books and collaborator on Katie Couric’s New York Times #1 bestselling memoir, Going There, Kaylin has served on the boards of ASME and Dress for Success, and is currently on the Board of Advisors for the NYU Center for Publishing and Applied Liberal Arts.

Presenting the Matrix Award to Lucy Kaylin

MICHAEL SEBASTIAN

Editor-in-Chief of Esquire

Michael Sebastian is the editor-in-chief of Esquire. He previously served as digital director of Esquire, doubling down on in-depth feature reporting and writing, exclusive interviews, ambitious political coverage and a new fashion vertical. Sebastian joined Hearst Magazines in 2015 to run the company’s digital newsroom. During his tenure, he steered Hearst Magazines’ digital media coverage of the 2016 presidential election, and launched and oversaw a news department in the U.K. Under his leadership, traffic to newsroom content grew from less than 1 million to more than 15 million monthly unique visitors. Sebastian was named to both Fortune and Advertising Age’s “40 Under 40” lists of the most-influential people in media and entertainment.  He began his career as a newspaper reporter in Chicago, where he grew up.