Elizabeth Méndez Berry is Vice President and Executive Editor of One World, an imprint of Random House in New York.
Before joining One World, she worked in social justice philanthropy for 11 years, where she invested in the arts, journalism and freedom of speech at the Ford Foundation, the Surdna Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation. She co-founded several philanthropic initiatives, including Critical Minded, which supports cultural critics of color, and the Unicorn Fund, which offers resources to artists and others who have been targeted for speaking out.
In addition to her work in philanthropy, she is an award-winning critic and editor who writes about culture, gender, criminal justice and politics. “Love Hurts,” her landmark Vibe investigative article on domestic violence in the hip-hop industry, won ASCAP’s Deems Taylor award for music reporting and was included in Da Capo’s Best Music Writing anthology. In his book Decoded, Jay-Z cited one of her essays as being one of the inspirations for his song “Public Service Announcement.” Her work can be found on syllabi around the country, and she has spoken at Fordham University, Harvard and Jackson State, among others. She is on the board of A Long Walk Home (Chicago) and Hedgebrook (Seattle).