Tina Sharkey

Tina Sharkey
Born Tina Sharkey
New York, New York, US
Residence Mill Valley, California
Alma mater University of Pennsylvania
Occupation Entrepreneur
Board member of HomeAway Board of Directors
Brit + Co. Board of Directors
Women@NBCU Digital Advisory Board
AdTech Advisory Board
Interactive Advertising Bureau Board of Directors(2007-20012)
Website Official website

Tina Sharkey (born 1964) is an American entrepreneur. She co-founded iVillage, led multiple businesses at AOL, and started the digital internet division at Sesame Street.[1] She is considered one of the pioneers in the evolution of new media, from the introduction of HDTV to the mass-market adoption of the Web, social networking and mobile computing platforms.[2][3][4]

Early life and education

Sharkey was born in New York City. Her father and grandfather worked in the garment industry, as did her mother, Mona Sherman, who became the president of Perry Ellis America when Sharkey was in high school.[5][6] She attended the University of Pennsylvania, spending a semester at the University of Paris: Sorbonne, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations.[7]

Career

Sharkey began her career as part of the team that introduced HDTV to the US market and the media industry, and, as part of an HDTV task force, she lobbied Congress at the age of 22.[8] In 1995, following her collaboration with Barry Diller[9] to create the different format of QVC's short-lived sister network Q2,[10][11] Sharkey co-founded iVillage, serving as its chief community architect and head of programming. Becoming the largest online destination for women,[12] iVillage was one of the first major internet media properties,[13] and was sold to NBC Universal for $600 million in 2006.[14]

Sharkey registered the domain names socialmedia.com, socialmedia.net, and socialmedia.org in the late 1990s. While there is some debate regarding its genesis, Sharkey is generally acknowledged to be among the first to use the term "social media".[15]

In 1999, after creating the interactive and online brands for Sesame Workshop, Sharkey was recruited by America Online's vice chairman, Ted Leonsis, to join AOL as a senior media executive.[16] At AOL, in addition to overseeing multiple business units, Sharkey led community programming initiatives, including the development of "People Connection" and aol.com.[17] She remained at AOL until 2006, when she was appointed chairman and global president of BabyCenter LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

At BabyCenter, Sharkey built one of the most prominent global destinations for parenting and pregnancy, serving more than 100 million visitors in 22 worldwide markets.[18] Additionally, Sharkey led Johnson & Johnson's initiative with the U.S. State Department for the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA).[19][20] Announced by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and developed with the cooperation of the White House, MAMA serves women in low-resource settings from South Africa to Bangladesh and India. New and expectant mothers register their due date or their baby’s age via mobile phone in order to receive text messages which provide relevant developmental, health, and nutritional information.[21]

In 2013, Sharkey was appointed CEO of Sherpa Foundry.[22] Founded by Shervin Pishevar and Scott Stanford, Sherpa Foundry partners with public companies to identify, define and co-develop ideas and innovations through external resources.[23]

Sharkey additionally serves on public and private boards and advisory committees, and consults to a range of businesses from early to late stage and global public enterprises. Regarded as a thought leader in the practice of consumer insight marketing, Sharkey writes a column on the subject for Forbes.com[24][25] and blogs for the Huffington Post.[26] She is a speaker at global industry events, conferences and corporate meetings, and is a guest lecturer and mentor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.[27] Additionally, Sharkey is an active investor in early stage media and technology companies[28] and was included on Business Insider's list of the Top 50 angel and investors.[29]

Sharkey is a 2006 Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and a founding and lifetime board member of Baby Buggy, a nonprofit organization which provides essential services to families in need.[30] She lives with her family in Mill Valley, California.

Honors and recognition

Year Organization Award Title
2012 Fast Company Innovation By Design Award for The Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) initiative
2009 Fast Company Most Influential Women In Technology
2009 Advertising Age Women To Watch
2009 AWNY Women Who Change The Game Award
2008 Fast Company Most Influential Women In Technology
2006 Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow
2004 Time Warner Chairman's Award for Collaboration (first-ever recipient)
1999 Silicon Alley Reporter Top 100

Advisory boards and affiliations

Years Organization Title
2013 — present Brit + Co. Member, Board of Directors
2012 — present HomeAway, Inc. Member, Board of Directors
2012 — present Women@NBCU Member, Digital Advisory Board
2006 — present AdTech Member, Advisory Board
2012 Stanford Business School Guest Lecturer
2012 — present Future of Storytelling Member, Advisory Board

References

  1. Slattala, Michelle (April 22, 1999). "Sesame Street Site: Serious Child's Play". New York Times. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  2. Klaason, Abbey (June 1, 2009). "Tina Sharkey: Women To Watch 2990". Advertising Age. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  3. Benton, Emilia (March 25, 2010). "The Entrepreneurs: Most Influential Women In Technology". Fast Company. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  4. "Tina Sharkey: Profile". Huffington Post. April 12, 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  5. Murphy, Cait (July 24, 2009). "The Web's Supermom". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  6. Robinson Pamela, and Nadine Schiff (2001). If I Don't Do It Now. New York: Pocket Books. p. 184.
  7. "Tina Sharkey, Executive Profile". Business Week. April 16, 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  8. Horn, Jordana (September 2011). "It's A Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom Online World". Penn Gazette. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  9. Swisher, Kara (October 8, 2007). "Kara Visits Baby Center and Head Baby, Tina Sharkey". All Things D. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  10. Fabrikant, Geraldine (April 21, 1994). "Market Place; QVC Hopes a New Channel Will Make it the Gap of TV Shopping.". New York TImes. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  11. "Tina Sharkey Profile". National Center for Women And Technology. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  12. Benton, Emilia (March 25, 2010). "Women in Tech 2010". Fast Company. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  13. Carpenter, Paul (1998). eBrands: Building an Internet Business at Breakneck Speed. Harvard Business Press. pp. 17–22.
  14. Dealbook Staff (March 6, 2006). "Is NBC Stealing iVillage for $600 Million?". New York Times. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  15. Bercovici, Jeff (December 9, 2010). "Who Coined "Social Media"?". Forbes. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  16. Murphy, Cait (July 24, 2009). "The Web's Supermom". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  17. Goad, Libe (May 12, 2005). "AOL Keynoter Talks Web 2.0". eWeek. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  18. McHale, Wendy (February 2010). "Happy Valentine's Day, Baby". Madison Avenue Journal. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  19. "Tina Sharkey Biography". iMedia.
  20. "Motherhood Around The Globe". mama.org. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  21. Horn, Jordana (August 26, 2011). "Tina Sharkey Profile". Penn Gazette. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  22. Swisher, Kara (October 22, 2013). "Longtime Online Exec Tina Sharkey Joins Sherpa Foundry as CEO". All Things D. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  23. Said, Carolyn (July 17, 2014). "Venture fund focuses on on-demand services". sfgate.com. SF Gate. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  24. "Contributor Profile". Forbes. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  25. Lecinski, Jim (2011). Winning The Zero Moment of Truth. Google Books. p. 72.
  26. "Contributor Profile". Huffington Post. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  27. "How To Harness Stories In Business" (PDF). Stanford Faculty. August 8, 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  28. Casserly, Meghan (June 26, 2013). "Investors Bet Big On Tech's It-Girl As Brit Morin Announces $6.3 Million Series A". Forbes. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  29. Shontell, Alyson and, Huspeni, Andrea (July 23, 2012). "The 50 Early Stage Investors in Silicon Valley You Need to Know". Business Insider. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  30. "Baby Buggy Board Members". Baby Buggy. Retrieved 16 April 2013.

External links

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