Caroline Wanga announces departure from ESSENCE after four years as president and CEO

Wanga steps down a little over a month after responding to the backlash against the Essence Festival of Culture.

Caroline Wanga will not be returning from health leave, she and ESSENCE Ventures confirmed in a joint announcement this morning.

In a statement shared on Monday, Aug. 25, the company announced that Wanga is officially stepping down as president and CEO to enter the “next chapter” of her career.

“We are profoundly grateful to Caroline for her leadership, vision, and unwavering advocacy of Black women and culture,” Richelieu Dennis, Founder and Chairman of Sundial Technology & Media Group, parent company of ESSENCE Ventures, said in a release. “Her expertise in culture, equity, and organizational change has fueled progress across the ESSENCE Ventures portfolio. Caroline has left an indelible mark on ESSENCE and beyond, and we celebrate the many ways she has amplified our mission and impact.”

Wanga had been on health leave since September 2024 after leading ESSENCE Ventures through a transformative four years. She took on the top role in 2020, overseeing not only the magazine but also Afropunk, Beautycon, and Essence Studios. 

“The opportunity to serve Black women as CEOs of home, culture, and community will forever represent pride, to do my best to serve will forever represent courage, and fulfilling my next purpose calling will forever represent conviction,” Wanga said in the release.

A cultural architect and author with a background in diversity, equity, and inclusion, Wanga spent 15 years at Target, where she rose to become chief culture, diversity, and inclusion officer before joining ESSENCE. She succeeded Dennis as CEO following his 2018 reacquisition of the brand from Time Inc. 

Her departure arrived a little over a month after the annual ESSENCE Festival of Culture in July, which brought widespread scrutiny online. Addressing the online backlash, which accused the festival of catering to influencers and leaning heavily into exclusive events, Wagna condemned those jumping to conclusions about the festival without the facts.

“Leveraging factual and constructive observations, insights and experiences is the only appropriate way to drive change,” she wrote in the caption of a post on Instagram at the time, adding, “And should take place as often as needed in service of progressing forward, with sufficient room for the nuance of individual perspectives that needn’t align across all but reflect the realities of the voices that share it.”

Given that some of the critiques were along xenophobic themes, Wanga, who is Kenyan, added, “My heritage, values, principles, lived life and sense of community are a place of pride, passion and purpose to #DemocratizeAuthenticity for the upliftment of all not just some.”

She also clarified that she had been on leave during the planning and execution of this year’s festival. 

“#ImHighlyPercentSure that some missing knowledge has led to false assumptions regarding my leave as President/CEO, that predated the activation of operational planning for a significant annualized event,” she wrote, referencing her new memoir “I’m Highly Percent Sure.”

“My holistic career experiences amidst the current socioeconomic climate have NO PROVEN ROLE in the current state of affairs within the company and its supporters,” said Wanga, who added, “But when directly asked a question that my background has insight into, I answer it within the parameters of what I know, have perspective on and am accountable to.”

It’s unclear what exactly is next for Wanga. Her memoir “#ImHighlyPercentSure,” was released in May.