Ava Seave

Principal

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Ava has a broad range of experience across a diverse group of media organizations. Her particular strengths lie in all types of marketing, editorial operations, strategy, new product development, as well as post-merger integration. Ava also works with numerous non-profit companies as well.

Some blinded examples of recent assignments:

• For large, international commodities media company: qualitative research and strategic analyses and recommendations for the digital news operation
• For consumer digital publication/newsletters: on retainer to hire managers to grow the revenue and product manage
• For a large trade news organization: conducted an extensive distribution audit, analysis, and best practices evaluation
• For a B2B media property: worked with the staff team in conducting an extensive analysis and business plan to launch a new source of subscriptions and membership products
• For an important international art institution: on retainer to work with finance, research, visitor services and education staffs on wide-ranging projects
• For an international weight loss and lifestyle company: on retainer to help with periodical publication, book, digital and e-book strategy

Before joining Quantum Media, Ava worked as a general manager at Scholastic Inc., where she directed the Trumpet Club and Scholastic Specials business units. These book clubs sell licensed and original paperback novels, picture books, software, educational toys and novelty items to children and parents through direct mail promotions to classroom teachers, Pre-K to Grade 6.

For many years, Ava was at The Village Voice; as general manager, she was responsible for all non-advertising revenue and administrative management including circulation (both single copy and subscription), shipping and distribution, list sales, print and on-line syndication and consumer advertising and public relations. She also worked at TVSM, the country’s largest cable listings magazine, as general manager of TV Time (now Total TV) and at Dell Publishing as director of sales and as director of market research.

Ava is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia Business School, teaching “Media and Entertainment Consulting Projects” and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia Journalism School, co-teaching the course “Managing the 21st Century News Organization.” She has written numerous business teaching cases, mostly about media start-ups including her most recent one entitled French News Start-up L’Opinion: Swimming Upstream in Uncertain Times, 2019 (Case A, Case B, Teacher’s Note) Ava has published with co-author Ryan Powell in May 2024 a detailed primer on earned income products, published by the International Press Association and entitled, The Revenue Roadmap: a guidebook to diversifying revenue and editorial innovation. She is also the co-author of  two books. With Bill Grueskin and Lucas Graves, she wrote “The Story So Far: What We Know About the Business of Digital Journalism,”  published in May 2011 by Columbia Journalism School and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism. With Jonathan Knee and Bruce Greenwald, she co-authored the widely reviewed book published by Penguin’s Portfolio line in October 2009, “The Curse of the Mogul: What’s Wrong with the World’s Leading Media Companies.” For the FCC Report (June 2011) on the Future- of- the- Media task force, she contributed research and writing as part of the working group that produced “The Information Needs of Communities: The changing media landscape in a broadband age.” She was a contributor to Forbes.com, writing on the media.

Ava is a Senior Advisor to RFBinder, an independent communications agency. She is a Board member of two non-profits: The American Poetry Review,  DeLaSalle Academy, an independent middle school for extremely bright, but financially challenged middle schoolers.  Ava also serves on the Board of Advisors of Columbia University Press and of The Sustainable Media Center. Previously, she was on the boards of private companies Waywire/Magnify and Davler Media.

Ava graduated from Brown University with an A.B. (Phi Beta Kappa) and Harvard Business School with an M.B.A.