Before joining Yaddo in 2000, award-winning writer and editor Elaina Richardson was the editor-in-chief of Elle magazine. Among her responsibilities were supervision of a staff of 64, oversight of all aspects of the magazine production and marketing, and responsibility for the visual and written content. Prior to Elle, she worked for publications in the US and her native Great Britain, including Mirabella, the Guardian and the BBC. She holds an MLitt from Oxford University, an M.A. from the University of Edinburgh, and an honorary doctorate from Kenyon College, and has written and lectured extensively on 18th-century literature and culture. In directing Yaddo’s staff, she combines a wide knowledge of the arts with proven management skills. During her tenure, Yaddo has built seven new live-work studios, renovated the historic Mansion and other key buildings, been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, built an endowment of $36 million, and provided more than 5,250 residencies to the world’s leading writers and artists.  She is the host of a bi-weekly podcast called Shadow//Yaddo.