KELLY TILL

In its nearly 175-year history, the Richmond Times-Dispatch had never had a female publisher until Kelly Till arrived in Richmond in June 2022. Till also serves as regional vice president of sales for the newspaper’s parent company, Lee Enterprises Inc., coming off of a 24-year career as an advertising executive with Tribune Publishing Co.’s The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press.

While Till says she had spent her career “cracking away” at the glass ceiling, becoming a publisher shattered it, and Till has focused on paying it forward to women in other workplaces, including overseeing Women Who Drive Richmond, an awards program sponsored by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Richmond Raceway.

“The advice I always give is to make sure that [mentees] — especially women — lean in and that they make their voice known and also give back,” Till says. “We can all be mentors, no matter what position you’re in. We all have something to give, and we get it back tenfold.”

In addition to serving as a mentor for ChamberRVA and the Strome College of Business and Women’s Initiative Network at her alma mater, Old Dominion University, Till serves on the boards of the United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg, American Heart Association Virginia, and ODU’s Athletic Foundation. In 2022, she received a distinguished alumni award from ODU.

Read more about the 2023 class of Virginia Business Women in Leadership Award winners.