Former Tierney CEO Mary Stengel Austen joins The Inquirer’s board
Austen served as president and CEO of Philadelphia-based Tierney — one of the largest marketing firms in the region — for more than 20 years until she stepped down last year.
Mary Stengel Austen, a veteran marketing and communications executive, has joined The Inquirer’s board, publisher and CEO Elizabeth H. Hughes said Wednesday.
Austen served as president and chief executive of Philadelphia-based Tierney — one of the largest marketing firms in the region — for more than 20 years until she stepped down last year as the company merged with Minneapolis-based Carmichael Lynch.
Tierney has represented clients such as Comcast Corp., Independence Blue Cross, and TD Bank. Austen is also a philanthropist and president of the Philadelphia chapter of the International Women’s Forum.
Austen, 61, of Radnor, wasn’t available for an interview, according to an Inquirer spokesperson. In a statement, Austen said she was “humbled to join the board as the platform continues to evolve and grow its products and services to meet the changing demands of its diverse audience.”
“Local news is the heartbeat and watchdog of every community,” Austen said. “As a business leader and loyal reader, I am grateful to have had The Philadelphia Inquirer reporting and reinventing itself in our region for close to two centuries.”
She cofounded the Tierney Group, a predecessor company, in 1989 with Brian P. Tierney, who later led a group of investors that owned The Inquirer and Daily News from 2006 to 2010.
Tierney, owned by publicly traded Interpublic Group, managed about $200 million in capitalized media billings, according to Austen’s biography. (In December, rival advertising agency Omnicom Group said it was acquiring Interpublic.)
The Inquirer’s board is responsible for key operational decisions such as hiring the publisher. Other members are Hughes; chair Lisa Kabnick, a corporate finance attorney; vice chair Keith Leaphart, a Jefferson executive; chair emeritus Josh Kopelman, a venture capitalist; media entrepreneur S. Mitra Kalita; media executive Neil Vogel; and Gillian B. White, a nonprofit news executive.
The Inquirer is a for-profit “public benefit corporation,” dedicated to public service. It is owned by the nonprofit Lenfest Institute.