Orchid Richardson is Senior Vice President of BET Digital & Social, where she leads the brand's digital transformation, revenue growth, and innovation across all digital platforms. With over 15 years of experience spanning traditional media companies, digital-first organizations, and global ad tech platforms, Orchid has established herself as a strategic leader who excels at building high-performing teams, streamlining operations, and driving measurable business results.

Throughout her career, Orchid has developed deep expertise across the entire digital ecosystem. She began her digital career at Singer Direct, Inc., an Omnicom Media Group company, before joining Everyday Health to drive subscriptions across multiple health and fitness websites. In these early roles, she mastered ad operations management, established SLAs, implemented QA standards, and set campaign-optimization goals that would become foundational to her leadership approach.

At BET Networks, Orchid successfully integrated BET.com operations into Viacom's technical platforms following the acquisition, implementing Sarbanes-Oxley standards to recognize all digital media revenue. She spearheaded the launch of two BET mobile apps, CentricTV.com, BET's video-on-demand platform, and a BET ad network comprising 287 online publishers. Managing four cross-functional teams, she partnered with global brands including McDonald's, Nike, and Nissan to develop integrated marketing plans leveraging BET Networks' full portfolio of assets.

Orchid joined Hearst Magazines Digital Media to lead Digital Business Operations for 25 magazine brand sites and all digital extensions. Her strategic vision led her to architect the Hearst Programmatic Audience Exchange, consolidating audience data from Magazines, Newspapers, and TV segments onto one unified platform. She also restructured operating processes to support Hearst's acquisition of Hachette Filipacchi, achieving a 15% revenue increase while reducing operating costs by 32% through system upgrades, contract renegotiations, and strategic team optimization.

At 33Across, Inc., Orchid joined as VP of Media Operations and was promoted to General Manager within her first year. She led global business strategy and development, overseeing the integration of the 33Across Real Platform with over 250 demand partners and launching operations in 12 countries across EMEA, LATAM, and North America. Managing a cross-functional team of 40 people across three countries, she developed the product suite that catalyzed the company's pivot into programmatic advertising.

Orchid's leadership philosophy centers on motivating and cultivating talent through sound strategic planning and organizational development. She understands how to navigate and grow global organizations while standardizing business processes across regions without diminishing local market nuances. Her ability to identify marketplace changes, create comprehensive data-driven business strategies, and build the right teams to execute has enabled her to launch new revenue streams that significantly shifted the strategic direction of multiple organizations.

A graduate of Spelman College with a degree in Business Administration & International Business, Orchid also holds an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business and completed the Harvard Business School Executive Leadership Program. She serves as President of the Metro-Manhattan (NY) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, demonstrating her commitment to leadership both within and beyond the business world.