Benjamin Wagner
Benjamin Wagner is a consultant and creative, founder of Essential Industries Incorporated, and Director of Community Development for the Media Transformation Challenge.
Benjamin began his career in print (The Suburban & Wayne Times, The Saratogian, Rolling Stone) and radio (WCZN-AM, KOTO-FM). He spent nearly two decades at MTV News, helping launch and grow the organization online, and then transform it from a TV to a digital-first organization.
He joined Facebook in an editorial capacity in 2014, and helped launch the Facebook Journalism Project in 2017 as Global Programs Lead. He left in 2021 to found a boutique consulting firm.
He is the writer, director, and producer of the award-winning PBS documentary Mister Rogers & Me and the forthcoming Friends & Neighbors.
Experience
Through the 20+ years between his tenures with MTV News and Facebook, Benjamin accrued a strong record leveraging creative, editorial, operational and team leadership strength to build brands, sustainable platforms, global programs and collaborative teams at scale while accelerating results.
Current
Benjamin and his boutique consulting firm Essential Industries Inc. LLC specialize in providing individual and organizational strategy, transformation, communication and collaboration consultation. He is also an active speaker, musician, and film creator.
Expertise
Benjamin is a graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications with a B.S. in Newspaper & Creative Writing, and a 2014 Fellow of the Media Transformation Challenge.