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Anne Sempowski, the president and chief operating officer of Johnson Publishing Co., the publisher of Ebony and JET magazines, has resigned.

Anne told reps in a statement that she wants to spend more time with her family and will join her husband in a business-consulting venture.

Ward was initially hired in 2007 as president and COO of Fashion Fair, the cosmetics division. She was then appointed as both the president and COO of Johnson Publishing Company Inc. a year later.  She managed both roles for the last two years.

Ward said in a statement,

“It has been a phenomenal privilege to be the first member from outside of the Johnson family to serve as president and COO of both the publishing and cosmetics divisions of Johnson Publishing Co.”

Chairman and CEO Linda Johnson Rice say’s in the statement,

“Her contributions have helped to position the company for the future.”

Ward is a well-accomplished businesswoman as she also previously served as an assistant vice president of African-American marketing for the Coca-Coca Company and also spent more than a decade at Procter & Gamble, where she led several brands and categories.

Johnson Publishing hired former White House social secretary and Illinois Lottery director Desiree Rogers recently as a consultant. It has been rumored that she may take Ward’s place. Publishing issued a statement saying that Rogers is not being considered for the role of president and COO.

“We are continuing to assess our current internal staffing needs to enhance our senior-level management positions; and as such, we will determine our next steps following our evaluation,” said Johnson Publishing spokeswoman Wendy Parks.