SCTE Foundation and The WICT Network Announce Women’s TechConnect Cohort

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2024

CONTACT:
Amanda Sawney
asawney@wict.org

SCTE Foundation and The WICT Network Announce Women’s TechConnect Cohort

Women’s TechConnect Kicks Off Cohort 2024-2025

EXTON, Pa. — (November 19, 2024)  The SCTE Foundation and The WICT Network proudly announce their Women’s TechConnect cohort class 2024-2025. Since 2011, the Women’s TechConnect initiative has been providing mentoring relationships between senior and rising professionals to help educate and retain women in the technology fields of the cable industry. The mentors and mentees enrolled in the 2024-25 class recently met one another for the first time during The WICT Network’s 2024 Leadership Conference in New York City. Mentees will maintain their mentoring relationship monthly and will attend quarterly learning webinars where they will network with other mentees, hear from guest speakers, and receive additional resources. The Women’s TechConnect program will conclude with a graduation session at the SCTE TechExpo the week of September 29, 2025.

The current Women’s TechConnect class includes 20 mentees: Chereese Creel, Jessica Hanks, Tori Berube, and Mandy Motahari of Cox Communications; Toya Holt, Melissa Paul, Suzanne Romano, and Patricia Kearney of Warner Bros. Discovery; Leah Scholz and Paloma Hawn of GCI; Rebecca Warren, Stephanie Christianson, Brenna Hornbaker, and Deena Taylor-Straggi of Astound Broadband; Bianca Betances of Charter; Tanya Lynn, of Comcast; Stacy Venanzi of Charter—Spectrum; Morgan Newman, of INSP, LLC; Carrie Warren of CableLabs; and Deanna Benjamin of ESPN.

The 2024-25 roster of Women’s TechConnect mentors are: Brooke McAnaney, GVP, Content Security at Warner Bros. Discovery; Dani Kimmell, VP, AI & Data Strategy at Cox Communications; Debbie Fitzgerald, Distinguished Technologist and Director at CableLabs; Eilisa Reid GVP, Service Delivery Applications at Charter Communications; Elizabeth Bierman, Vice President of Engineering at Comcast; Glenda Bough, Executive Director, Engineering Ops at Comcast; Jackie Boudreau, Vice President, Engineering – XOC at Comcast Communications; Janine Bailey, Customer Solutions Leader, Media & Entertainment at Amazon Web Services; Kim Keever, SVP, Security, Analytics and Technology Services and CISO at Cox Communications; Kristell Janusz, SVP, Network Engineering at Astound Broadband; Leslie Gilchrist, AVP, Technology – Tools Strategy & Automation for Service Assurance at Cox Communications; Lori Spencer, SVP and Chief People Officer at CableLabs; Megan Dover, VP, Product Development & Management at Cox Communications; Mickie Calkins, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships at CableLabs; Nomi Bergman, President at Advance Newhouse Investment Partnership; Sally Huriaux, VP, Engineering Operations at Comcast; Sandy Howe, Board Director and Founder at Coravant; Sheetal Gattani, VP, eProcurement Solutions & Analytics at Charter Communications; Theresa Hennesy, Technology Leadership Consultant at Somos, Inc.; and Tracey Dwyer, Senior Manager of Solutions Management at Amazon Web Services.

Created to develop a formal mentoring relationship between top-ranking and high-potential women in cable technology, the goal of the Women’s TechConnect program is to provide a crucial support system to better equip mentees to overcome workplace challenges, while helping them rise through the industry ranks to more senior level assignments. Applications for the 2025/2026 program will open in summer 2025. For more information or questions, please contact: Megan Marksberry, AVP, Program Administration, The WICT Network (mmarksberry@wict.org).

Additionally, the SCTE Foundation proudly supports two tech-focused fellowships offered by The WICT Network: The Nomi M. Bergman Fellowship, which focuses on high-potential women working in technology companies; and the Martha Soehren Women Veterans Fellowship, aimed at high-potential women veterans employed by programming companies, operators, or technology firms. By supporting the SCTE Foundation, companies and individuals can contribute directly to vital diversity efforts, helping to build a stronger and more inclusive workforce.

About SCTE Foundation

The SCTE Foundation is dedicated to fostering talent and innovation for the global broadband connectivity industry. Through the provisions of grants, scholarships, resources, and programs, we empower aspiring professionals and companies with the skills and tools necessary to succeed in our dynamic field. Learn more or get involved at https://sctefoundation.org/

About The WICT Network – Empowering Women in Media, Entertainment & Technology

The WICT Network is a global organization whose mission is to create women leaders who transform our industry. We do this by providing unparalleled professional development programs, commissioning original gender research, and supporting a B2B network that helps advance women. For more than 40 years, The WICT Network has partnered with media, entertainment and technology companies to help build a more robust pipeline of women leaders. Founded in 1979, and now nearly 10,000 members with 24 chapters globally, The WICT Network is the largest and oldest professional association serving women in media. Charter CommunicationsComcast NBCUniversalThe Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Discovery are The WICT Network’s Strategic Touchstone Partners. Please visit www.wict.org or follow @WICTHQ on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X for more information.

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