The National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) today announced winners of the 2012 Next Generation Leaders Awards.
This year's recipients are Rosalyn Durant, vice president, ESPNU and ESPNHS, ESPN; Sree Kotay, senior vice president, chief software architect, Comcast; Fernando Laguarda, vice president, external affairs, and policy counselor, Time Warner Cable; and Pawan Mehra, co-founder and executive vice president, Améredia.
The awards will be presented at the NAMIC Annual Awards Breakfast scheduled for Wednesday, May 23, 7:30-9 a.m. at the Westin Boston Waterfront in Boston, during the annual Cable Show convention.
Selected by NAMIC, the Next Generation Leaders Awards recognize emerging executives of color: business leaders demonstrating exceptional managerial acumen while embracing NAMIC's mission to educate, advocate and empower for diversity and inclusion in the communications industry. Presented in partnership with Multichannel News, awards are presented in four categories: Cable Programmer, Cable MSO, Technology Company/Discipline and Creative Discipline.
Executives of color age 45 and under were eligible for nomination. Durant (Programmer), Kotay (Tech Company/Discipline), Laguarda (MSO), and Mehra (Creative Discipline) were selected from the nominees.
A group of NAMIC Luminaries will also be recognized at the ceremony.
Since the inception of the award in 2006, NAMIC has recognized 24 Next Generation Leaders and 51 Luminaries.
Irene Esteves, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Time Warner Cable, this year's honorary chair of the NAMIC Annual Awards Breakfast, said in a release: "I look forward to celebrating the honorees announced today. I applaud each of them for their professional achievements and for what they have done to foster multi-ethnic diversity and inclusion in our industry."
This year's NAMIC Luminaries are: Michelle Bailey, vice president, Corporate Market Research, BET Networks; Berto Guzman, vice president, affiliate sales & marketing, nuvoTV; Aljit Joy, senior vice president, strategy & product development, Comcast; Superna Kalle, senior vice president, networks, and general manager, Sony Movie Channel, Sony Pictures Television; Erika Kennair, vice president, scripted development, Syfy/NBCUniversal; Rodrigo Lopez, regional vice president, Mountain Region, Comcast Corporation; Guhan Selvaretnam, senior vice president, product, content & operations, digital media, Discovery Communications; Tina Shah, assistant general counsel, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., Emory Walton, vice president, distribution field sales, A+E Networks; Crystal Washington, vice president, external relations, diversity & inclusion, Scripps Networks Interactive; Cheryl Wingate, vice president, talent acquisition, Time Warner Cable's East Region; and Ninoska Zucconi, vice president, marketing services, distribution sales & marketing, Univision Communications.
For more information about the Next Generation Leaders Awards and the NAMIC Annual Awards Breakfast including questions regarding sponsorship and ticket/table purchases, contact Sandra Girado, director of Meetings and Events, at NAMIC National, 212-594-5985. Log onto http://namic.com to access online registration.
NAMIC is the premier organization focusing on multi-ethnic diversity in the communications industry. Founded in 1980 as a non-profit trade association, today NAMIC comprises more than 2,600 professionals belonging to a network of 16 chapters nationwide.
