Women in Cable Telecommunications has named a trio of industry executives as the recipients of its top awards.
The women's group is lauding Carol Hevey, executive vice president-East Region, Time Warner Cable, as its 2012 Woman of the Year, while Jennifer Hightower, senior vice president of law and policy at Cox Communications, and Jennifer Robertson, senior vice president, digital media and business development at WeTV, are the 2012 Woman to Watch honorees.
The awards will be presented during the WICT Touchstones Luncheon on Sept. 10 at the Hilton New York, in conjunction with the association's annual Leadership Conference, during Cable's Diversity Week.
"WICT is proud to bestow our highest individual honors on Carol Hevey, Jennifer Hightower and Jennifer Robertson, in recognition of their contributions to the cable industry," said Maria Brennan, president and CEO, WICT. "Each of our honorees is most deserving and exemplifies the touchstones and values that WICT was built upon."
WICT's Woman of the Year award is bestowed upon a cable industry executive who has made increasingly significant contributions to her company and the overall telecommunications field throughout her career. She is also helpful in guiding others toward the top.
The Woman to Watch award goes to woman in cable who shows tremendous promise for transforming the industry through her professional accomplishment, and who has demonstrated exemplary leadership skills, as well as a strong dedication to the industry and her organization.
With nearly 30 years in cable, Hevey, who was named a Wonder Woman by the editors of Multichannel News in 2006, began her career in cable as an administrative assistant in what was then an almost a purely male industry. She worked in call centers, in the field, and learned everything she could about the underpinnings of the business. At Time Warner Cable, she continues to be at the forefront of trying and testing new structures and ways to advance the company, leading half of the company's operating portfolio as EVP. Hevey also was instrumental in helping Time Warner Cable create the Step Forward leadership program for women in late 2010, and she serves as a mentor to others and is involved with numerous charity organizations.
Since joining Cox in 1997, Hightower has been widely recognized as one of the nation's foremost experts on telecommunications public policy. As SVP of law and policy, she oversees Cox's compliance, legal operations, litigation, regulatory and corporate government affairs teams. She is also the company's corporate secretary and serves as its primary legal and policy counsel. During her 15-year tenure, her efforts and leadership have played integral roles in helping the company clear the requisite regulatory and political hurdles that have enabled the MSO to cultivate innovation and grow as a company.
An 11-year veteran at the women's-targeted network, Robertson joined WeTV as its vice president of consumer marketing. Subsequently, she served as vice president of digital and emerging media, launching iPhone applications, an online gaming channel, the We TV Mobile video channel, In her current position, she heads the network's overall brand extension strategy, overseeing social media, content creation and the technical direction for the network's expanding group of digital properties.
