Alliance for Women in Media Honors Five Female Leaders at Women Who Lead Event
The Alliance for Women in Media (AWM) hosted its annual Women Who Lead luncheon Tuesday to a capacity crowd at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. Keynote speaker Geraldine Laybourne brought audience members to their feet as she wove current headlines of workplace harassment with poignant stories from her career. She closed her remarks by offering the rally cry “Woman up!” to reflect the great strides women have made in the industry and offer her support for continued progress.
AWM honored the following Women Who Lead (in alphabetical order):
• Caroline Beasley, CEO, Beasley Broadcast Group
• Amy Emmerich, Chief Content Officer, Refinery29
• Kathleen Finch, Chief Programming, Content & Brand Officer, Scripps Networks
• Susan Swain, co-CEO, C-SPAN
• Julie Talbott, President, Premiere Networks
“AWM was proud to host and celebrate an incredible group of leaders with our Women Who Lead event,” said Sarah Foss, chief product officer, Advertising Management Systems, Imagine Communications, and AWM Board chair. “In a room full of multi-talented and successful women and men who were moved to tears, laughter and standing ovations, it is clear these trailblazing honorees are paving the way for future generations while having earned the much-deserved respect and recognition from their colleagues inside and outside their companies.”
“As a mentor, as a role model, I hope that I can impact people at least a fraction of the way the women in my life have impacted me,” honoree Julie Talbott, president, Premiere Networks, told the crowd.
In accepting the honor, Kathleen Finch, chief programming, content and brand officer, Scripps Interactive Networks, told attendees, “If there is one thing we’ve learned, it is that now more than ever, we need more women in media.”
Ms. Laybourne, a serial media entrepreneur and founder of Oxygen Media, energized the crowd, hitting on many of the most relevant touchpoints for women working across media today, often reflecting on how challenges faced today mirror those faced decades ago. But she went on to remind of the tremendous strides women have made in overcoming those obstacles and persevering to make their mark in their chosen field, as evidenced by those honored at the event that day.
Looking toward continued growth and grooming of the next generation of women as media leaders, she brilliantly emphasized the importance of women mentoring and supporting women, and the need for women to have their voices and ideas heard. “If you don’t have enough glass shards in your heads yet, you haven’t broken enough glass ceilings,” she told audience members, to thunderous applause.
Photos from the event can be found at https://tinyurl.com/WWL2017AWM.
Sponsors of the event were Ford Motor Company, CBS Corporation, Discovery Communications, Katz Media Group, NCTA, Premiere, Scripps Networks Interactive, Refinery29, SintecMedia, vCreative and WideOrbit. Supporters were Beasley Media Group, Benztown and Mr. Master, BMI, Lerman Senter and Nielsen.