NEW YORK February 26, 2004--While much of the media emphasis focuses on men as leaders in the entertainment industry, four women at BET are blazing new territory. The collective contributions of this foursome have made BET the most successful Africanโ€"American network in the history of television. Debra Lee, Kelli Richardson Lawson, Nina Henderson Moore and Gina Holland are enterprising business leaders in every sense of the definition. And while industry analysts may categorize them and BET in a singular category, each executive is rapidly bringing individual distinction to their careers, responsibilities and places in the network's history.
BET's successful saga in television has proven to be fertile ground for women contributors almost since the network was founded in 1980. Currently, women comprise 62% percent of BET's 300-plus employees nationwide, with more than 31% percent of management positions also occupied by women, 5% of them at the vice president level and higher.
As the prototypical corporate leader and the highest-ranking African-American woman inside BET's parent company Viacom, Debra Lee's achievements as the network's President and Chief Operating Officer and her numerous accolades from across the cable industry make her one of this country's most respected business executives. Lee began her BET career 17 years ago as the Executive Vice President of Strategic Business Development. During her tenure, Lee's many roles have included corporate secretary; Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the legal affairs department; and President and Publisher of BET's publishing division. The outside world also gets to share in Lee's business and philanthropic prowess in role on the boards of directors of several corporate, industry and civic organizations, including Eastman Kodak Company, Washington Gas & Light Company, Genuity Inc., Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Girls Inc., National Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center's Community & Friends Board, National Women's Law Center and others. Lee is also the recent recipient of several prestigious awards such as the 2003 Positively Visionary Award from Cable Positive, 2003 Quasar Award from the National Association of Minorities in Communications and the 2001 Woman of the Year Award from Women in Cable and Telecommunications to name a few.
It's no surprise that Washingtonian Magazine named Lee one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Washington, further solidifying her image as an African-American leader of great accomplishment. Lee graduated from Brown University with a bachelor's degree in political science with an emphasis in Asian politics. She also earned her jurist doctorate at Harvard Law School, while simultaneously earning her masters degree in public policy from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
As Executive Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Communications, Kelli Richardson Lawson manages seven different departments โ€" market research, graphic arts & design, off-channel marketing, corporate communications, creative services, special events and public affairs. In only seven short years, her leadership has helped drive the network to its highest ratings in BET history. The channel's ratings success can be directly traced to Lawson's creation of a full-fledged marketing department within the company in 1999, ratings are up 33% since that strategic decision was made. In addition, she's led major initiatives in the community by developing BET's first major pro-social campaign, โ€œRap-It-Up,โ€ which addresses the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the African-American community. Officially launched in 2000, this award-winning program includes strategic programming, public service announcements, a toll-free information number, website and HIV testing nationwide.
As if she didn't have enough on her plate, Lawson recently achieved a personal entrepreneurial milestone by launching a new upscale maternity boutique for the Washington, DC area, catering to the style-conscious mother-to-be. 9 maternity celebrates pregnancy through sophisticated and chic clothing. Lawson earned her bachelor's degree in economics from Howard University and completed post-graduate work at the Center for Creative Leadership.
The driving force behind BET's critically-acclaimed News, Public Affairs and Documentary programming is Executive Vice President Nina Henderson Moore. With a noteworthy career in entertainment, Henderson Moore's responsibilities not only include serving as one of the country's few female news chief executives, but also managing BET's acquisitions of syndicated programming and movies. Before taking the reins of her current division, she was President and Chief Operating Officer of BET Pictures, the only African-American owned film studio in the nation with a historic 13 made-for-television movies to its credit.
Henderson Moore has also served as Vice President of BET Movies/Starz!, an all-Black movie channel in partnership with Encore Media. Her wide-ranging career includes prior positions as President of the Griot Group, Executive Director of the Boston Cable Co-op and various roles in marketing with IBM, Chase Manhattan Bank and Cox Cable. She holds a bachelor's degree from Harvard University and earned her MBA from Harvard Business School.
In perhaps the most male-dominated areas in television, Gina Holland shines as Senior Vice President of Production and Technical Operations, overseeing BET network production, technical facilities and entertainment programming as the company's top West Coast-based executive. Tops on her list of BET credits is the design of cutting-edge digital production facilities for the network's units in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and New York. Holland's first association with BET began in 1990 as Director of Production where she managed the entire production staff; oversaw all remote-location projects; and coordinated both the creative and technical aspects of BET's Emmy-nominated A Tribute of Black Music Legends (1995).
One of the most challenging tasks in Holland's career came after she departed BET in 1996 to join NBC as Manager of Production and Technical Services. In that role during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, she managed the technical portions of all Olympic television and radio broadcasts to the tune of 160 technical personnel, 80 cameras, 11 foreign broadcast clients, eight mobile production units and countless on-air graphics stations. Holland's NBC tenure stretched from 1996-2000 where she was also an integral player in a number of wildly successful NBC productions including Seinfeld: The Finale, ER's โ€œLiveโ€ 1997 season premiere, The Today Show and The Tonight Show. She rejoined BET in 2000 as Vice President of Production and Technical Operations. A graduate of Bowling Green State University, she also runs her own production company, Making our Mark Entertainment, Inc.
BET continues to break new ground by broadening and diversifying an entire genre of music, entertainment, news, sports and public affairs programming for African-Americans โ€" a feat that some current networks are trying to duplicate. With these leading women executive playing critical roles, BET has delivered six consecutive seasons of record-setting ratings, and now reaches an all-time high 78 million homes. While their names aren't exactly household words, their numerous achievements and contributions have left indelible marks on BET and the entertainment industry. These women aren't just powerful influences and leaders, they're each pioneers in their own respect.
ABOUT BET
BET, a subsidiary of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), is the nation's leading television network providing quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs programming for the African-American audience. The BET Network reaches approximately 78 million households according to Nielsen Media Research, and can be seen in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. BET is a dominant consumer brand in the urban marketplace with a diverse group of branded businesses: BET.com, the Number 1 Internet portal for African Americans; BET Digital Networks โ€" BET Jazz, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Event Productions, specializing in a full range of event production services, including event management, venue selection, talent recruitment, sound, lighting and stage production; and BET Books, the nation's leading publisher of African-American themed romance novels under the Arabesque Books label, and publisher of new imprints Sepia and New Spirit.