NAMIC Names 2013 Next Generation Leaders Awards

National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) today announced the recipients of its Next Generation Leaders Awards.

The winners of the Awards, which honors executives of color age 45 and under in four categories (listed in parenthesis) include Christine Bragan, vice president, Marketing and Communications, AMC Networks (Programmer); Rich Jennings, regional senior vice president, Mile High, Comcast Cable (MSO); Michelle Hord-White, vice president, Talent Development and Pipeline Programs, NBCUniversal (Creative Discipline); and Dhanusha Sivajee, vice president, Marketing, Bloomberg Mobile (Technology Company or Discipline), according to the diversity organization.

NAMIC also announced 11 Luminaries selected by NAMIC for their business achievements and commitment to diversity.

The 2013 NAMIC Luminaries class includes Ivan Bargueiras, senior vice president, Advertising Sales & GM, Discovery US Hispanic, Discovery Networks Latin America/US Hispanic; Maureen Carter, vice president, Digital Brand Creative, Nickelodeon; Rafael Gomez, vice president, Business Affairs, NBCUniversal; Lisa Griffin, vice president, Finance, Turner Entertainment Networks; Kimberly Hulsey, vice president, Legal and Government Affairs, Scripps Networks Interactive; Charlon McIntosh, regional vice president, Business Class Customer Service, Time Warner Cable; Khadijah Sharif-Drinkard, vice president, Business & Legal Affairs, BET Networks; Marc Siry, senior vice president, Business Solutions Team, NBCUniversal; Puja Vohra, senior vice president, Marketing, Oxygen Media; Lisa Williams-Fauntroy, senior vice president, Business Affairs & Programming Legal, Discovery Communications; and Ritchie Yu, vice president, Ad Sales Research, Discovery Communications.

The awards, presented in partnership with Multichannel News, will be given out at the June 12 NAMIC Annual Awards Breakfast at the Grand Hyatt in Washington DC in conjunction with Cable Connection – Spring.

“NAMIC maintains a steadfast commitment to recognizing leaders of color that are committed to advancing diversity and inclusion at their respective companies,” said NAMIC president and CEO Nicol Turner-Lee in a statement. “We are pleased to announce this very talented group of professionals that are quite exemplary in their fields, and within their respective companies.”

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.