Zenita Henderson
Henderson excels at managing business relationships both within the global sales team and with outside industry associations. She also connects the cable industry with local community groups and is passionate about empowering the next generation of cablers. Take last year’s Tech It Out “Wi-Fi Everywhere” event that she planned with a group of WICT professionals. “The event was designed to help non-technical people understand the ‘how’ and ‘whys’ of cable technology and Wi-Fi,” she says. “I was responsible for helping to craft the agenda, attract speakers, and retain some of the industry’s most influential sponsors. It was a lot of work, but well worth the effort.”
What’s your biggest professional accomplishment in the past 12 months?
This summer, I was really thrilled to be one of the co-producers of the highly successful WICT Philly Tech It Out event ‘Wi-Fi Everywhere.’ Held on July 23, the event was designed to help non-technical people understand the ‘how’ and ‘whys’ of cable technology and Wi-Fi. With 231 attendees, including 27 industry leaders, the event broke attendance records and received outstanding reviews. The goal of WICT’s Tech It Out is to create strong women leaders in technology, while also raising awareness about the vast opportunities for women in cable television.
As in years past, our 2015 event featured an all-star line-up of industry leaders who are driving cable’s ongoing transformation. As a member of the event’s Board of Directors, I was responsible for helping to craft the agenda, attract speakers, and retain some of the industry’s most influential sponsors. It was a lot of work, but well worth the effort.
Best business advice you’ve received?
Always be kind, because you never who you will end up working for in the future.
How do you define diversity?
Inclusion, acceptance and being respectful of different types of people regardless of their race, sex, religion, political views and/or sexual orientation.
How can cable better support diversity?
MSO, vendors and suppliers in the industry can put a stake in the ground and issue a diversity hiring challenge that includes a target number and date by which to meet the challenge. This challenge should include a yearly status report of our progress and ‘call out’ for companies who meet the challenge (as well as those who don’t). Whether it’s about the employees in our industry or the programming our industry provides to our communities, we should continue to change for the better. When world-class companies share our commitment to embracing different perspectives and creating better opportunities for people, we increase our productivity, creativity, problem solving, and adaptability. All these changes can only make our industry stronger.
How do you define success?
When your passion and profession combine, you find yourself in a place where work begins to not feel like ‘work’ – that’s when I think you have reached success. Since I began my professional career at Jerrold in Horsham, Pennsylvania nearly 30 years ago, I have loved my work. One aspect of my career that has brought me a lot of happiness is my foundation and charity work where I have introduced people to the opportunities and possibilities in our industry. Forging industry collaborations, giving back to my local community, and empowering the next generation to advance in the cable industry has really made me feel like I am accomplishing something meaningful – and I am grateful to continue that work every day.
If you find a job where you say “I hope I get to…” rather than “I hope I don’t have to…”, you have found job satisfaction.
