Michele Thornton
BET Networks’ Centric TV in 2015 was rebranded as the fi rst network for black women. And this past May Thornton was a guiding force in the decision to rename the network to BET Her, a name that aligns with sister network BET. While playing an active role in the media and advertising community, she’s an advocate for diversity in the communications industry. For example, she has created strategic alliances on behalf of organizations such as the Ghetto Film School, NAMIC and AAF’s Most Promising Students. Regarding diversity, Thornton would rather walk the walk. “It’s so unfortunate that we are still defining diversity instead of just living diversity… If your company wants to succeed then your company needs to reflect its consumers. Period. End of conversation.”