Sherita Ceasar
Ceasar leads more than just Comcast’s video deployment engineering projects for core video delivery. She founded the NETO Women’s Forum within the company, which aims to provide careerbuilding resources, events and networking groups for women in tech roles. She also brought Comcast together with FIRST, a nonprofit group that encourages adolescents to be science and technology leaders. And this year, Ceasar’s also the 2014 Women in Technology award winner, a prestigious honor sponsored by WICT, SCTE and Cablefax. “Empowering the team, inspiring the team and then getting out of the way has been the secret sauce for me my entire career,” she says, noting the open field of possibilities around tech. “The opportunities for innovation are endless.”
What’s the definition of diversity in 2014, and how can the cable industry do better in the area of inclusiveness?
Valuing everyone’s differences and recognizing we all bring unique life experiences to the table when working together to create or solve problems for our customers. The cable industry can improve inclusiveness by engaging in best practice sharing with other industries through joint forums on topics like talent development for the next generation of innovators.
What qualities do you look for when making a new hire?
The qualities I look for in making a new hire are ability to communicate and tell their stories and personal experiences that illustrate: Strong people skills with the ability to interact well with others and build teams and relationships with all stakeholders; The ability to drive results, understand the processes and how to get things done in the organization; Strong technical skills in their domain, always having a continuous learning mindset; Examples of their experience where they have set high standards for themselves and others.
Name one emerging trend in cable we should all have our eye on.
Cloud DVR – the ability to have personal (and elastic) storage for accessing all your TV entertainment on all your screens anytime and anywhere you want.