Henthorn Amplified Cable Center’s Impact
By Amy Miller Kravetz
In a way, Jana Henthorn can thank volleyball for her career. More than 30 years ago, while refereeing a charity game, she caught the eye of the tournament director—an exec at ATC, which later became Time Warner Cable—who told her to come see him about a job. “That was my first job in the industry, in consumer research,” says Henthorn, who retired as president and CEO of The Cable Center in January 2022.
Since that auspicious beginning, Henthorn mastered the cable industry game. Under her leadership, The Cable Center cemented its legacy as a place to showcase the history of the connectivity industry while also preparing future leaders. Among the offerings that Henthorn is most proud of are the Barco Library’s collection of oral histories from industry icons, which are being streamlined to focus on the subject’s strategic impact on the industry, as well as the Intrapreneurship Academy. In 2017, the center launched the IA, which now offers three leadership development courses.
The Cable Center “is important because it not only contains the historical record of the industry,” says Henthorn. “But it also is beginning a really significant innovation and expansion to something called the Syndeo Institute at the Cable Center [the rebranding occurred in March]. And that’s reinvigorating and empowering education and collaboration. [Syndeo Institute] is the culmination of my dream for The Cable Center since I became CEO in 2016…We’re trying to bridge that entrepreneurial foundation to the future and make that innovation focused.”
Diane Christman, President and CEO of Syndeo Institute at The Cable Center, says Henthorn’s impact will be felt for years to come. “She saw the link of how our industry’s entrepreneurial past could inform, educate, and prepare future leaders. What she called early on ‘the bridge’ now encompasses the work and mission of Syndeo Institute at The Cable Center.”
Henthorn came to The Cable Center in 2004. Prior to that, she worked at Jones Intercable, climbing the ranks to VP of Operations and service fulfillment. In 1999, she headed to A+E Networks as VP of Affiliate Sales for the Western Region. It was in these roles that Henthorn says she learned the key traits of effective leadership: to listen and be humble. She quotes Louise Penny’s fictional character Chief Inspector Armand Gamache on the four sentences leaders should say more often: “I don’t know. I was wrong. I’m sorry. I need your help.”
Henthorn has also never hesitated to offer help. She’s a champion of The WICT Network and served on both the national and Rocky Mountain boards. “As much as I volunteered, I always got back more than I gave,” she says. “I really do think it’s important to extend your hand back, to pull others up. My purpose, my belief, is that the world will be a better place when women have half the seats at the executive table. And I really hope that I’ve helped to increase the probability of that.”
Keely Buchanan, Director, Event Experience & Internal Communications at Charter Communications, thinks so. Henthorn has been a mentor for years and invited Buchanan to join WICT Network’s Rocky Mountain board in 2009. “When Jana Henthorn offers you an opportunity, you jump,” Buchanan says. “She takes her role as someone who clears a path for the women coming behind her very seriously.”