Henthorn Accelerated Industry Innovation, Nonprofit Organization’s Success through Launch and Expansion of Prestigious Intrapreneurship Academy, Activation of Vision 2025 Business Plan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31, 2021
DENVER – The Cable Center announced today that its president and chief executive officer, Jana Nelson Henthorn, will retire at the end of the year after 17 years at the nonprofit. Henthorn joined the organization in 2004 and took the helm as president and CEO in 2016.
During her career at The Cable Center, Henthorn developed a vision for the organization to expand and evolve alongside the ever-changing connectivity and content industry. Her mission to inspire and build future industry leaders led her to spearhead the development and launch of the Intrapreneurship Academy (IA) in 2017 and The Cable Center’s Vision 2025 5-year strategic plan in 2021.
As of July 2021, IA has now graduated more than 150 industry intrapreneurs from 30 different industry organizations and has expanded its curriculum into four, value-driving courses: Driving Innovation; Leading with Agility; Leading with Agility: Executive Intensive; and Leveraging Customer Experience. Under Henthorn’s stewardship, IA and The Cable Center lead and empower the industry’s new generation of bold thinkers through experiential programs, thought leadership, academic partnerships, events, and the industry’s preeminent collection of entrepreneurial accounts and objects.
“Upon becoming CEO, Jana spearheaded the next evolution for The Cable Center, ushering in the era of intrapreneurship and innovation. Jana’s legacy will be her creative, compassionate leadership and impact on our industry’s future leaders through the Intrapreneurship Academy,” said Michael Willner, chairman of The Cable Center board and CEO of Penthera Partners. “The Cable Center’s total assets are at the highest point in the past decade and beyond, and we are positioned for continued growth and success. It has been such a pleasure to collaborate with Jana. She is truly a trailblazer.”
In addition to advancing innovation and intrapreneurship, Henthorn has continued The Cable Center’s mission of honoring and celebrating the industry’s many entrepreneurs and founders, sharing their stories and leveraging their wisdom through programs like the Barco Library and Hauser Oral and Video History Project; the Cable Center Customer Centric Consortium (C5); the Edward Breen Technical Archives, and the Mavericks Lecture Series.
During her tenure, Henthorn has lifted The Cable Center’s annual fundraising event, the www.cablehalloffame.com, to new, all-time heights. Most notably, in 2019, Henthorn and Willner dazzled the audience at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City with their rodeo rope tricks and matching cowboy hats. And who could forget the Broadway chorus line opening at 2018’s celebration, complete with on-stage fireworks. The annual Cable Hall of Fame event is one the industry’s most exclusive and is one of the industry’s highest honors.
“The Cable Center has achieved tremendous growth and success over the last few years. I am extremely proud of all our programs, and the development and launch of our newest program, Intrapreneurship Academy,” says Henthorn. “Grit, determination, and hard work are the principles upon which our great industry was founded, and I believe that we have been entrusted with the responsibility to inspire the next era of innovation.
“I want to thank my industry colleagues, our wonderful board of directors, our esteemed honorary board of directors, our Cable Center ambassadors, our generous donors, and my many mentors and guides along the way. I am incredibly proud of my dedicated Cable Center team of collaborators and ambassadors. We have been able to accomplish so much together due to the collective support, agility, enthusiasm, and diligence of our staff.”
Henthorn will continue as CEO of the Cable Center through the end of the year. Upon her retirement, she will remain on the board of directors as the immediate past president. The board has begun the process of naming her successor.
About Jana Henthorn
A nearly 40-year industry veteran, Henthorn’s career spans all corners of the content and connectivity business. Before joining The Cable Center, Henthorn was vice president of affiliate sales for A+E Television Networks. Prior to this position, she served as vice president of operations and service fulfillment for Jones Intercable, one of the top 10 cable distributors until its acquisition by Comcast in 1999. Henthorn graduated from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and completed her MBA at the University of Denver.
Henthorn is a beloved mentor to and champion of women in the industry, serving on the National Board and Executive Committee for Women in Cable and Telecommunications from 1995-2000. She is a Charter Fellow of the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute (BMLI), graduating from their inaugural class in 1994. In March 2020, Henthorn was accepted into and attended WICT’s Senior Executive Summit presented in collaboration with Stanford Business School.
Henthorn is the recipient of numerous leadership awards. She was named one of the Cablefax 100 (2019, 2020, and 2021); Woman of the Year by the Rocky Mountain Chapter of WICT (2018); one of Cablefax’s Most Powerful Women (2016-2020); one of Multichannel News’ Women to Watch (2016); and the WICT National Chapter Advisor of the Year (2012). Jana was inducted into the Cable TV Pioneers in 2010.
Henthorn’s leadership and impact reaches far beyond the industry. A longtime board member of Hunger Free Colorado and Electing Women Alliance, Henthorn plans to devote much of her time combatting food insecurity and supporting women candidates in politics and government upon her retirement.
About The Cable Center
The Cable Center is an educational nonprofit serving the connectivity industry that advances future innovation by helping organizations develop connectivity innovators from within. Through our Intrapreneurship Academy, we enable companies to drive business growth by channeling the entrepreneurial drive of their greatest source of inspiration – their people. Our programs, expertise, and opportunity instill the leadership of our industry’s original innovators to empower a new generation of bold thinkers. Based in Denver, Colorado, The Cable Center is also the home of the Cable Hall of Fame, recognizing individuals for their outstanding contributions to the industry’s progress; and the Barco Library, the world’s largest collection of cable-related information and resources. Visit www.syndeoinstitute.org for more information.
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For more information, contact:
Geneva Rodriguez, Syndeo Institute
Email: grodriguez@cablecenter.org | Office: 720.502.7533
