The Television Academy Foundation named four new members to its board of directors, and among them is Jamaican-American Paula Williams Madison, chairman and CEO of Madison Media Management LLC. She has been elected to three-year terms, effective immediately.
Before becoming chairman and CEO of Madison Media Management LLC, a media consultancy company located in Los Angeles, Madison served as executive vice president of diversity at NBCUniversal (NBCU) as well as a vice president of the General Electric Company, then the parent company of NBCU. During her 22 years with NBCU, Madison held a number of leadership roles including president and general manager of NBC4 Los Angeles and vice president and news director of NBC4 New York before retiring in 2011.
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Born in Harlem to a Jamaican single mother, Paula attended Vassar College and with her brothers founded Williams Holdings, a Chicago-based, family-owned company, which has significant investments in media (The Africa Channel), a sports franchise (the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks), and various real estate, consumer, financial and trading businesses. She was recognized by East West Players for her contribution to the Asian American community in 2015, including her book, “Finding Samuel Lowe: China, Jamaica, Harlem,” which told the story of her grandfather’s life and travels, and the documentary, “Finding Samuel Lowe: From Harlem to China,” which was about the trip she and her brothers took to Guangdong, Lowe’s ancestral village to learn about their father’s side of the family.
Madison has been honored for her work by many organizations, including being named one of the “75 Most Powerful African Americans in Corporate America” by Black Enterprise magazine in 2005, listed in the Hollywood Reporter’s “Power 100” and in 2014 was recognized as one of the “Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business.” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed Madison to the Los Angeles Police Commission where she served as vice president from 2013-2015. Madison sits on several boards including her family’s investment company, Williams Group Holdings LLC, which is the majority owner of The Africa Channel.
The Foundation prepares leaders and storytellers through its preeminent education and preservation programs: The College Television Awards and Summit, Student Internship Program, The Interviews: An Oral History of Television Project and the Media Educators Conference. The Foundation has nurtured thousands of talented students, providing essential resources that help them discover their voices, refine their skills and forge rewarding careers in every sector of the television industry. Foundation alumni include prominent writers, producers, documentarians, creative executives, network presidents and more.
