National Archives & Records Administration, EAG – Say it LOUD! Recognizes, Debra L. Lee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Black Entertainment Network (BET).
Written by, Vera J. Williams, IT Program Manager, National Archives and Records Administration
One of the highest ranking African-American women at media giant Viacom, Inc., Debra L. Lee is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Black Entertainment Television (BET) Network. Considered one of America’s most respected business executives, she was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame. Under her leadership, Lee has transformed BET, upgrading the quality of programming for their audience of 89 million households and was a key player taking BET public in 1991.
Before her appointment to CEO at BET in March 1996, Lee served as the network’s executive vice president of strategic business development. In 2003, she received the Distinguished Vanguard Award for Leadership from the National Cable Television Association, making her the first African-American female executive to receive the honor.
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Paras Griffin/BET/Getty Images for BET
Lee was born in 1955 in Fort Jackson, South Carolina and is the mother of two. She graduated with a degree in Political Science with a focus on Asian Studies from Brown University. During her junior year at Brown, she spent a year studying abroad in Southeast Asia in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Lee is also a graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Law School. After graduating, she spent five years as an attorney with the Washington, D. C. law firm Steptoe & Johnson prior to joining BET.
Today, Lee’s net worth is $30 Million with a salary of $5 Million as reported by Celebrity NetWorth.com. She was a member of the Board of Student Advisers at Harvard Law School in 1980; she is currently a member of the board of directors of Marriott, Revlon, and the Washington Gas Light Company, and in 2016, she joined two other women on the board of Twitter.
Lee serves on numerous professional and community organizations, including the Kennedy Center’s Community & Friends Board, the National Symphony Orchestra Board, National Women’s Law Center, and Girls, Inc.. Additionally, she is the President of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. In February 2017, Lee was the first woman executive to receive the Grammy Salute to Industry Icons Award, which recognizes significant contributions to the music industry.
At the National Archives, the moving image series Video Recordings from the “Worldnet Today” Program (National Archives Identifier 59579) in Record Group 306, contains video footage of Debra L. Lee discussing new satellite technology and current regulation.
References:
Bloomberg.com “Executive Profile” http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=536273&privcapId=25403751 Retrieved March 6, 2017
BET CEO Debra L. Lee Named 2017 Grammy Salute to Industry Icons Honoree: by Gail Mitchell, Retrieved March 6, 2017
The History Makers: http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/debra-lee-1, Retrieved March 6.