(Black Enterprise) — Paula Madison: The journalist turned corporate diversity trailblazer has ascended the ranks from local newspaper reporter to current Executive Vice President of Diversity for NBC Universal and Company Officer for General Electric. Madison’s extensive media experience—20-plus years—has led her to become the first senior executive to be assigned diversity as a sole responsibility in the corporation’s history. As one of Black Enterprise’s 75 Most Powerful African Americans in Corporate America, the Harlem native has raked up her share of accomplishments and awards such as a 1996 Peabody Award for WNBC’s investigation, A License to Kill, the Anti-Defamation League’s 2003 Deborah Award, Citizen of the Year Award from the City of Los Angeles Marathon in 2004, The Radio and Television News Directors Foundation’s First Amendment Service Award and the Houston Association of Black Journalists’ Pinnacle Award in 2008, to name a few.
