WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.— Michele Wright joins SMPTE as director of business development and outreach. She will lead the marketing and sales teams and partner with SMPTE staff and volunteers to guide multiplatform marketing and outreach to new and diverse members and partners.
In making the announcement, SMPTE Executive Director David Grindle said, "With advanced degrees in both engineering and public policy, and a record of transformational leadership in diverse roles and environments, Michele comes to this SMPTE role ready to partner with colleagues in realizing meaningful change and growth for the Society."
Wright’s experience includes pharmaceutical/biotech sales, healthcare administration and business development for Fortune 100 companies and an international nonprofit organization. She is the recipient of numerous accolades and awards for her work as an advocate for health equity, as an author and creator of social-emotional and STEM-focused content and edutainment platforms for elementary students, and as a business and organizational leader.
Wright said it was “an ideal fit in merging my extensive background in STEM, administration, sales, marketing and community outreach to help develop and expand SMPTE's membership growth, business opportunities and global profile to diverse new dimensions.”
"I was drawn to this role because it affords me an invaluable opportunity to work for the global gold standard society of media professionals, technologists and engineers," she continued.
A native of Tuskegee, Ala., Wright is the 2022 USA TODAY Woman of the Year for Arkansas and a 2022–2023 AARP Purpose Prize Fellow. She and her husband, Terry Wright, made history in 2022 as the first people of color to be honored by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) with the organization's top honor, the Breath of Life Award, and to be named CF Ambassadors. She is the recipient of the Nations of Women Change Makers 2021 Global Leadership Award and a nominee of the EveryLife Foundation of Rare Diseases' RareVoice 2021 Award for Diversity Empowerment.
