Cablefax The Magazine October 2022 - 38

Jon Sichel
EVP, General Counsel
Hallmark Media
Sichel has only been a part of the
Hallmark family for 18 months, but
he's already met the moment several
times. He leads legal and business affairs
matters, and oversaw distribution
in an interim capacity a few months
after his first day. The launch of three
Hallmark networks on YouTube TV in
November was a huge win. The world
is changing, but he often advises allies
to get honest with themselves about
assumptions about the LGBTQ+ community
before waving a rainbow flag.
" We all have biases of some sort, and
they are usually based on not having
a lot of experiences with people in a
particular community. I encourage
everyone to interact with people that
may be different than you, " he says.
" And don't be afraid to ask questions
about things you might not know. "
How does your company encourage
employees to bring their true selves
to work? Employees at all levels are
responsible for fostering an open, respectful
place to work. Because of this,
I am hopeful each of us feels comfortable
bringing our true selves to work
(whether in the office or remotely) so
that we can share ideas based, in part,
on our individual backgrounds, genders,
ethnicities, races, sexual orientations
and any other parts of ourselves
that make us unique.
38
Brooke Sopelsa
NBC Out Editorial Director
NBC News Digital
NBC Out has grown exponentially over
the last year thanks to Sopelsa, expanding
from two full-time people to
four. She's now assigning and editing
an average of 60 LGBTQ+ news stories
a month. " This investment, along
with NBC's amazing LGBTQ employee
resource groups (yes, we have multiple)
and the other investments in
LGBTQ storytelling across our company,
sends a loud and clear message to
both our employees and those outside
of our company that this is an organization
where people can bring their
true selves to work, " she says. Sopelsa
is always trying to bring more LGBTQ+
individuals into the spotlight, aiding in
the launch of NBCU Academy's diversity
news fellowship. She also put together
a transgender coverage guide
that's viewed as a vital resource across
the news organization.
Favorite media milestone in LGBTQ+
history? This is a bit of an obscure
example-and I don't know if it quite
counts as a milestone-but one of
my favorite TV segments dates back
to 2011, when MSNBC's Rachel Maddow
paid a beautiful tribute to Frank
Kameny, widely considered the father
of the gay rights movement, following
Kameny's death that year.
October 2022
Jose Velez Silva
VP, Multicultural IMC Brand
Marketing
Comcast Cable
Velez Silva has always been willing to
fight for communities that don't have
the resources they need to succeed.
He's spearheaded the development
of campaigns and relationships that
speak with an authentic voice to
Hispanic, LGBTQ+, Black and Asian
American viewers. Those include the
launch of the " Pride is Universal " initiative
as well as the Black Experience
on Xfinity, a go-to destination for authentic
content made with that audience
in mind. With help from Velez
Silva and other advocates, Comcast
developed a plan over the last two
years to allocate $100 million to fight
inequality across all ethnicities, gender
identities, sexual orientations or
abilities. He's also actively driving
awareness and growing enrollment
for the Affordable Connectivity Program
through brand marketing campaigns.
Outside of Comcast, he's a
founder of Salud.com, the first Spanish-language
health-related information
portal in the United States and
Latin America.
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Cablefax The Magazine October 2022

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