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The 2011 Fellowship Recipients

Cheryl Greene Fellowship
The recipient of the Cheryl Greene Fellowship is selected based on the applicant's ability to most effectively demonstrate how she has helped the advancement of women in the workplace.

Katie Smith received her undergraduate degree from Mercer University in Macon, GA, with a BA in Communications.  After working in the tourism and cable industries for a few years, she returned back to school and graduated with an MBA, concentration in Marketing, from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.  Katie now manages the sales and marketing efforts for Scripps Networks’ digital partner sites such as RachaelRay.com, Hulu.com, Xfinity, and YouTube.  She also oversees sponsorship integration for popular HGTV events such as the Dream Home, Green Home, and Urban Oasis giveaways. Katie lives in Knoxville with her three “furry” children.  She is very active with the Humane Society of East Tennessee and volunteers with the Small Breed Rescue of East Tennessee and other pet-friendly organizations.

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Lucille Larkin Fellowship
The recipient of the Lucille Larkin Fellowship is selected based on the applicant's ability to most effectively demonstrate the value of the contributions they have made to WICT and the industry as a whole.

Whitney Adkins is the VOD (Video on Demand) Operations Manager at Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. In this role, she is responsible for developing strategies, increasing efficiencies, planning and implementing marketing and advertising campaigns, and scheduling the delivery of VOD content for popular lifestyle brands HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, and Travel Channel. Her career at Scripps began in Media Logistics managing the scheduling and delivery of programming for closed captioning.
In addition to her daily duties, Whitney also serves as Vice President of the Employee Action Committee at Scripps’ Knoxville headquarters location, as the Membership Chair for NAMIC-Tennessee, as a mentor in the WICT-Southeast Mentoring Program, and as a co-chair on several WICT-Southeast committees.

Whitney has a B.S. in Communication from the University of Tennessee and will receive her M.S. in Communication from UT in December 2011.

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June Travis Fellowship
The recipient of the June Travis Fellowship is selected based in part on his or her ability to demonstrate how the WICT Leadership Conference will help him/her gain new management and leadership skills and enhance his/her range or level of expertise.

Celeste Freeland is a Senior IT Program Manager for Time Warner Cable’s East Region/Carolinas Market IT Project Management Office.  On the TWC Corporate Campus in Charlotte, North Carolina, Celeste provides support in establishing and maintaining an effective PMO, while providing leadership and guidance in an effort to instill world class customer service; building upon project management process and methodologies.  In this role, Celeste manages a team of IT/IS Business Analysts and Project Mangers supporting the East Region, while working to educate and communicate the benefits of project management within TWC and the communications industry overall. 

Prior to entering the cable industry, Celeste Freeland led various teams in the IS/IT health care industry, having spent fourteen (14) years supporting UnitedHealth Care and Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey.  Celeste became a Project Management Professional (PMP) in 2005 and joined the Technology Service Group of Time Warner Cable in 2007, where she led projects for the Telephony team, later transitioning to lead Infrastructure teams. 

Celeste is an active member of the WICT and NAMIC Carolinas Chapters.  This is her second year volunteering to assist at WICT Carolinas “Tech It Out” Cable Day events.  She additionally has been selected to participate in the WICT Mentoring Circle, and has been selected to serve as a 2011/2012 Time Warner Cable Brand Ambassador.  Outside of the office, Celeste contributes her time building communities and assisting those interested in establishing and effectively structuring newly founded non-profit organizations.  As a natural advocate, Celeste is currently working to firmly institute, “Truth Be Told”, an organization  formed to assist families with special needs children in the areas of advocacy and support.