Mercedes Funderburk of Black Entertainment Television (BET) is the Director of Talent, Music Programming. Her career began with the network over fifteen years ago as an intern and has impressively elevated upwardly in the management ranks. Although Mercedes has experience in radio, she found her love in television while working as a production assistant for “Teen Summit”. In her current role, Mercedes handles all talent aspects related to booking various shows on the network such as the flagship show, “106th & Park”, “Black Girls Rock” and the “BET Awards Pre-Show”. Her daily objectives consist of maintaining and establishing solid relationships with musical artists, actors, athletes, publicists and management. She has been responsible for securing artists that include high profile celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Justin Beiber, Beyonce’, Denzel Washington, Kobe Bryant, Tyler Perry and Will Smith.
As a mother of a teenage son, Mercedes consistently works with producers and executives to ensure teen issues such as Bullying and Aids Awareness are brought to the forefront through BET’s grassroots initiatives. In addition to her executive responsibilities, Mercedes continues to remain a standout representative for the network and devotes her time to mentor youth who are interested in careers in the television and the entertainment industry.
She is a native of Maryland and studied English Literature at University of Maryland, College Park.
