NCTI on Oct. 12 announced that Jana Henthorn and Matt Polka have been appointed to its board of directors.
NCTI concurrently announced that Jeff Gibson, who joined the organization in 2021 to lead NCTI’s Learning and Development team, has been promoted to the role of vice-president, Learning and Development.
In addition, Brian Dowell has joined NCTI’s leadership team as marketing manager.
New board appointments
Henthorn and Polka will serve on NCTI’s board of directors along with Marc Cohen, whose appointment to the board was announced in August 2022, and current board members Camilla Formica, Dick Green, and board chair and CEO, Stacey Slaughter.
A seasoned industry veteran, Henthorn most recently served as president and CEO at The Cable Center, before retiring from that post in 2021. Over her career, she has worked within MSO operations, most notably with Jones Intercable and in content distribution with A&E Networks.
At The Cable Center, Henthorn spearheaded the development and launch of the organization's Intrapreneurship Academy (IA) in 2017. She continues to teach inclusive leadership in the University of Denver’s MBA program, as well as contributing active service on numerous boards and councils.
Polka joins NCTI’s board after recently stepping down as ACA Connects president and CEO in July 2022, having served that organization for 25 years, representing small and independent communications providers in Washington, D.C.
Polka was named in 2009 as a a “Cable Television Pioneer.” He has been a member of the CablefAX 100 for more than 10 years and was awarded in July 2022 the inaugural Cablefax Founders Circle Award for lifetime achievement in our industry.
Additional NCTI appointments
As the organization's new vice-president of Learning and Development, Jeff Gibson is responsible for the full product lifecycle of NCTI’s catalog of learning solutions, delivering best-in-class learning products for the broadband and wireless industries.
As narketing manager, Brian Dowell will manage NCTI’s marketing, communications, and social media programs.
These new board appointments and organizational changes support NCTI’s ongoing effort to fortify its position as the leading provider of high-quality educational content for the cable and broadband industry while also expanding its scope to serve new markets with custom learning solutions.
Stacey Slaughter, NCTI CEO, commented:
“With the addition of Jana and Matt to the board, NCTI has assembled an impressive roster of accomplished industry leaders to guide the organization as we act on our renewed focus on workforce development and explore new ways to serve our changing client base with increased support for broadband and WISP technologies. Jana and Matt bring decades of deep, relevant experience to our board of directors. Jana’s passion for mentorship and employee development aligns with NCTI’s pursuit of providing opportunities to the frontline workforce of our industry. As the former president and CEO of ACA Connects, Matt is an enthusiastic advocate for independent operators. His keen understanding of the market and regulatory pressures operators face will help us navigate the evolving broadband market.
In his new role as vice-president, Jeff will continue to drive NCTI’s strategic initiatives through his leadership of our outstanding team of professional curriculum designers, subject matter experts, technical writers, and multimedia specialists tasked with creating the best educational content in our industry. Brian is the newest member of our leadership team, and we look forward to leveraging his decades of industry experience as NCTI’s marketing manager.
Congratulations and welcome to Jana, Matt, Jeff, and Brian.”