NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES, March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tiffany Smith-Anoa'i has been appointed Vice President, Diversity & Communications, CBS Television, expanding her current role in the Communications department and establishing a newly created executive position on the West Coast to build diversity efforts across the Company.
The announcement was made today by Josie Thomas, Senior Vice President, Diversity, CBS Corporation, and Chris Ender, Senior Vice President, Communications, CBS Television.
Smith-Anoa'i will report to and support Thomas on initiatives that foster and celebrate diversity across the company, while continuing to report to Ender for all her ongoing and developing CBS Communications duties. She will also work with CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler on new and existing programs that recruit, nurture and hire diverse talent to work in front of and behind the camera of CBS programming. In addition, Smith-Anoa'i will serve as a liaison to multicultural coalition groups and provide outreach to agencies, guilds and other industry organizations that represent diverse talent.
Smith-Anoa'i segues to her new position after nine years in the Company's Media Relations and Publicity department, most recently serving as Director, Communications. In addition to publicizing a wide range of entertainment programming, she developed communication strategies for diversity programs and managed the internship and mentoring program for the department.
"Expanding our diversity outreach and promoting a culture of inclusiveness continues to be a top priority at CBS," said Thomas. "The addition of Tiffany brings another strong voice to our efforts within our company and in the communities we serve, and an energetic, thoughtful and dedicated new executive with the specific mandate to help us grow existing programs and develop new plans that support a multicultural environment in all aspects of Entertainment."
Smith-Anoa'i, who will be based at CBS's West Coast headquarters at CBS Studio Center in Studio City, Calif., will also continue in her key role with the CBS Communications department, working on entertainment programming while communicating the Company's diversity activities both internally and externally.
"Tiffany is an incredibly gifted communicator who has already made a significant contribution to the work of our department," said Ender. "Now she will bring those talents to her expanded role as an important member of our diversity effort, where the role of communications could not be more crucial. As she combines her skills as a communicator with her understanding of the entertainment process, I know Tiffany will be a great ambassador for CBS both inside the company and with all our key constituents in the industry."
Prior to joining CBS, Smith-Anoa'i was a vice president for the public relations firm Agnes Huff Communications. She previously worked at Nike, Inc., helping to launch the NIKETOWN stores in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.
Smith is a graduate of Howard University. She is also actively involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
About CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is a mass media company with constituent parts that reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer businesses that operate on the leading edge of the media industry. The Company, through its many and varied operations, combines broad reach with well-positioned local businesses, all of which provide it with an extensive distribution network by which it serves audiences and advertisers in all 50 states and key international markets. It has operations in virtually every field of media and entertainment, including broadcast television (CBS and The CW - a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), cable television (Showtime and CSTV Networks), local television (CBS Television Stations), television production and syndication (CBS Paramount Network Television and CBS Television Distribution), radio (CBS Radio), advertising on out-of-home media (CBS Outdoor), publishing (Simon & Schuster), interactive media (CBS Interactive), music (CBS Records), licensing and merchandising (CBS Consumer Products), video/DVD (CBS Home Entertainment), in-store media (CBS Outernet) and motion pictures (CBS Films). For more information, log on to http://www.cbscorporation.com/.
CBS Corporation
CONTACT: Phil Gonzales, +1-818-655-1580, phil.gonzales@cbs.com, or
Shannon Jacobs, +1-212-975-3161, sljacobs@cbs.com
Web Site: http://www.cbscorporation.com/
