Diversity Awards Dinner

Ayo Davis is the executive vice president, Talent and Casting, ABC Entertainment and Disney+. In her newly expanded role with Disney+, she provides casting strategy and services to the Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment, working closely with the Disney+ team across all scripted and unscripted content. She reports to Karey Burke, president, ABC Entertainment.

Davis has been instrumental in casting some of ABC’s most recognized shows, including “The Good Doctor”; the Emmy^® Award-winning drama “American Crime”; the Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning series “black-ish” and “How to Get Away with Murder,” for which Viola Davis won the Emmy as the first African American actress to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She has championed the careers and attracted the likes of some of the industry’s most notable actors, including Eva Longoria, Jesse Williams and Golden Globe^® winner Gina Rodriguez.

Prior to being named head of Talent and Casting for the studio and network in 2016, she was senior vice president, Talent and Casting, ABC Entertainment Group. In that role, she oversaw all scripted prime-time casting for The ABC Television Network. She joined ABC Casting more than 16 years ago, overseeing such pilots as the Emmy Award-winning series “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Additionally, Davis helped lead the implementation and launch of the ABC Discovers Initiative, which includes several programs aimed at finding and nurturing up-and-coming talent from around the world.

Davis is on the board at Dillard University, as well as a board member of the T. Howard Foundation. She was on the 2017 host committee board of Girls Inc. and was a 2016 Honoree, as well as a member of Jack and Jill of America Inc., and a supporter of Links Incorporated, an organization based in Orange County that provides community service and mentors youths. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Dillard University.

Jonathan Hargis joined Charter Communications as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer in 2012. Mr. Hargis oversees the company’s sales and marketing strategy and decisions.

Mr. Hargis joined Charter from Cablevision Systems Corporation (currently part of Altice USA), where he most recently served as Executive Vice President, Marketing. Earlier in his career, Mr. Hargis served in various leadership roles at AT&T.

Mr. Hargis served on the board of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing Educational Foundation from April 2008 to March 2012 and chaired the board from September 2011 to March 2012.

He received a B.A. from Otterbein College and an MBA from Wright State University.

DeDe Lea is Executive Vice President, Global Public Policy and Government Relations, ViacomCBS. In this role, Lea oversees all government affairs and public policy work for the company globally. She reports to Bob Bakish, President and Chief Executive Officer, ViacomCBS.

Lea brings two decades worth of leadership experience and institutional knowledge to ViacomCBS. She previously served as Viacom’s Executive Vice President of Global Government Affairs since 2013. During this time, Lea guided the development and execution of government relations strategy for the company across its brands and businesses, both domestically and internationally. Before that, she led Viacom’s Government Relations team as Executive Vice President, beginning in 2005. Lea joined Viacom in 1997 as the company’s Vice President of Government Relations.

Lea also served as Vice President of Government Affairs for Dallas-based television broadcasting company Belo Corporation. Prior to her career at Viacom, she was Senior Vice President of Government Relations for the National Association of Broadcasters.

In 2019, Lea was named by Black Enterprise Magazine as one of the Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America. She was also recognized as a Top Lawyer by Cablefax magazine in 2018 and was a recipient of the 2014 NCTA Vanguard Award for Government and Community Relations.

Lea obtained a J.D. from Georgetown Law, and graduated cum laude from Howard University with a B.A. in Broadcast Management. She currently sits on the boards of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the MedStar Washington Hospital Center.

Jason Collins attended high school in Los Angeles where he won two California Interscholastic Federation state titles. He headed to Stanford University and was selected 18th overall in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets before being traded to the New Jersey Nets on draft day.

In 2013, Collins made history as the first active male athlete from one of the four major North American professional team sports to publicly come out as gay. Fellow NBA players and then-NBA commissioner David Stern praised his decision, as did President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and former president Bill Clinton.

Since his retirement in 2014, Collins became an NBA Cares Community Ambassador, serving as a relentless champion for equality, sharing his story on the national stage, and working with grassroots organizations.

Among his many awards and honors, Collins was in the first class of inductees into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. In April 2014, he was featured on the cover of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World.