Women in Leadership
featuring Connie Wharton, Business Consultant, Author, Speaker and Coach
Connie Wharton is one of the pioneer women who led the way into the highest levels of the corporate world. Beginning as a contract security guard for a Fortune 500 company, Ms. Wharton seized every opportunity to be successful in a male-dominated culture. She is now sharing her experiences, insights and knowledge with other women. She is also asking the difficult questions of the corporate world about why there are still so few women in executive positions today. Her recently published book, Liberty and Justice For Her?, asks how women can help each other to achieve their goals.
Ms. Wharton has a unique background that includes running a $500M telecommunications business serving more than 500,000 customers in 87 different municipalities. During her tenure with Time Warner Cable, she served as the southwest division president and ran one of the largest cable systems in the country. She was one of the very few division presidents ever hired from outside the ranks of Time Warner Cable. She successfully integrated smaller cable systems all over the southern part of Texas into one highly integrated organization. Prior to joining Time Warner Cable, Ms. Wharton served as vice president and general manager for the Cox West Texas region. During her eight-year tenure with Cox, she saw the West Texas organization triple in size through the successful acquisition of TCA Partners. Her region was awarded one of the companies’ most prestigious Vision Awards for hosting an ethical leadership conference that featured former President George H. W. Bush, Stephen Covey, and a host of nationally known CEOs.
Before entering the telecommunications industry, Ms. Wharton spent twenty years with Texas Instruments, Inc. She progressed rapidly through the human resources ranks, and at the age of 37, she became the second woman in TI’s history to be named vice president. She served TI as a vice president in human resources, where she at one time had worldwide responsibility for policy development throughout the corporation. Additionally, she was the first person to manage the newly created diversity effort in the early 1990s. In a few short years, Texas Instruments won the nationally acclaimed Catalyst award.
Ms. Wharton has also been extremely active in civic and charitable organizations throughout her career. From serving on the advisory board of one of the largest private banks in Texas, to serving on the advisory board of the Rawls Business College at Texas Tech University, to being on the board of the nationally acclaimed Lubbock Reese Redevelopment Authority effort (the decommissioning and renovation of an air rorce base), her experience is broad and deep. She also served as the president of the Texas Cable Association.
Currently, she is a business consultant who consults, speaks, and coaches.
Connie is a graduate of Southern Methodist University. She is also a graduate of the Women in Cable Telecommunications Betsy Magness Leadership Institute, as well as the Harvard Business School CTAM program. Connie and her husband Larry, an attorney, reside in Lubbock, Texas. They have two daughters. Read more about Connie on her website: http://www.conniewharton.com/.
Tuesday, November 13
Noon – 1 p.m.
Lubbock Women’s Club | 2020 Broadway Avenue
Plated Lunch Cost – $14 for member, $16 for nonmembers
RSVP to Shelley Smith at shelley.smith@pricegroupinc.com by noon Friday, November 9.