(LAKE WORTH, Fla. – Jan. 9, 2020) Paula Williams Madison, a former NBCUniversal executive who currently is chairman and CEO of Madison Media Management LLC and founding partner with The Group LLC, will be the keynote speaker at Palm Beach State College’s 21st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration.
The celebration will be held at 11 a.m. Jan. 16 in the Duncan Theatre on the Lake Worth campus. It is free and open to the public, but attendees are asked to RSVP at www.palmbeachstate.edu/MLK. The event also will be livestreamed on PBSC’s other four campuses to allow more individuals to participate.
During the event, the College will recognize the recipients of its 2020 Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Awards, who were chosen after a nomination process for their service and initiatives to improve the lives of individuals in Palm Beach County.
The 2020 honorees are:
- Denise Cotman Albritton (Alumni), president and CFO of Business One LLC, a charter bus company established in 2010 in Palm Beach County, who has given back to the community through her leadership, sponsorship and service.
- Rocio Montero-Mask (Student), former Lake Worth campus Student Government Association president, who received her Associate in Arts degree from PBSC in fall 2019. She has volunteered her time leading an arts and crafts group for special needs adults through ARC Palm Beach County and has donated time to other causes and groups.
- Dr. Sankaranarayana Chandramohan (known as Dr. Chandra) (Faculty/Staff), professor of Anatomy and Physiology and a leading proponent of textbook and college affordability, who created STEM outreach programs for the community.
- Frank Hayden (Individual), director of the West Palm Beach Office of Equal Opportunity, who has spent his entire professional career creating opportunities for people who sought an equal chance to compete in business.
- Youth Speak Out International (Organization), a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving children and youth a voice through collaborative media production.
In 2011, Madison retired from NBCUniversal where she was president and general manager of NBC4 Los Angeles. She was also Los Angeles Regional GM for NBCU’s Telemundo TV stations and vice president and news director of NBC4 New York. Under her watch, WNBC4 Los Angeles earned numerous Emmy, Golden Mike and Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards. Her career as a writer and journalist also led to a 1996 Peabody Award for NBC4 New York’s investigation, “A License to Kill.”
Madison is the granddaughter of a Hakka Chinese man who emigrated as a teen from Lowe Swee Hap in Shenzhen, China to Kingston, Jamaica. He returned to China in 1933 with most of his family. His life and her journey to reconnect with family are the subject of her documentary, “Finding Samuel Lowe: From Harlem to China,” and memoir, “Finding Samuel Lowe: China, Jamaica, Harlem.”
For more information about the event, honorees and the speaker, visit www.palmbeachstate.edu/MLK.
Serving 49,000 students annually, Palm Beach State College is the largest institution of higher education in Palm Beach County, providing bachelor’s degrees, associate degrees, professional certificates, career training and lifelong learning. Established in 1933 as Florida’s first public community college, Palm Beach State offers more than 130 programs of study at locations in Lake Worth, Boca Raton, Palm Beach Gardens, Belle Glade and Loxahatchee Groves.
