INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
International Women’s Day By Melissa Cogavin I’m five years into this industry and it seems like smart, accomplished, impressive women are much more visible than they when I started. To celebrate International Women’s Day I usually interview women whose achievements set them apart and whose vision is worth amplifying. Three of the four I have interviewed are from North America, which wasn’t by design but rather illustrates the global aspect and collegiate nature of our very friendly business. However, editing this down and squeezing them into one issue doesn’t do any of their stories justice, and you will miss a lot, so you’re going to get this spread across two issues. So for this one, I give you Zenita Henderson and Laura Baskeyfield.
Thank you, ladies, for your time – it was a privilege talking to you.
and connectivity providers deploying BEAD-funded networks. Her experience spans customer service to global marketing and revenue leadership. A committed advocate for STEM and inclusion, she serves on multiple industry and nonprofit boards. A Cable TV Pioneer and 2025 Cable Hall of Fame inductee, Zenita is widely recognised for influential, award- winning leadership.
right? I had a great time. And then I went to a company at that time wasn’t diverse, but I had a great time. For me, it was extra special that everybody was just so kind, very team oriented. When they were coming up with all their innovation, everybody from every team got involved,
I was surprised I got involved too. Everybody had to be represented.
Years later, when I got my Pioneer Award, I said to my boss George, how did I go from nursing to this? And he said, well, you were taking care of people. You just started taking care of people in a different way.” You stayed at one company for nearly three decades. What kept you there? I was there for 28 years — through Jerrold, General Instrument and Motorola. That kind of longevity isn’t common anymore. What kept me there was growth. I didn’t just stay in one box. I moved from customer service into marketing, into community relations, into cross-functional teams. I was involved in international system builds. I worked with sales teams to help operators drive subscriber growth when cable modems and HD were transforming the market. It was fast paced!
What first drew you into broadband? I fell into this industry by accident. I was actually studying nursing. I had a summer break and took a job at
Zenita Henderson Speak Up - and Get Outside Your Four Walls Zenita Henderson is a strategic marketing and business development executive with more than 30 years in the cable and broadband industry. She has held leadership roles at Jerrold/General Instrument, Motorola, ARRIS (now CommScope), SCTE, a subsidiary of CableLabs, SEGRA (a Cox company) and Point Broadband, and now consults with US vendors
Toner Cable in Horsham, Pennsylvania, where I grew up. Then in 1988 I got an opportunity in customer service at Jerrold Communications, part of General Instrument. What kept me there wasn’t the technology at first — it was the culture. The people were welcoming, collaborative and incredibly team oriented. Everyone was working toward the same goal: get the product to market, support the customer, make it work. I’m an African American woman, and I grew up in in an area of Pennsylvania that wasn’t very diverse, but it didn’t matter,
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MARCH 2026 Volume 48 No.1
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