SCTE Foundation Raises $2.2M For ACE Campaign

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) Foundation said it surpassed the $2.2 million mark in money raised to advance the capabilities of the cable telecommunications engineering workforce as part of the Foundation’s Advancing Cable Excellence (ACE) campaign.

At a meeting of the SCTE Foundation Board at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo, the foundation recognized more than a dozen new donors, including 10 making Platinum-level contributions of $100,000 each. The new Platinum contributors are: Accenture; Alcatel-Lucent; Bright House Networks; Charter Communications; Corning Inc.; Dycom Industries; Netcracker Technology; Pace; PPC Broadband Inc. and Samsung Electronics America.

The foundation received new Gold pledges from Harmonic and Suddenlink Communications, a Silver pledge from Times Fiber Communications and Bronze commitments from Aurora Networks, the Broadcom Foundation, CSG, Evolution Digital, Intel and TVC Communications.

The following individuals were named to the SCTE Foundation Board of Directors: Tim Baxter (Samsung Electronics Americas); Nomi Bergman (Bright House Networks); Mike Calabrese (Alcatel-Lucent); Joe Cozzolino (Cisco); Gary Ervin (Ervin Construction/Dycom); Andrew Feinberg (Netcracker); John Igel (Corning); Dave Jackson (PPC Broadband); John Phillips (Accenture); Mike Pulli (Pace America) and Chris Whitaker (Time Warner Cable).

Existing foundation board members are: Tony Werner (Comcast Cable); Jim Hughes (CommScope); Tom Gorman (opXL); Julian Brodsky (Comcast); John Civiletto (Cox Communications); Mark Dzuban (SCTE); Marwan Fawaz (Sarepta Advisors); Bob Gold (Bob Gold & Associates); Keith Hayes (Charter Communications); Mike LaJoie (Time Warner Cable); Dr. Vish Nandlall (Ericsson North America); Bill Warga (Liberty Global); Ken Wright (Wright Solutions); and Drew Zogby (Alpha Technologies).

“The overwhelming response to our ACE campaign shows the deep commitment our industry has to advance the career goals of the cable workforce,” Jim Hughes, senior vice president of worldwide broadband sales for CommScope, vice president of the SCTE Foundation Board of Directors and Fundraising Committee chair for the SCTE Foundation, said in a release. “I look forward to working with the SCTE Foundation Board to develop programs that will support the educational goals of cable engineering and operations professionals and increase the skills and the knowledge base of the industry.”

Established in 2005, the SCTE Foundation is intended to increase the technical, business and leadership skills of the telecommunications engineering workforce, attract and recruit women and minorities into engineering careers, and position the telecommunications industry as a desirable career opportunity for aspiring young people in the early stages of their careers.

The Advancing Cable Excellence campaign offers four levels of corporate involvement -- Platinum ($100,000), Gold ($50,000), Silver ($25,000) and Bronze ($10,000) -- as well as a variety of giving opportunities for individuals and SCTE chapters. Funds generated through the campaign will be used to facilitate a variety of educational opportunities, including the creation and availability of online courses and tuition assistance for approved higher education experiences.