Michele Wright Joins SMPTE as Director of Business
Development and Outreach
Michele Wright is SMPTE's new Director of Business Development and Outreach
SMPTE, the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, announced the
appointment of
Michele Wright as director of business development and outreach. Wright will lead the
Society's
marketing and sales teams and partner with SMPTE staff and volunteers to guide multiplatform
marketing and outreach to new and diverse members and partners.
"With advanced degrees in both engineering and public policy, and a record of transformational
leadership in diverse roles and environments, Michele comes to this SMPTE role ready to partner with
colleagues in realizing meaningful change and growth for the Society," said SMPTE Executive Director
David Grindle. "She has a unique ability to share and communicate a vision for change, and
then to
foster and guide a practical approach to implementation and administration — all aimed at improving
operations and contributing to organizational growth and scaling. I am so pleased to welcome her to
SMPTE."
A native of Tuskegee, Alabama, Wright is the 2022 USA TODAY Woman of the Year for Arkansas and a
2022-2023 AARP Purpose Prize Fellow. She and her husband, Terry Wright, made history in 2022 as the
first people of colour to be honoured by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) with the
organization's top honour, the Breath of Life Award, and to be named CF Ambassadors. She is the
recipient of the Nations of Women Change Makers 2021 Global Leadership Award and a nominee of the
EveryLife Foundation of Rare Diseases' RareVoice 2021 Award for Diversity Empowerment.
"I am beyond ecstatic to step into my new and adventurous role as SMPTE's director of business
development and outreach," said Wright. "It is an ideal fit in merging my extensive background in
STEM, administration, sales, marketing, and community outreach to help develop and expand SMPTE's
membership growth, business opportunities, and global profile to diverse new dimensions. As such, I
am fully committed and excited to build positive and sustainable relationships with members,
partners, and the industry as a whole."
"I was drawn to this role because it affords me an invaluable opportunity to work for the global
gold standard society of media professionals, technologists, and engineers," continued Wright. "I am
also thrilled to report to a forward-thinking change agent like SMPTE's new executive director,
David Grindle, and to work synergistically with my technically brilliant team. I also look forward
to collaborating with SMPTE's staff, officers, and board of governors, alongside its first newly
elected African American president, Renard T. Jenkins, to build from SMPTE's past and to plan and
enhance our future."
Wright will be based in North Little Rock, Arkansas.