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Career Advice: Sharon Franklin – Embracing Lifelong Learning to Grow in the Workplace

In this week’s installment of our Career Advice video series, Linda Bell, Head of Content at Fair360, interviewed Sharon Franklin, Director, Inclusion, Development & Culture at Cox Communications (No. 18 on the Fair360 2023 Top 50 Companies for Diversity list). Franklin shared the importance of life-long learning, the role of mentorship and sponsorship in her career and what employees must do to ensure their voices are heard in the workplace.

2024 Top 50 Companies

Cox Communications

Rank 10

Cox Communications moved into the Top 10 in 2024. The company launched a new inclusion, diversity and equity (ID&E) council structure to enable closer alignment and consistency across its regional councils.

Mark Greatrex
President

“Diversity and inclusion have always been an integral part of our company’s mission and values. We thrive on what makes us unique, and we are all stronger when we bring together different perspectives to drive innovation and results. By championing diversity and inclusion from the top down, our teams function as agents of change in the communities we serve, striving to help people live more prosperous lives through better access to technology, education, job skills, social and environmental equity.”

Kia Painter
EVP and Chief People Officer

“I believe in being your authentic self at work, fostering an environment where every voice is valued and where our uniqueness is celebrated. It makes us stronger for our customers and our communities.”

From the Company

Cox Communications is a family-owned company committed to creating more meaningful moments of human connection through technology. Cox has a longstanding relationship with Fair360, having participated in the benchmarking process for over 15 years. Our commitment to inclusion and diversity was solidified nearly 50 years ago, and we’ve seen firsthand that a diverse workforce leads to increased creativity and innovation, closer customer and supplier relationships and attraction and retention of the best talent.

Some of our key successes include:

  • Launched a new ID&E council structure to enable closer alignment and consistency across our regional councils.
  • Integrated all Cox companies’ ID&E initiatives into our parent company Cox Enterprises’ Center for Inclusion.
  • Increased our communication and awareness of ID&E topics with the launch of a new intranet site.
  • Launched the Inclusion Connection Hub, which provides all employees with ID&E resources to build shared language and common understanding of ID&E principles.
  • Aligned ID&E council structure, goals and objectives around our enterprise-wide ID&E strategy, which includes Fostering Inclusion, Promoting Talent Equity, Delivering Positive Impact and Fueling Innovative Solutions
  • Expanded our self-identification campaign with a resulting large increase in participation.
  • Continued to act on employee feedback received through all-employee surveys.

Top 50 Ranking History

Specialty Lists

YearRank
Top Companies for Executive Fairness Councils20243
Top Companies for Black Executives20247
Top Companies for Native American/Pacific Islander (NAPI) Executives202414

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