Cris Abrego, the TV executive who was recently named Banijay’s Chairman of the Americas and president and CEO of Endemol Shine Holdings, has been elected chair of the Television Academy Foundation. He becomes the first Latino to hold the office; his two-year term will begin January 1 and run through December 31, 2022.
Other officers elected to serve two-year terms at the TV Academy’s charitable arm include Vice Chair Jonathan Murray, Bunim/Murray Productions co-founder; Treasurer Deborah Bradley, president of Bungalo Homes, Amherst; and Secretary Billie Greer, a public policy advisor and consultant.
Abrego succeeds Madeline Di Nonno, the CEO of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media who served two consecutive terms. She will remain on the Foundation’s board of directors, and with Thomas Sarnoff will continue to serve on the foundation’s Executive Committee as Chair Emeritus and Founding Chair Emeritus, respectively.
“I am thrilled and honored to serve as Foundation chair and look forward to working with the board and staff as we build a more inclusive entertainment business,” Abrego said Wednesday. “During these unprecedented times, we are expanding our reach to serve an even greater number of diverse students from across the country, advancing the Foundation’s goals of helping to shape the careers of the next generation of television professionals.”
Abrego’s oversight includes Endemol Shine North America, Bunim/Murray Productions, Authentic Entertainment, Truly Original, 51 Minds Entertainment, Stephen David Entertainment and Yellow Bird U.S. In Latin America, Abrego also oversees Endemol Shine Latino, the company’s Spanish- and Portuguese-language sales and development division.
