Frank A. Bennack, Jr.
Chief Executive Officer of Hearst Corporation 

Hearst Corporation is one of the world’s largest media conglomerates and owner of well-known brands that include Good Housekeeping; Cosmopolitan; Country Living; O, The Oprah Magazine; Esquire; Marie Claire; Seventeen and SmartMoney.  Frank A. Bennack, Jr. Chief Executive Officer of Hearst Corporation, is the first among an impressive line of C-level speakers to confirm his participation in the Leadership Forums of IESE’s Advanced Management Program in Media and Entertainment (Media AMP), which starts in January 2011.  Leadership Forums feature one-on-one conversations with major industry “movers and shakers” and executives who are changing the face of the business. 

Hearst Corporation is one of the world’s largest media conglomerates and owner of well-known brands that include Good Housekeeping; Cosmopolitan; Country Living; O, The Oprah Magazine; Esquire; Marie Claire; Seventeen andSmartMoney.  In addition to its publishing properties, the company is also engaged in a broad range of broadcasting, cable networking and diversified communications activities.  As CEO of Hearst, Bennack oversees 200 separate businesses with approximately 20,000 employees.  Under his leadership, Hearst Corporation launched with Disney-ABC three leading cable networks – A&E, History and Lifetime – plus its investments in the ESPN family of networks. On his watch, Hearst also launched some of its best-selling magazines and acquired 11 newspapers, including two of the U.S.'s largest.

Leadership Forums are a key element of the Media AMP, an intensive business education program presented by IESE with industry thought leader The Paley Center for Media.  The Media AMP’s Leadership Forums give participants exclusive and unparalleled access to some of the top executives in the media and entertainment industry, enabling them to interact with these top industry leaders in a private, personal setting.  Sessions include both “C-suite” leaders from traditional media companies, as well as innovative entrepreneurs who are helping redefine the new media landscape. The program leverages its New York City and Los Angeles locations to bring important industry players to each Leadership Forum.  

Lauren Zalaznick 
President of NBC Universal Women and Lifestyle Networks

Lauren Zalaznick, President of NBC Universal Women & Lifestyle Entertainment Networks, oversees Bravo Media, Oxygen Media, and iVillage. She also founded and oversees the NBCU portfolio's pro-social initiatives – Green is Universal and the newly established Healthy At NBCU, NBC Universal’s health and wellness program. She was named President, NBC Universal Women and Lifestyle Entertainment Networks in May 2008, when she added iVillage to her portfolio and announced the launch of Women@NBCU, a sales and marketing initiative designed to create custom solutions for advertisers seeking to connect with a highly targeted female demographic. 

Zalaznick is co-chair of GE Capitals’ Peacock Equity and is a member of the NBC Universal Foundation board and chairs the Women@NBCU advisory board. Zalaznick also is a member of New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s MediaNYC2020 and sits on the Brown University Women's Leadership Council and the Brown University Creative Arts Council. In 2009, Time magazine named Zalaznick one of the “The Time 100 World’s Most Influential people,” Vanity Fair named her to their “New Establishment” list, Fortune included her in their “50 Most Powerful Women” issue and she was the subject of a New York Times Magazine cover story in October 2008.

Zalaznick received her B.A. from Brown University -- a double major in English literature and pre-med -- and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.   

Steve Capus
President of NBC News 

Steve Capus is the No. 1 News Division executive at NBC Universal and is responsible for all aspects of America's highest-rated and most-watched network News division, as well as MSNBC and NBC News Channel.  Steve Capus was named President, NBC News in November 2005. He is the No. 1 News Division executive and is responsible for all aspects of America's highest-rated and most-watched network News division, as well as MSNBC and NBC News Channel. Capus is also the arbiter of issues involving ethics, style, standards, safety and other matters that affect the Division's journalistic bearing. He sits on the Board of MSNBC.com, The Weather Channel, The Freedom Forum and Newseum. Capus reports to Jeff Zucker, President and CEO, NBC Universal. 

Capus had served as senior vice president of NBC News since June 2005, and was the executive producer of "NBC Nightly News" since May 2001. In December 2004, when the broadcast made the first anchor change on any network evening newscast in more than two decades – from Tom Brokaw to Brian Williams – Capus oversaw the seamless transition. Under his direction, "NBC Nightly News" remained the highest-rated evening newscast in America. Capus was also the executive producer for much of NBC News' coverage of the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, the war in Iraq, and the "Decision 2002-2004" political coverage. 

Capus has also received numerous awards, including four Emmy Awards, eight Edward R. Murrow Awards, one Alfred I. duPont and six National Headliner Awards. In 2007 he earned the Ida B. Wells Award from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), which is presented annually to a media executive who has demonstrated a commitment to diversifying the nations newsrooms and improving the coverage of people and communities of color. 

From 1997 to May 2001, Capus was the executive producer of MSNBC's signature primetime newscast, "The News with Brian Williams." He was also the executive producer of numerous NBC News breaking reports and MSNBC special broadcasts. Among them were the 2000 presidential primaries and election, the "Summit in Silicon Valley" with Tom Brokaw and the political series "100 Days, 1000 Voices." Before becoming executive producer of "The News," Capus had served as the senior broadcast producer for MSNBC's daytime news coverage since its launch in 1996.

During 1995, Capus was the supervising producer for "Today," and before that, he was the broadcast producer of "NBC News Sunrise" throughout 1994. Capus first joined NBC News in 1993 as the senior producer of "NBC Nightside," the NBC News Channel's overnight news program based in Charlotte, N.C. 

In 1990, at the age of 26, Capus became an executive producer with KYW-TV in Philadelphia. For two years, he was responsible for the overall day-to-day management and coordination of the correspondents, production staff and the on-air production for the station. He joined KYW-TV in 1987 as a writer and producer. Capus also worked at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia in 1986. He began his journalism career in radio and print and worked at several stations and daily newspapers in the Philadelphia area. 

He graduated from Temple University in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism. He has served as a member of Temple’s School of Communications and Theater Board of Visitors since 2008. 

His wife is "Dateline NBC" special segment producer Sophia Faskianos. They have two sons. Capus also has a daughter.

Avner Ronen 
Founder and CEO of Boxee

Named one of Rolling Stone's "Agents of Change" for 2009, Ronen is Founder and CEO of Boxee, the first "social" media center, whose free, open source, downloadable software is changing the way consumers experience media.  Avener Ronen was named one of Rolling Stone's "Agents of Change" for 2009. Prior to boxee Ronen was the Head of Corporate Development and M&A for Comverse, Inc. a leading provider of software and service to Telecom service providers. Ronen was responsible for acquisitions valued at $450M, which were key to the company's evolution from a Voicemail company to a Billing and VAS provider. 

Ronen joined Comverse in 2002 when they acquired Odigo, a company he co-founded in 1998. Odigo was one of the early Instant Messaging services on the web serving over 8M users worldwide, and earned Ronen the 2002 honor of being a member of Crain's 40 under 40. 

Prior to Odigo Ronen served for 4.5 years in the Israeli Defense Force in the special computer unit, MAMRAM.