Following the resignation of its current CEO, CEDIA has appointed Giles Sutton, senior vice president of Member Success and Sales and Kory Dickerson, senior vice president of Operations as its two interim co-CEOs.
The organisation
made the announcement in October that current president and CEO, Tabatha O’Connor has decided to leave CEDIA in January after 18 years.
“The appointment of interim co-CEOs, elevated from within CEDIA’s senior management team, sends a strong message of continuity, experience, and leadership to the CEDIA community,” said CEDIA’s Board chair, Rob Sutherland.
“Giles and Kory have been part of a staff team that has worked tirelessly in response to the Covid-19 crisis to help members stay informed and connected. Together, they have a depth of operational and financial expertise, industry awareness, and valuable experience in member engagement that can continue to take CEDIA forward until the time a new CEO is appointed.”
The pair will collaborate closely with the CEDIA Board Executive Committee, the CEDIA Board, and global CEDIA staff, operating with clearly defined responsibilities in their new roles. Their focus will remain around CEDIA’s implementation of its strategic plan with its pillars around education, workforce development, and cross-industry collaboration.
Current president and CEO, Tabatha O'Connor will leave the organisation in January after 18 years
The organisation is committed to developing and delivering educational pathways alongside standards, guidelines, and best practices to support the goal of building a professionals and well-trained workforce; creating new talent that will enable the industry to grow; and reaching out beyond the industry to help build awareness of CEDIA members.
O’Connor is working with Sutton and Dickerson in the short-term to ensure a seamless transition. The co-CEOs will remain in place until the global search for a new president and CEO is complete.
In recent years, Sutton has led the drive for increasing member engagement worldwide, built strong partnerships across the industry and delivered value-add initiatives and programmes for CEDIA members.
Having spent 13 years as an integrator before joining CEDIA, Sutton served as chair on the organisation’s EMEA Board, prior to global alignment, and later served as treasurer and vice chair of CEDIA’s Global Board. During this time, he also represented members on the Membership Advisory Council and the Governance and Finance Committees.
Dickerson is currently responsible for the worldwide finance and accounting, human resources, and administrative operations as CEDIA’s senior vice president of Operations, having previously been the senior director of Finance at the organisation.
He worked at healthcare insurance company, Anthem, Inc. for seven years prior to joining CEDIA, where he held the position of portfolio director within the IT organisation before receiving a promotion to director of Corporate Accounting and Analysis where he led the Telecom Sourcing and Accounting and Analysis teams for six years.
Dickerson has also served as controller and chief accounting officer of a financial services organisation and as a manager with the global professional services firm, Deloitte.