Wonya Lucas

Television executive Wonya Lucas was born on April 17, 1961, to Rubye and Bill Lucas in Jacksonville, Florida. Lucas graduated from Northside High School in Atlanta, Georgia in 1979. She received her B.S. degree in industrial and systems engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta in 1983 and went on to earn her M.B.A. in finance and marketing in 1990 from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

After graduating from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Lucas was hired by Westinghouse Electric, where she also worked as a product engineer and later as a negotiations and sales engineer. In 1990, she served at The Clorox Company as a brand assistant. The following year, she went on to work as a brand manager for The Coca Cola Company, where she remained until 1994 when she was hired at Turner Broadcasting. Lucas served in various roles at Turner Broadcasting including Vice President of Entertainment Marketing, Vice President of Business Operations and Network Development for Turner Entertainment, and Senior Vice President of Strategic Marketing for cnn.com, CNN radio, and CNN Networks Worldwide. Lucas left Turner Broadcasting and joined The Weather Channel Networks in 2002 as Executive Vice President and General Manager. Then, in 2008, Lucas joined Discovery Communications, where she served as the Chief Global Marketing Officer, Chief Operating Officer for the Discovery and Science channels, and Executive Vice President. In 2011, Lucas became the President and CEO of TV One, making her the second African American woman to be President and CEO of a cable television company. Then, in 2015, Lucas worked as President and CEO of Public Broadcasting Atlanta before being hired as the President and CEO of Hallmark Media in 2020. At Hallmark Media, Lucas oversaw numerous subsidiary entertainment brands including the Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Drama, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, Hallmark Movies Now, and Hallmark Publishing. She left Hallmark Media in 2023.

Lucas serves on the boards of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, the Atlanta Braves Holding Company, The Comcast Communications, the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta, the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, the Georgia Tech Foundation, Inspire Brands, and the Sundance Institute’s Board of Trustees. Lucas served previously on the boards of EW Scripps, Girl Scouts of America, Hallmark Media, J.C. Penney, NPR, and the Peabody Board of Jurors.

Throughout her career, Lucas received numerous awards and honors including the Power of Play Award from the Children’s Museum of Atlanta in 2022, the Wonder Woman of New York 2022 Award from the Multichannel News Wonder Woman Awards, an induction into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 2023, an induction into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2023, and an honorary doctorate from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia in 2023.

Lucas has two children, Alexis and Sydney Kirton, with her ex-husband, Bruce Kirton.
Lucas resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

Wonya Lucas was interviewed by The HistoryMakers June 19, 2024.