Kia Painter

Kia Painter is executive vice president and chief people officer for Cox Communications. She leads Cox’s public affairs and corporate communications, while developing and executing talent strategies that align with Cox’s operating principles. She navigates the challenges of driving continuous growth in our rapidly evolving business landscape.

Prior to this role, Kia served as senior vice president, HR business partnerships, where she was responsible for leading HR business consulting and service delivery functions for Cox Communications.

Painter joined Cox in 1998 as a part time HR assistant in Cox Hampton Roads after completing undergraduate studies. During her 26 years with the company, she has risen through the ranks and led people functions throughout Cox regions and markets in the Southeast notably in Virginia, Florida and Louisiana. In 2015, she moved to Atlanta to establish Cox Communication’s employee experience, employee engagement, and organization design practices for the company.

She is the recipient of various industry awards including:

• 2024 CableFax Diversity & Pride List Award honoree
• 2023 CableFax Most Powerful Women
• 2023 CableFax Diversity List
• 2023 WICT SE Inspiration Woman of the Year
• 2023 WICT SoCal Leadership, Education and Advocacy

• 2022 Mae Douglas Leadership Award
• 2022 NAMIC Next Generation Leader Award
• 2021 Horizon Woman to Watch Award, The WICT Network Southeast

Kia also serves on several industry and academic boards, including:

• President, C2HR
• Director-at-Large, The WICT Network
• Member, The Emma Bowen Foundation
• Member, Clark Atlanta Consort Institute

Kia holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from James Madison University. She also holds a master's degree in human and organization development from The George Washington University and an MBA from Tulane University.

When she is not here at Cox looking for ways to create career opportunities and experiences for our employees, she spends her time reading and looking for new things to learn.

She is a native of Norfolk, Virginia, and currently resides in Powder Springs, Georgia.