{"id":12162,"date":"2017-03-08T09:00:07","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T14:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/?p=12162"},"modified":"2019-06-18T21:45:39","modified_gmt":"2019-06-19T01:45:39","slug":"paving-path-women-samsung","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/paving-the-path-for-women-at-samsung-alanna-cotton\/","title":{"rendered":"Paving the Path for Women at Samsung"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alanna<\/a>

Alanna Cotton, vice president and general manager for the mobile computing division of Samsung Electronics America, shown center stage at the International Consumer Electronics Show is taking the lead in helping increase the representation and retention of women at Samsung.<\/p><\/div>\n

Standing at 5 feet 3 inches, it isn\u2019t necessarily her physicality that commands the attention of international audiences when she takes center stage for events around the world.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s her intelligence and character that shines through to captivate.<\/p>\n

Combine that with a dash of Southern warmth and you begin to understand why Alanna Cotton<\/strong><\/a>, vice president and general manager for the mobile computing division of Samsung Electronics America, has come to be recognized as one of the most powerful women in consumer technology<\/a> today.<\/p>\n

Yes, she has all the trimmings of a high-powered executive \u2013 degrees from elite universities, a string of impressive career achievements, power suits \u2013 but it\u2019s her dedication to helping others that makes Alanna all the more impressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe the change you wish to see in the world,\u201d she says. \u201cFor me, that means encouraging more young women and minorities to seek STEM degrees, and opening up the hiring pipeline to more diverse candidates. The more diversity in tech, the more innovation we\u2019ll see\u2014and the bigger impact we\u2019ll have on society as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up as the youngest of four in a small Mississippi town, Alanna always excelled in math and science. So much so that when she was 16, she left home to attend The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, the state\u2019s only public, residential high school specifically designed to meet the needs of its most academically gifted and talented students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very lucky to have that opportunity,\u201d she says of her experience there. \u201cI had excellent teachers, many of whom were former college professors, from whom I learned to really stretch myself academically.\u201d<\/p>\n

From there she went on to earn her undergraduate degree in environmental engineering from Northwestern, built her career with Procter & Gamble, then earned an MBA from Stanford University before growing her career for a decade at Pepsi.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith my background in science and technology, it really felt like coming home,\u201d she says of her joining Samsung in 2014 after a career in consumer packaged goods.<\/p>\n

And even in the incredibly fast-paced environment of Samsung \u2013 she\u2019s overseen the launch of more than 25 products in two years \u2013 Alanna makes giving back a priority. Continuing her notable efforts to help women and minorities throughout her career, Alanna is now serving as an executive sponsor of Samsung\u2019s newest initiative to increase the representation and retention of women.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am extremely excited about this,\u201d Alanna says. \u201cIn today’s competitive market, a diverse and inclusive work environment is key to building long-term business success. And this is a great next step for Samsung in this journey.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Standing at 5 feet 3 inches, it isn\u2019t necessarily her physicality that commands the attention of international audiences when she takes center stage for events around the world. It\u2019s her intelligence and character that shines through to captivate. Combine that with a dash of Southern warmth and you begin to understand why Alanna Cotton, vice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":12167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17552,29726,29718],"tags":[886,15521],"blue-badge":[],"class_list":["post-12162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-product-computing-computers-tablets","category-product-computing","category-product","tag-faces-of-samsung","tag-mobile-computing"],"acf":{"turn_off_retargeting":false},"fimg_mobile_url":"https:\/\/img.us.news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/14162024\/31960510072_c1b4ee6a7a_o.jpg","fimg_url":"https:\/\/img.us.news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/14162024\/31960510072_c1b4ee6a7a_o.jpg","primary_category":{"term_id":17552,"name":"Computers & Tablets","slug":"product-computing-computers-tablets","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":17552,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":29726,"count":87,"filter":"raw","term_link":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/category\/product\/product-computing\/product-computing-computers-tablets\/","term_path":"product\/product-computing\/product-computing-computers-tablets"},"badge":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12162"},{"taxonomy":"blue-badge","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blue-badge?post=12162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}