2022 C-Suite Awards: Enterprise company | Stephanie Federico, Cox Communications Inc. vice president of public and government affairs
While starting a senior-level position in an unfamiliar industry is often challenging, Stephanie Federico joined Cox Communications Inc. in West Warwick as vice president of public and government affairs only seven weeks before COVID-19 upended the world.
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“I didn’t imagine … that within seven weeks we’d be one of the most essential industries in the world,” Federico said.
Federico regularly attended early morning phone conferences with then-Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s staff to assess the state’s telecommunications needs while still learning the ins and outs of the business.
Federico, who has extensive public sector experience, says Cox’s core mission – its commitment to investing in its employees, and its focus on conservation and diversity, equity and inclusion issues – appealed to her.
Determined to build a collaborative, cohesive team among her government affairs and public affairs staff members and getting to know colleagues across the country, Federico said, “There was a blessing in going virtual; I could set up a [Microsoft] Teams meeting rather than having to travel to different regions.”
Early in her tenure, Federico led a departmental reorganization to put the right people in the right jobs in the markets she oversees – including Rhode Island, part of Connecticut and Cleveland, Ohio – to represent Cox most effectively in those markets.
“We worked incredibly hard to help the team understand the benefits of working collaboratively; the results on both the public affairs and the government affairs sides are so much better,” said Federico, who describes her leadership style as collaborative and engaging. “I set my expectations early and had one-on-one conversations. We’ve had some growing pains … now, I’m incredibly grateful that they bring their hearts and souls to every assignment and then ask, ‘What’s next?’ ”
With 14 people on her team and operating on a hybrid work schedule, Federico also helps manage the company’s outside lobbyists across her markets.
“After making some significant, strategic changes, they are now a very motivated, energized and effective team,” said Ross Nelson, Cox’s senior vice president and Northeast region manager. “She also successfully lobbied for a new hire, a government affairs director.”
With federal COVID-19 relief dollars flowing into the states, Nelson said, “Stephanie and her team have done a fantastic job educating elected officials and government leaders in how to effectively use those funds, specifically in broadband: what’s a smart decision and what’s a risky decision for government.”
Federico was instrumental in obtaining a $120 million commitment from Cox to expand Rhode Island’s broadband infrastructure, Nelson says. Cox will build the network and the government can increase the adoption rate through programs such as Connect2Compete, which offers internet access at $9.95 per month to certain households.
“Stephanie is a true advocate for the company and for the citizens of Rhode Island,” Nelson said. “We’re increasing our gig service – up to 10 gigs for everyone. We’re going to future-proof the state for things we can’t yet do – such as showing a hologram of a teacher. We want to get government to help us with adoption rates while we build the network.”
So what are Federico’s biggest challenges?
On the public affairs side, Federici said, it’s keeping investments relevant to the community needs – especially around supporting [youths] and STEAM [science, technology, engineering, arts and math] education and conservation, as well as ensuring that such investments have the greatest possible impact. On the government affairs side, she said, “it’s spending time and effort to continuously build relationships so that policymakers are educated on how important issues impact Cox and pushing the states to be as business-friendly as possible.”
Federico added, “Given the work we do in the communities to bridge the digital divide, emphasize digital equity and educate legislators to know how to communicate with their constituents on our programs, that’s both very challenging and very rewarding.”
