Tessie Topol

Change Agent, Connector

Tessie Topol is the Senior Director of Strategic Philanthropy & Community Affairs at Time Warner Cable (TWC). Tessie joined TWC in April 2008 with a mandate to reimagine the company's philanthropic strategy. The result is Connect a Million Minds (CAMM), a five-year, $100 million cash and in-kind initiative to increase education and career opportunities for youth in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). CAMM launched in November 2009 at a White House event with President Obama, in conjunction with the administration's Educate to Innovate campaign, where he recognized TWC's leadership in the STEM education space. In 2010, the initiative was voted “Community Relations Program of the Year” by PR News, CableFax, and the Association of Cable Communicators, and was named an official Webbie Award Honoree for connectamillionminds.com. Prior to joining TWC, Tessie was Director of Strategic Partnerships & Public Affairs at MTV where she helped lead the company's effort to develop MTV's first-ever online activist community for youth, think.mtv.com, which empowers young people with powerful tools to change their lives, communities and world for the better. Before MTV, Tessie served as Director of Development at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, where she launched the 125 year-old organization's first-ever Young Leadership division, now a multi-chapter program with thousands of volunteers. Tessie was also a Junior Fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Tessie holds a MIA from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, a Certificate from the Harriman Institute of Russian, Eurasian and Eastern European Studies at Columbia, and a degree in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.