Cox Media Group names Ashley Peterson senior director of human resources

Ashley Peterson

Ashley Peterson is Cox Media Group's new senior director of human resources at the company's headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. In this role, Peterson supports all of CMG's corporate client areas, in addition to Rare and CMG's Washington, D.C., News Bureau. 

Peterson's professional expertise includes organizational performance and succession, leadership development, recruitment and retention, large-scale change management, employee relations, driving creative output within an organization, and executive-level business partnerships.

"Ashley's extensive background is comprised of full portfolio HR support, including HR centers of excellence (COE) and Business Partner teams," said CMG's Chief Human Resources Officer Karen Bennett. "She is a proven leader with the ability to influence executives to achieve strategic business objectives through the development and execution of a sound HR strategy. This, coupled with her experience in the media industry, makes her the perfect addition to our HR executive team and business partner to our corporate departments." 

Previously, Peterson was group vice president, human resources management for Discovery Communications. As group vice president, Peterson was responsible for providing strategic human resources executive leadership and expertise to many of Discovery's networks and corporate divisions. She oversaw numerous high-profile organizational changes, hired and secured contracts for top industry talent, and became a trusted advisor to key clients, serving on the senior management teams for both Discovery Channel and TLC. Most recently, Peterson served in international HR leadership roles based in London, U.K. and Milan, Italy. 

"Having grown up in Atlanta, I have long admired Cox Media Group's great reputation of being employer of choice, and I am thrilled to join this people-focused organization," said Peterson. "I look forward to being part of CMG's journey as it leads the media industry's transformation and wins with its people." 

Peterson's career also includes EzGov, an e-government technology company, where she served in various HR roles in Atlanta, the Netherlands and Washington, D.C. She began in EzGov's recruitment group, establishing and building a successful college recruiting program, before moving into a generalist role focused on compensation management, employee relations, benefits administration and performance management. She also spent several months in EzGov's Amsterdam office as acting HR manager before relocating to Washington, D.C. to staff and serve as HR lead for the company's newly-established Federal practice. 

Peterson holds a BA in psychology from Washington and Lee University. She supports a number of charitable causes, including the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and The Roger Tory Peterson Institutes of Natural History.