Annie Howell has returned to Crown Media Family Networks and will serve as its chief communications officer. Crown Media president and CEO Wonya Lucas announced Howell’s appointment Thursday. Howell served as Crown Media’s EVP Corporate Communications and Media Relations from 2010-2014.
“As a well-established and respected communications executive, Annie embodies the combination of creativity, keen insight and humor,”Lucas said. “Having previously worked at Crown Media, she also brings to the table an intimate understanding of the Hallmark brand, making her uniquely qualified to lead the corporate communications, program publicity, and social media teams. It is my great pleasure to welcome Annie as a key member of my executive team and I look forward to collaborating with her as we embark on an exciting new chapter in Crown Media’s history.”
Howell’s responsibilities will include overseeing the implementation and execution of all of Crown Media’s communications and social media strategies, from corporate communications to events and government relations. She will also serve as the company’s primary spokesperson.
Howell re-joins Crown Media after founding communications company The Punch Point Group, LLC. Punch Point, for which Howell serves as a non-operative partner, specializes in written and verbal communications for corporations, media companies, universities and more.
An experienced executive, Howell previouly spend 11 years at Discovery, where she served as SVP Communications & Public Sffairs and SVP Communications and department head of Discovery’s U.S. Networks division. At Discovery, she launched Planet Green and TreeHugger.com, helmed all communications, events and publicity, and oversaw all business communications.
Howell, also a founding member of Powell Tate, was named one of the “Most Powerful Women in Cable” in 2012 and 2013 by CableFax and was that group’s PR Person of the year in 2009. In 2006 she received the Women in Cable Telecommunications Touchstones of Leadership Communicator Award.
She currently serves on the board of the Alliance for Women in Media, is a member of The National Press Club and Washington Women in Communications.