DeDe Lea is Executive Vice President, Global Public Policy and Government Relations, ViacomCBS. In this role, Lea oversees all government affairs and public policy work for the company globally. She reports to Bob Bakish, President and Chief Executive Officer, ViacomCBS. Lea brings two decades worth of leadership experience and institutional knowledge to ViacomCBS. She previously served as Viacom’s Executive Vice President of Global Government Affairs since 2013. During this time, Lea guided the development and execution of government relations strategy for the company across its brands and businesses, both domestically and internationally. Before that, she led Viacom’s Government Relations team as Executive Vice President, beginning in 2005. Lea joined Viacom in 1997 as the company’s Vice President of Government Relations.

Lea also served as Vice President of Government Affairs for Dallas-based television broadcasting company Belo Corporation. Prior to her career at Viacom, she was Senior Vice President of Government Relations for the National Association of Broadcasters.

In 2019, Lea was named by Black Enterprise Magazine as one of the Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America. She was also recognized as a Top Lawyer by Cablefax magazine in 2018 and was a recipient of the 2014 NCTA Vanguard Award for Government and Community Relations.

Lea obtained a J.D. from Georgetown Law, and graduated cum laude from Howard University with a B.A. in Broadcast Management. She currently sits on the boards of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the MedStar Washington Hospital Center.