Overview

Gender

female

Investor Type

Angel

Investor Stage

Seed

Geraldine Laybourne joined Symantec's board of directors in January 2008. She became Chairman of the Board of Katapult (formerly known as Kandu), a kids’ technology company, in May 2013. Laybourne founded Oxygen Media and served as its chairman and chief executive officer until November 2007 when the network was acquired by NBC Universal. Oxygen was launched in 2000 to fill a void in the television landscape – creating a network targeted to younger women. Laybourne led the company to be a strong advocate for women, through programs like The Mentor's Walk.

Prior to starting Oxygen, Laybourne spent 16 years at Nickelodeon. Under her leadership, Nickelodeon became the top-rated 24-hour cable service and won several notable honors, including Emmy®, Peabody®, CableACE® and Parent’s Choice® awards. From 1996-1998, Laybourne was president of Disney/ABC Cable Networks where she was responsible for overseeing cable programming for the Walt Disney Company and ABC.

Laybourne is also on the board of directors of Betaworks and Alloy, Inc., serves on the Board of Trustees of Vassar College and serves as Global Ambassador for Vital Voices. Laybourne also sat on a number of industry boards and advisory committees, including The National Cable Television Association, The National Council for Families and Television, New York Women in Film & Television (Advisory Board), Cable Positive (Honorary Chair) and the Council of National Advisors of Springboard Enterprises.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history from Vassar College and a Master of Science degree in elementary education from the University of Pennsylvania. A native of Martinsville, New Jersey, she and her husband Kit have two children and four grandchildren.