Wally Bakare
Vice President/General Manager, Operations | Time Warner Cable – Mid Ohio Division
Wally Bakare is currently responsible for the efficient and effective operational performance of multiple cable television systems in Northwest, Central and Southeast Ohio. With leadership responsibility for about 900 employees, he oversees the Mid Ohio division’s field operations which cover such functional areas as installation and repair, plant/network maintenance, operations support/dispatch, field contract management, payment and retail centers, and the division network operations center. His team is responsible for ensuring that customers are provided world class service experience and the best quality and reliable video, high speed data and home phone service. He joined the Mid Ohio Division and moved to Columbus in April 2008.
Wally started his career as an accounting file clerk at Nextel Communications and was later promoted to an Accounting Supervisor before he joined the cable industry in 1999 as a Business Manager with Jones Cable Telephony unit in Northern Virginia. Subsequently he became the Director of Business Operations and Sr. Director of Advanced Services for Comcast Cable in the Mid Atlantic Division where he was involved in series of post acquisition integration and management in markets such as Washington DC Metropolitan area, South Florida, Richmond, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Dallas. In 1996, he left Comcast Cable for Time Warner Cable in Los Angeles where he successfully launched and managed the company’s Digital Phone and other Voice Services in over 4 million homes. Under his leadership, the Los Angeles region saw Digital Phone subscriber and revenue growth of over 300 percent within 20 months
Wally emigrated from Nigeria to the United States in 1995. He was named one of the 2007 Top 50 under 50 Corporate Executives on the Move by Diversity MBA Magazine. In 2008 and 2009 he was named one of the Most Influential Minorities in Cable by Cablefax Magazine. In April 2009, he received a Luminary Award for emerging leaders from the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC). Most recently, Wally is a recipient of The Columbus Business First class of 2010 Forty under 40 award.
Wally served on the Time Warner Cable National Diversity Council. He was a mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters in Baltimore and Los Angeles. He was a 2007/08 Board member of the Los Angeles Urban League Young Professionals and served as a Board Associate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles. He is currently a Board Vice President of Starr Commonwealth Hannah Neil Center for Children in Columbus.
Wally is in the 2010 class of CTAM-U at the Harvard Business School. He is a 2009 graduate of NAMIC ELDP at UCLA Anderson School of Management. He is also a 2009 Fellow of the African American Leadership Academy in Columbus Oh. He holds a B.Sc. in Political Science, Masters in International Law and Diplomacy from Nigeria, and Masters in Telecommunications Management from the University of Maryland University College.