SESAC Elevates Ellen Bligh Truley, Cathy Grizzell To SVP Roles

SESAC has announced the promotions of Ellen Bligh Truley to Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations, and Cathy Grizzell to Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Administration. Effective immediately, the promotions were announced Thursday (March 3) by John Josephson, Chairman and CEO of SESAC.

Truley will continue to oversee all marketing, advertising, sponsorships, publicity, event production and digital strategy for the music rights organization, as well as for Harry Fox Agency, Rumblefish and SESAC. In her expanded role, Truley will be instrumental in the formulation of SESAC’s future marketing and creative strategies as they expand across SESAC’s combined portfolio of businesses. Truley will work closely with the senior management teams in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco, London, and Portland, Oregon, as well as SESAC headquarters in Nashville. She reports directly to Josephson.

As Senior Vice President, Grizzell’s responsibilities will expand across SESAC’s combined portfolio of businesses of SESAC Performing Rights, the Harry Fox Agency and Rumblefish. She will guide the overall administration, coordination, evaluation and operation of Human Resources, Benefits Administration and Facilities Management/Operations. Grizzell has played a key role in the strategic initiative to expand SESAC’s operations into its new state-of-the-art facility on Music Row, where she will continue to manage expanded facilities operations. She reports directly to Kelli Turner, SESAC’s Executive Vice President, Operations, Corporate Development, and Chief Financial Officer.

“I am pleased to announce these richly deserved promotions,” Josephson said. “Cathy and Ellen are proven leaders who have played key roles in SESAC’s transformation through the years and been instrumental to developing and executing tactics that have led to SESAC becoming the dynamic and successful Music Rights Organization it is today.”

Formerly Vice President, Corporate Relations, Truley is a 20-year veteran of SESAC, joining the company in 1996 as Advertising/Promotion Manager before being elevated to Senior Director, Corporate Relations and, then, Associate Vice President in 2008. Truley is the head communication liaison, spearheading the development and execution of all SESAC’s branding, which has led to partnerships with Delta Air Lines, Luxury Resorts & Hotels, Netflix, Maker’s Mark, Icelandic Glacial Water, Red Bull and ReverbNation. A Nashville native, Truley holds a B.A. degree from Middle Tennessee State University in Advertising/Journalism and is a member of the Recording Academy, Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music. She has been selected as one of Billboard’s Women In Music and also Nashville Business Journal’s Women of Music City for two consecutive years.

Grizzell joined SESAC in 1981 in the General Licensing department in New York. She then moved into Licensing Administration, Broadcast Licensing and Collections and was instrumental in the computerization of the Licensing and Collection systems which improved licensee retention and income. In 1987, she played a key role in moving General Licensing and Licensing Administration to Nashville and focused on building those departments and continued to computerize and streamline processes. In the mid-1990s, Grizzell transferred to the Corporate side of the company, where she focused on employee relations and benefits, ultimately resulting in the development of the Human Resources department. Grizzell was promoted to Vice President, Human Resources, in 2006. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the Middle Tennessee Society of Human Resource Management (MT-SHRM), HR Leadership, the Recording Academy and the Country Music Association.