The Exceptional Children’s Foundation (ECF.net) welcomes Royal Kennedy Rodgers and Sujatha Santhanam to its Board of Directors.
Rodgers
Royal Kennedy Rodgers is an award-winning producer, director, and writer with experience in local and network news as well as Public Broadcasting. She began her career as a reporter for NBC television stations in New Orleans, Cleveland and Chicago. As an ABC Network News correspondent, based in Los Angeles, she covered the Western US, Mexico and Canada with assignments which included breaking news, presidential politics and the entertainment industry. After working at the PBS station in Chicago, she set up her own production company, RKR Media, to produce “Hollywood’s Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story.”
Her professional awards include two Emmys, a Golden Mike from the Radio and Television News Directors Association, a Silver “Telly,” a Best Feature Documentary Award from the Los Angeles Press Club, as well as an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Documentary.
She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and is based in Los Angeles.
Santhanam
Sujatha Santhanam is Director of Systems and Technology at Southern California Gas Company.
She is a seasoned technology and digital transformation leader with over 26 years of progressive experience in Information Technology, spanning global consulting and multiple industries.
In her position with Southern California Gas Company, she provides technology leadership, overseeing the customer-facing technology portfolio that supports millions of customers and frontline employees. She leads digital modernization and innovation initiatives, incorporating cloud technologies, automation, data platforms, AI and emerging capabilities to improve customer experience, operational efficiency, and decision-making.
She holds a Master of Science, Computer Science from New Jersey Institute of Technology and certification from USC Marshall Executive Education’s SoCalGas Strategic Leader Development Program.
