Forty Under 40: Whitney Yoder

When tracing the progress of Whitney Yoder’s career, there is a common denominator: connecting people. That work has been underscored during a global pandemic, as millions of people connect to work, school and families from home.

Yoder joined Cox in January 2016. The private telecom based in Atlanta provides cable-based broadband and entertainment options to 59 communities in Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith metro. Her role is to keep the business connected to the community.

Of the pandemic’s impact, Yoder said technology investments are paying off.

“I’m glad I work for a company that continues to make investments to ensure our network is the best it can be,” she said.

Before joining Cox, Yoder was an experienced chamber official, working for three organizations in her native Kansas and Arkansas.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in agribusiness from Oklahoma State University in 2004, Yoder began her career as executive director of the Parsons Chamber of Commerce in Kansas.

Her upwardly mobile career led her to leadership positions at chambers in Fort Smith (2008) and Rogers (2013) before she transitioned to the corporate world.

An area in which Yoder finds tremendous professional satisfaction is managing the company’s employee-funded giving program, Cox Charities. The program launched for the Arkansas market’s roughly 300 employees in 2015. Yoder has helped grow the participation to nearly 90% of employees, with an average annual gift per employee of $345.

Yoder recently took the position of vice president on the executive committee on the Scott Family Amazeum board of directors. In the 12 years since moving to Arkansas, she’s graduated from Leadership Benton County, Leadership Fort Smith and Leadership Arkansas.