Jennifer Hightower

Jennifer Hightower is executive vice president and chief legal officer at Cox Enterprises, a private, family-owned company based in Atlanta, Georgia, with $23 billion in annual revenues. In her role, Hightower leads Cox’s legal function and serves as corporate secretary supporting the company’s board of directors. She is also the lead legal advisor on policy and strategic initiatives related to Cox’s lines of business. 

Prior to her time with Cox Enterprises, Hightower was the senior vice president and general counsel of law and policy for Cox Communications, where she oversaw Cox’s compliance, legal operations, regulatory and corporate government affairs. She joined Cox in 1997 as senior counsel and later was promoted to assistant general counsel, where she oversaw all transactional and operational legal support.  

Before joining Cox, she served in various legal positions at BellSouth Corporation, RaceTrac, Inc. and Drew, Eckl & Farnham.  

Hightower is the recipient of the Women in Cable and Telecommunications (WICT) Wonder Woman Award, Woman to Watch Award and Mentor of the Year Award, and she has been recognized as one of the most Influential Women in Cable and as a CableFax Top Lawyer multiple years in a row. Hightower has also been honored as the Top General Counsel of Large Departments by the American Corporate Counsel Association Chapter of Georgia, a Rising Georgia SuperStar Attorney and a “Georgia Super Lawyer.” 

Hightower is a member of the Emory Board of Visitors, the Emory Law School Advisory Board and the Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta. She is the past chair of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation and past board member for YMCA Greater Atlanta and Covenant House of Georgia.   

She holds a law degree from the Emory University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University. Hightower is also a graduate of the Stanford Executive Management Program and a graduate of the 2012 Leadership Atlanta class.