Management Team

Byron Williamson | President & CEO
After more than 20 years in publishing, Williamson founded Worthy Media in order to build a robust, Christian multimedia company. In 1989 he joined Word Publishing, a division of Cap Cities/ABC (now Disney). Under his leadership the company grew from $19 million to $82 million, becoming the largest Christian consumer book imprint.

In FY 1993, Word was acquired by Thomas Nelson, and Williamson became president of the Nelson/Word Publishing Group. By FY 1999 the group had grown by 32% to $168 million, making Nelson the 8th-largest consumer book publisher, competing with the likes of Random House and HarperCollins. During that period Williamson also conceived and launched the Tommy Nelson children’s imprint and the Countryman specialty book imprint.

Williamson resigned from Nelson to found Integrity Publishers in 2002, which had achieved a $23 million sales run rate by 2007. Integrity Publishers was sold to Thomas Nelson to help fund the going-private transaction of parent company Integrity Music.

Rob Birkhead | Vice President, Creative
Birkhead is an experienced marketing and brand development executive in the publishing and music industries. He was Sr. Vice President of Marketing at Thomas Nelson, directing campaigns for New York Times best-selling authors Max Lucado, John Eldredge and John C. Maxwell.

As Sr. VP at Integrity Publishers he worked with Beth Moore, David Jeremiah, and others – developing innovative marketing strategies, including live events, direct response campaigns, church simulcasts and national TV ads. Birkhead was Vice President of Marketing for Word Records (CapCities/ABC) through 1996, working with such artists as Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith. Earlier in his career Birkhead served as a Creative Director for McCann Erickson Ad Agency, working on national campaigns for Coca-Cola, JC Penney and American Greetings.

Jeana Ledbetter | Director of Development
Jeana Ledbetter has 25 years of experience with the influential, Los Angeles-based literary firm Yates & Yates. Throughout her career Ledbetter has served as editorial advisor and most recently as literary agent to many highly respected best-selling authors, including Beth Moore, Dr. David Jeremiah, Erwin McManus, Henry Cloud and John Townsend.

David Howell | Vice President, Finance & Operations
Howell served as Sr. Vice President of Finance and Operations at Integrity Publishers. Prior to Integrity, he was the Sr. Vice President of Finance and Operations for Word Entertainment. At Thomas Nelson, he became the Vice President of Finance with a focus on strategic planning, operations and acquisitions. Earlier in his career Howell climbed through the ranks of Ernst & Young with an emphasis in serving entrepreneurial businesses.