Paxton K. Baker
Founder & CEO
Paxton K. Baker is an American businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist, who has served in the entertainment, music, sports and production industries for over 30 years.
Mr. Baker is a minority owner of the Washington Nationals Baseball club and currently serves as chairman of the Washington Nationals Founding Partners Group. He is also a partner in the ownership group of the Washington Kastles World Team Tennis League and a governing Board Member of the Global Sports Summit.
In 2018, Baker launched the Washington, D.C., office of Liquid Soul, the agency behind the marketing and promotion of such blockbuster films as Black Panther and Fast & Furious 6. As Managing Partner, Baker is leading the expansion of the 17-year old company into the political, sports and entertainment arenas.
For 16 years, Mr. Baker served as the Executive Vice President and General Manager of CENTRIC (formerly BETJ), BET’s complementary network targeting the African American and multicultural adult. Baker was also President of BET Event Productions, which produced music festivals, award shows, TV specials and concerts throughout the world. He has produced numerous television shows and home videos, and released over 40 DVD and CD titles.
In 2006 he was appointed Chairman of the Viacom Marketing Council, and for more than six years lead over 35 senior marketing and sales executives across all Viacom properties; focusing on training, best practices and strengthening brand partnerships. In 2008 he co-founded the Viacom Programming Council, comprised of senior programmers from MTV and BET Networks, as well as Paramount Pictures.
As the General Manager of CENTRIC, Baker led programming initiatives that won numerous awards, including over 15 Telly Awards, a local Emmy Award, a NAMIC award and a GLAAD special recognition award for “fair and inclusive” programming. Baker also served as the Executive Producer of the Soul Train Music Awards from 2009-2014.
Affiliated with a number of professional, civic and cultural organizations, Mr. Baker is a member of the board of directors for the United States Senate Preservation Trust, Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, Asia Jazz Festival Organization and Wilberforce University, the nation’s oldest private, historically black university.
In 2006, Mr. Baker was appointed by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives to serve as a member of The Congressional Award Foundation National Board of Directors, the only official charity of the United States Congress. Shortly thereafter he was elected to serve as Vice Chairman and then Chairman of the Board in 2007 to present.
In 2018, Mr. Baker was elected to join the inaugural Board of Directors for the Trucking Cares Foundation, a non-profit developed under the American Trucking Associations designed to improve the safety, security and sustainability of America’s highways.
Paxton received his Bachelor of the Arts degree from Temple University. He resides in Chevy Chase, Maryland with his wife Rachel and three children.
Baker currently invests in a variety of industries that enable him to expand his reach and bring together business, civic and community leaders from both the private and public sectors to help celebrate and preserve the arts, health and wellness, and critical American values.