Mary Ball gives proof to the axiom that if you give an executive a demanding job and she does it well, she’ll be given more tough assignments. Ball, 39, joined Cox Communications nine years ago as manager of government and community relations; she’s now a vice president and responsible for overseeing government affairs, community relations, education initiatives, media and public relations, the Cox Kids Foundation, Cox retail centers, telesales and third-party retail sales, among others.

“These are critical areas for the company to be successful in San Diego,” says Ball. She credits her “team” at Cox — the 100 or so employees under her command — for her success. “I’ve been able to put together a team of great leaders, people very knowledgeable in what they do,” she says.”

Ball, an Iowa native whose first taste of the West Coast came in the mid-1980s when she attended University of San Diego (earning a bachelor’s degree in political science and business), declines to take credit for the idea leading to the highly successful Cox Tech Centers, which have been established mostly in communities with a low percentage of computer ownership to give children and adults free access to computers and high-speed Internet. Yet others in the company say she was responsible for establishing the program. “I’ve always felt it’s important that new technology be available to all parts of the community, and it goes beyond just giving people Internet experience,” she says. “We have tech centers in some areas that are not necessarily low-income. If an area has a need for them, we put them in.”

Ball shares a Scripps Ranch home with her husband Jim, director of procurement for Leap Wireless International, son Hayden, 7, and daughter Audrey Ann, 5. She is on the boards of the Better Business Bureau, the Downtown San Diego Partnership and the San Diego-Imperial Council of Girl Scouts.