Comcast Names Diversity Director

PHILADELPHIA - Comcast Corporation, one of the world’s leading media, entertainment and communications companies, today announced it has named Maria G. Arias as Executive Director of Diversity and Inclusion. In this newly created role, Ms. Arias will direct, manage, and organize Comcast’s diversity program strategy with a focus on recruitment and career development, suppliers, programming, and community investment. Additionally, she will work closely with the Comcast Internal Diversity Council and the newly created Comcast/NBCUniversal Joint External Diversity Advisory Council to coordinate the execution of diversity and inclusion initiatives across the entire company. She will report to Karen Dougherty Buchholz, Vice President of Administration at Comcast.

“Maria’s unique personal experience and professional expertise make her the perfect fit for this new role,” said Ms. Buchholz. “She has built a phenomenal career in the cable industry, is a strong leader, and I’m looking forward to working with her as we further build on our diversity and inclusion initiatives.”

Ms. Arias previously served as Vice President of Operations for Comcast Cable’s Southern Colorado systems where she led technical operations and alternative sales channels. Prior to that, she was the Interim Vice President of Technical Operations for Comcast Cable’s West Division. She also served as the Interim General Manager for Comcast’s Colorado Mountain Area and the Tucson cable systems.

Before joining Comcast in 2007, Ms. Arias spent time with both Adelphia Communications and AT&T Broadband in various government affairs roles. She also worked at AT&T Corporation where she held the position of Chief Regulatory Counsel for AT&T’s Western Region and Senior Counsel for AT&T’s Central Region, as well as a government affairs role. Prior to joining AT&T Corporation, she was an income partner with the national law firm McDermott, Will & Emery, in Chicago, IL, specializing in commercial litigation.

Ms. Arias currently serves on the Board of Directors for Solera National Bank and the Junior Achievement Board of Southern Colorado. She is also a member of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Women in Cable & Telecommunications (WICT), and has served on various non-profit boards in Denver, including the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Multicultural Ethnicities in Communications (NAMIC), and the Cherry Creek Schools Foundation.

Ms. Arias was named as one of the “100 Most Influential Minorities in Cable” in 2010 by CableFAX magazine. She was selected as a fellow for WICT’s Betsy Magness Executive Leadership Institute Class XI and is the recipient of the 2005 Rocky Mountain WICT Chapter “Woman to Watch” award. She holds a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University School of Law and will be relocating to Comcast’s corporate headquarters in Philadelphia with her husband and five children.