Charisse Lillie

Lillie has had another exemplary year. With Internet Essentials in 350,000-plus homes, the program now reaches more than 1.4 million low-income Americans. Comcast Cares Day drew more than 95,000 volunteers nationwide, NBCU employees in 14 counties, and raised $6.4 million for the United Way. “A successful career is one in which you are challenged intellectually, you are willing and able to give back to your community, you are mentored and you are mentoring others, you are sponsored and you are sponsoring others and you have the capacity to weather change,” she says.

How can cable do better job at supporting the industry’s women?

We need to be certain that women are competing on a level playing field.  Given the extremely high quality of women in the cable industry today, a level playing field, coupled with opportunities for advancement, will result in more diversity at the top. Companies should consider diversity training, providing leadership training for high potential women, creating opportunities for board membership and community involvement and  providing training on unconscious bias for supervisors.

 How do you define a successful career?

A successful career is one in which you are challenged intellectually, you are willing and able to give back to your community, you are mentored and you are mentoring others, you are sponsored and you are sponsoring others and you have the capacity to weather change.  A successful career requires fearlessness, never recklessness.

Best trick for maintaining the personal-professional life balance?

A successful career makes personal-professional life balance an aspirational goal.   No tricks. You need an understanding spouse and family. Work and personal integration are the keys to trying to maintain balance.