Former Comcast Foundation chief Charisse Lillie to retire
Charisse Lillie, who headed the Comcast Foundation and was the point person for organizations seeking donations or philanthropic help from Comcast Corp., is retiring in January after 12 years at the cable giant.
Charisse Lillie, who headed the Comcast Foundation and was the point person for organizations seeking donations or philanthropic help from Comcast Corp., is retiring in January after 12 years at the cable giant.
Lillie, 64, served as a human-resources vice president when Comcast rapidly expanded its workforce between 2005 and 2008. She is one of the company's top African American executives.
"It's time for me to leave," Lillie said, adding, "I want to start a new chapter. I'm not exactly sure what the next chapter is, but I'm ready for a change."
David Cohen, Comcast senior executive vice president and former chairman of the law firm Ballard Spahr L.L.P., recruited Lillie from Ballard. She had been a partner and headed the law firm's litigation department.
Her departure does not come as a surprise. In March, Comcast announced that it had hired Dalila Wilson-Scott from the New York bank JPMorgan Chase as senior vice president of community investment and president of the Comcast Foundation, replacing Lillie.
At the time of Wilson-Scott's hiring, Comcast said Lillie had assumed a new role as fellow and vice president of community investment.
In recent years, the Comcast Foundation has focused its efforts on digital literacy through the Internet Essentials program and on youth leadership development and community service. The foundation is largely responsible for financing Comcast's annual day of community service, "Comcast Cares Day," typically held in the spring.
A native of Houston, Lillie studied law at Temple and Yale Universities.
She said she may write a book about her career and experiences and guest-lecture at a university. She also may travel.
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