Keynote Speaker

   
 
Lillie Charrise
Vice Presidentn of Community Investment
Executive Vice President, Comcast Foundation, Comcast Corporation
 
   

Charisse R. Lillie is Vice President of Community Investment and Executive Vice President of the Comcast Foundation. She
joined Comcast in 2005 as Vice President, Human Resources-Comcast Corporation, and Senior Vice-President, Human
Resources-Comcast Cable. She was a partner in the law firm of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, in Philadelphia from
January, 1992 to February, 2005. She was Chair of the Litigation Department from 2002 to 2005, and was a member of
the Employment and Labor Law Group of the firm. Ms. Lillie’s law practice included the representation of employers and
management in a wide variety of labor and employment matters, primarily in federal court. She served as an advisor to
clients on diversity and anti discrimination issues. She is a frequent lecturer and panelist regarding talent management,
recruitment and retention strategies, and diversity.


Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Lillie’s legal experience included positions as Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil
Rights Division, Deputy Director, Community Legal Services, Inc., Professor at Villanova Law School, Assistant United States
Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, General Counsel to the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia
and City Solicitor of the City of Philadelphia. In addition, Ms. Lillie has been a member of many civic commissions,
including the Independent Charter Commission, the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Task Force, the MOVE Commission and thePhiladelphia Election Reform Task Force. She is a member of the Forum of Executive Women, and is the former president
of the Board of the Juvenile Law Center. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Howard University, The Franklin
Institute, the Board of Directors of the American Arbitration Association, the United Way of Southeast Pennsylvania, and the
Board of Governors of the Pyramid Club. She served as a Trustee of Friends Select School from 1994 to 2002, and 2003 to
2006, serving as President of the Board of Trustees for two years. She was elected to membership in The Executive Leadership Council in 2008.


Ms. Lillie is the recipient of numerous honors, including the 2008 and 2009 Philadelphia Tribune Top Philadelphia Leaders,
2007 Philadelphia Magazine Trailblazer Award, the 2007 Community Women’s Education Project Woman of Distinction
Award, the 2007 Operation Understanding Distinguished Community Leadership Award, the 2007 WICT Greater Philadelphia
Liberty Award, the 2007 NAMIC Philadelphia Paragon Award, the 2005 Learned Hand Award from the Philadelphia
Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, the 2005 PWR Award from the Professional Women’s Roundtable, the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Anne X. Alpern Award in the Spring of 2003 for her excellence in the legal profession and her significant professional impact on women in the law, the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund Awards of Excellence Honoree, 2002 Women of Distinction Award from the Philadelphia Business Journal, the J. Michael Brown Award from the DuPont Minority Counsel Conference, the Penn Towne Links Service Award, the 2002 Image Award from the Black Women in SportFoundation, the Take the Lead Award from the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Women of Achievement Award from The Barristers’ Association and the Teenshop Board of Directors Hall of Fame Award. She was named Mother of the Year by the Mary Mason Community Foundation in 2002.


Ms. Lillie is a former President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. She served on the Board of the
Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (PICA) from 1993 to 1998. She served as chair of the Board of
Governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association in 1995. She served as Chair of the American Bar Association Commission
on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession (formerly the Commission on Minorities) from 1999 to 2002 and is a former
member of the ABA Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary. She is Former Chair of the Racial Bias in the Justice System
Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association. She also served on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Committee on Racial
and Gender Bias in the Justice System. She currently serves as the Chair of the City of Philadelphia Board of Ethics. She
was elected to the American Law Institute in 1995. Ms. Lillie was included in both editions of Philadelphia Magazine’s
“Best Lawyers in Philadelphia” in 1999 and 1994, The Legal Intelligencer’s “Fifty Most Influential Women in the Legal Professionin Pennsylvania” in 2001, The Philadelphia Tribune’s Philadelphia’s Most Influential African Americans (from 2002 to 2007), in the Philadelphia Magazine’s “2004, 2005 and 2006 Super Lawyer” editions and most recently the 2006 editions
of Who’s Who of American Women and Who’s Who in the World. She was inducted as a Fellow of the College of Labor
and Employment Lawyers in 2003. She is listed in the 2004 Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. In
2004, she was inducted by Governor Edward Rendell and Honorable Marjorie O. Rendell into The Distinguished Daughters
of Pennsylvania. In 2006, she was listed as one of Philadelphia’s 101 Connectors by Leadership Inc., and was named by
CableWORLD as one of the Top 50 Minorities in the Cable Industry as well as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Women in
Cable. In 2008, she was listed in the Top 10 of the Top 50 Most Influential Minorities in Cable by CableFax. She served as
Co-Chair of the 2007 and 2008 NAMIC Annual Leadership Conferences.


Ms. Lillie served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and served as Board
member for seven years. She also served as Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Conference of Chairmen of
the Federal Reserve System from January 2001 until December 2002. She is a member of the Board of Directors of The
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of The PNC Financial Services Group,
Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey.


The Houston, Texas native received her B.A. in 1973 from Wesleyan University - cum laude; her J.D. in 1976 from Temple
Law School - Dean’s Honor List; and her LL.M. in 1982 from Yale Law School. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of
Laws degree from Seton Hill University, Greensburg, PA, in 2005. She worked as a research assistant to the Honorable A.
Leon Higginbotham, Jr. from 1975 to 1976 on his first book, In The Matter of Color. Ms. Lillie was law clerk to the Honorable
Clifford Scott Green, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1976-1978.