Maria Arias

Maria G. Arias has a long history of leading diverse teams, equity and inclusion work, and a background in the legal world. Arias is the principal of Arias Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in diversity and inclusion and multicultural initiatives. Arias has an extensive national network of business professionals in these areas. Arias was recently the first vice president of diversity and inclusion for Comcast Corporation. In this role, she established the Corporate Diversity & Inclusion department, which oversaw diversity and inclusion initiatives across Comcast Corporation, including Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal, Telemundo, and Comcast Spectra. She led the company to national recognition as first among Fortune’s Best Companies for Diversity, first among cable operators and programmers in industry benchmarking, and top rankings from DiversityInc., the Human Rights Commission, the National Organization for the Disabled, Latina Style, Black Enterprise, and numerous other inclusion awards. In addition to launching initiatives in governance, workforce, procurement, programming, and community investment, Arias managed Comcast Corporation’s 40+ member Joint Diversity Advisory Council, comprised of national civil rights leaders and business executives, who serve as advisors to the company on diversity and inclusion. During her time at Comcast Corporation, Arias received the following awards and accolades: The Most Powerful Women in Cable Award, The Most Influential Minorities in Cable, Pi Sigma Alpha Distinguished Alumni Award for Work on D&I from DePaul University, Moves Magazine Power Women, and The Donald McGannon Award from The National Urban League. Prior to her role as vice president of diversity and inclusion, Arias served as vice president of operations for Comcast Cable’s Southern Colorado systems, where she led technical operations and alternative sales channels. Arias has also held various leadership roles at Comcast Cable, including vice president of operations for Comcast’s West Division, interim vice president of technical operations for the West Division, and interim general manager for Comcast’s Colorado Mountain Area and Tucson, Arizona cable systems. Before joining Comcast in 2007, Arias held leadership roles in law and government affairs at AT&T Corporation, AT&T Broadband, and Adelphia Communications. Earlier in her career, Arias was a partner with McDermott, Will & Emery, in Chicago, IL, specializing in litigation. In addition to the DSF Board of Directors, Arias serves on the boards of UnidosUS and ColorComm. Previously, she served on the Board of Directors for the Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA, Philadelphia’s Congreso Unidos Latinos, The Free Library of Philadelphia, Solera National Bank, Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Latin American Education Foundation, Rocky Mountain Women in Cable and Telecommunications, the National Association of Multicultural Ethnicities, and Junior Achievement of Southern Colorado. Arias participated in Harvard Business School Cable Executive Marketing Management Program, and she holds a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law, and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from DePaul University.