Comcast’s Toni Murphy Talks About Building a Leadership Team From the Ground Up

When Regional Vice President Toni Murphy started her role leading Comcast’s Keystone Region in January, 2021, she led her team through the personal and business complexities of the pandemic with a simple mantra: “I root for us.”

“During the past two years, we’ve learned that collective responsibility drives results,” said Murphy. “Whether we look at what our country has faced or how our business has responded, it’s not good enough to have one group of people succeeding while another doesn’t.”

This philosophy guided Murphy in rebuilding her largely new senior leadership team after several internal transfers, promotions and retirements. Together, they lead operations throughout western and central Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia. She looked to promote from within, hire from outside and lure talent from other parts of the Comcast business. The result is a diverse, collaborative and fully integrated Executive Branch that roots for each other and the teams they lead.

Chris Rouser was her first key hire, leading talent acquisition and retention as Vice President of Human Resources. “Chris makes sure everything we do is connected to our charter and vision,” said Murphy. “He reminds us that this job is about people and moments, with everyone walking in their purpose.”

Next, she tapped Greg Wells to lead the region’s sales and marketing team as vice president of a unit he’d been a part of since 2000. His promotion came at a time when his industry experience and customer focus could help the region’s sales team stay centered and optimistic as they navigated new customer needs.

Murphy also promoted DeShane Hambrick in early 2021, to serve as Vice President of Project Management and Customer Experience. Hambrick’s team has been instrumental in network expansions throughout Pennsylvania as well as Preston County, West Virginia. They have also launched more than 100 WiFi-connected “Lift Zones” to provide safe spaces with free internet to help thousands of low-income students participate in distance learning.

Murphy’s picks for the region’s technical operations roles - Vice President of Network Engineering and Vice President of Field Operations - were Mark Hutchinson, with 25 years of industry leadership, and Virgil King, whose experience includes serving Comcast’s Central Division. “Hutch and Virgil know how to articulate possibilities,” said Murphy. “They’re the kind of leaders who won’t ask you to do something they wouldn’t do themselves and take time to celebrate small moments.”

In addition, Murphy realigned the region’s Business Development team so that Sr. Director Mike Taylor reported directly to her, brought John Ferguson back to the Keystone Region to serve as Vice President of Finance and hired Alka Patel to lead work with local governments and community partners as Vice President of External and Governmental Affairs. “Adding Mike to my team reflects the significant growth opportunity that exists in our region,” said Murphy. “John spent much of his Comcast career here before serving as Vice President of Finance for Comcast’s Western New England Region and I’m pleased to bring him back.”

Patel most recently served as the first Chief of Responsible AI/Head of Artificial Intelligence Ethics Policy for the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) Joint AI Center. Prior to her role at DoD, she served as the inaugural Executive Director of the Digital Transformation and Innovation Center sponsored by PwC at Carnegie Mellon University.

Rounding out Murphy’s leadership team are Bob Grove, Vice President of Public Relations and Aaron Mimran, Vice President of Comcast Business. “Bob is a Pittsburgh institution in our flagship market and is who we lean on for institutional knowledge,” said Murphy. “Aaron is a strong believer that when you enable the people, they enable the business.”

“When my new team came together, we developed a charter that guides how we lead and empower our teammates to achieve our business objectives,” said Murphy. “If we live up to the promise of being authentic, flexible and intentional leaders, our teams will be motivated to find purpose in their craft, and our customers will be loud and proud promoters of our company, our people and our products.”