Leadership

Rhonda Nesmith Crichlow

Rhonda Crichlow is Senior Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer for Charter Communications, a leading broadband connectivity company and cable operator offering a full range of residential and business services including Spectrum Internet®, TV, Mobile and Voice to more than 30 million customers in 41 states through its Spectrum brand.  As a member of the executive leadership team, Rhonda is responsible for the development and management of Charter’s diversity and inclusion (D&I) strategy, including the company’s D&I Center of Excellence. In 2019, Rhonda’s portfolio was expanded to include leadership of Charter’s Community Impact function, which encompasses the company’s strategic philanthropic investments, and employee volunteerism initiatives supporting 95,000+ employees.

An innovator in D&I, prior to working with Charter, Rhonda served as a member of the Innovative Medicines Executive Committee for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NPC).  At Novartis, she was the Vice President and Head, US Diversity & Inclusion, and President of the Novartis US Foundation. Under her leadership, NPC was recognized by DiversityInc as the leading company for Diversity & Inclusion in 2014 and 2015, the only company to achieve this distinction consecutively since the recognition’s inception in 2001. Rhonda joined the company in 2006 as the Executive Director of Philanthropy & Community Development.

An attorney admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania and Washington DC, earlier in her career, Rhonda was involved in the Pigford v. Glickman and Brewington v. Glickman landmark national class action lawsuits brought by African-American farmers alleging racial discrimination in the US Department of Agriculture’s farm credit and non-credit benefit programs. Rhonda oversaw the reexamination process that restored farmers’ eligibility to pursue their claims in federal court. As a tax attorney specializing in federal litigation and business planning matters for more than a decade, Rhonda advised leading corporations and institutions on complex tax matters.  She began her career as a federal judicial law clerk for the Honorable Ronald L. Buckwalter in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Since joining the industry, Rhonda has received numerous awards including:  Cablefax Most Influential Minorities in Cable (2018-2020); Cablefax Most Influential Women in Cable (2019); National Urban League, Women in Harmony Trailblazer Award (2019); Leadership Advocacy and Excellence Award – Women in Cable Telecommunications (2018); and Black Enterprise Top Executives in Diversity & Inclusion (2018, 2016).  Prior to joining the industry, in 2016, she was also the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Luminary Award winner, in recognition of her significant contributions to the healthcare industry.

Rhonda also serves on the Boards of Directors for Women in Cable Telecommunications and the National Organization on Disability.  She is a member of the Corporate Leadership Circle of the Connecticut Council on Women and Girls, led by Governor Ned Lamont and Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, and the George Washington University Leadership Advisory Council.

She received her undergraduate degree from The George Washington University, a Master of Public Policy from Duke University, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia Law School.