David L. Cohen

Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Diversity Officer,
Comcast Corporation

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The 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to David Cohen, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at Comcast Corporation at the MCCA Diversity Gala on October 4, 2017 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, NY.

David L. Cohen is Senior Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation and is the Company’s Chief Diversity Officer. David has a broad portfolio of responsibilities, including corporate communications, government and regulatory affairs, public affairs, legal affairs, corporate administration, and community investment. He also serves as senior counselor to the CEO. Before joining Comcast in July of 2002, David served as a partner in and Chairman of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, one of the 100 largest law firms in the country.

A native of New York, David graduated from Swarthmore College in 1977 with a B.A. and with a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School (summa cum laude) in 1981. From January 1992 to April 1997, David served as Chief of Staff to the Honorable Edward G. Rendell, the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. As detailed in the book A Prayer for the City, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Buzz Bissinger, David played a critical coordinating role in significant budgetary and financial issues, in economic development activities, in collective bargaining negotiations, and in a wide variety of other policy and operational issues relating to the city.

David serves as Chairman of the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania and its Executive Committee. He also serves as a member of the Trustee Board and the Executive Committee of Penn Medicine. In addition, David serves on both the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the Chamber’s CEO Council for Growth, serves as Honorary Chair of Campus Philly’s Board of Directors, and is Chair of the Philadelphia Theatre Company. David is also the Campaign Chair for the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey’s 100th Anniversary, is Co-Chair of the 2017-2018 Campaign for the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, and is a member of the United States Semiquincentennial Commission. David serves as Vice Chair of the national board of City Year and is Chair of its Governance Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. He also serves on the national board of the National Urban League and is Chair of its Audit Committee and is Chair of the Corporate Advisory Board of UnidosUS, formerly called the National Council of La Raza. Additionally, David is a member of the Board of Directors of FS Global Credit Opportunities Fund and serves as Chair of its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees.

David has received numerous awards for his civic and charitable activities, including the Americanism Award of the Anti-Defamation League (1993), the American Red Cross Citizen of the Year Award (1999), the National Cable Television Association Vanguard Award for Leadership and Impact in the Cable Industry (2005), the President’s Volunteer Service Award (2007), the MS Society Hope Award (2007), the Drexel University Business Leader of the Year Award (2008), the National Urban League of Philadelphia Business Leader of the Year Award (2008), The William Way Community Center Amicus in Res Award (2009), the William Penn Award from the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce (2012), the Spirit of Asian American Award (2012), the Jewish National Fund Tree of Life Award (2012), the Community Hero Award (2013), the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Champion of Youth Award (2015), and the Peirce College Legacy of Leadership Award (2016). David also was awarded Honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Drexel University (1997), Rider University (2010), and Rowan University (2017).

David lives in Philadelphia with his wife and their two sons.