KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Kimberley D. Harris
Executive Vice President, General Counsel
NBCUniversal
Kimberley D. Harris was named Executive Vice President, General Counsel, NBCUniversal in 2013. Ms. Harris is based in New York.
Ms. Harris provides legal advice to the NBCUniversal senior management team and supervises the Law Department, which handles legal matters for all of NBCUniversal’s business units, including the company’s film studio, two broadcast networks, 18 cable channels, 50-plus digital sites, and theme park operations. She also coordinates NBCUniversal's global regulatory and legislative agenda.
Ms. Harris joined NBCUniversal from Davis Polk & Wardwell, where she served most recently as a partner in the litigation department. During her tenure she handled a variety of matters on behalf of the firm’s clients, including investigations by the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the U.S. Congress.
From 2010 to 2012 Ms. Harris served in the White House Counsel’s Office, most recently as Deputy Counsel and Deputy Assistant to the President. During her tenure at the White House, Ms. Harris advised senior Executive Branch officials on congressional investigations and executive privilege issues, and senior White House officials on a wide range of compliance and risk management issues, as well as other legal matters. In addition, she developed and implemented the White House response to congressional investigations, and managed litigation matters relating to the President.
From 2009 to 2010 she was Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, where she worked on fraud-related issues, and participated in inter-agency task forces on behalf of the Criminal Division, including the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, the National Procurement Fraud Task Force, and the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team.
She first joined Davis Polk & Wardwell as an associate in 1997 and was named a litigation partner in 2007. As a litigation partner at Davis Polk from 2007 to 2009, Ms. Harris’s practice focused on advising institutions and individuals on government investigations and complex civil litigation in state and federal courts. From 1996 to 1997 she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Charles S. Haight, Jr., U.S. District Court, S.D. New York.
The New York City chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) recently honored Ms. Harris for her outstanding record of achievement in government and law, and her commitment to the advancement of women, during their 2013 Women of Power & Influence Awards.
Ms. Harris graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, and holds a law degree from Yale Law School.
MODERATOR
Craig Robinson
Executive Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer
NBCUniversal
Craig Robinson is the Executive Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer for NBCUniversal. He reports directly to NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke.
Robinson is responsible for defining, enabling and fostering a corporate culture that values diversity of backgrounds, talent, experiences, ideas, and values across all parts of the company. He acts as the main liaison between NBCUniversal and key national and local figures and oversees the company’s diversity and inclusion commitments, working closely with senior leadership to promote these efforts throughout the organization. He also helps guide the company’s seven internal Employee Resource Groups and serves as a member of Comcast and NBCUniversal’ s Joint Diversity Council.
Robinson was named to his position in August 2011, having previously served from 2008 as President and General Manager of KNBC-TV, the NBC-owned station in Los Angeles. There, he oversaw all aspects of the television station including news, sales and community relations. Robinson was promoted to that position in 2008 after serving as the station’s EVP of Operations and Digital strategy.
Previous roles include serving as the Vice President of Sales for WRC, NBC’s owned television station in Washington, DC, and Local and National Sales Manager of KCBS-TV in Los Angeles. After studying Political Science at UCLA and a brief stint in retail sales and management, he took an entry level job at KCBS-TV (then KNXT-TV) in Advertising Sales, and quickly realized that broadcasting and entertainment was where he wanted to spend his career.
Raised in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles, Robinson’s interest in public service was sparked at an early age by his parents. His Chinese-American mother retired after a long career working for the County of Los Angeles, much of it spent serving the underrepresented with the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program. Robinson’s father was one of the first African-American consultants for the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC), where he investigated allegations of racial, sex and age discrimination in housing and employment. Race, equality and civil rights were common discussion topics at the Robinson dinner table and those memories continue to drive his commitment to diversity and inclusion today.
