"Melani is as clearheaded as she is collaborative, always raising the bar while bringing the team along."

— Dirk Wössner, SVP, Warburg Pincus Germany

By Nancy Lombardi

Boundless energy and a passion to learn are the traits that Melani Griffith has brought to every role of her career.

In 2023, she was named the first-ever chief growth officer for GFiber. She sets the course for GFiber’s customer growth, overseeing the customer lifespan, including branding and marketing, sales, digital, customer service and public relations.

Griffith began her career in politics before transitioning to a sales role at Discovery Communications in the late 1990s. “The decision to hire Melani wasn’t just a choice; it was an investment in excellence,” said Kim Martin, who served as VP of affiliate sales at Discovery at that time. “Early in her career at Discovery, Melani had this rare combination of an engaging, high-energy personality and a sharp, strategic mind,” said Martin, currently founder and CEO of Ascendancy Group.

“When I moved to AMC Networks, I knew I needed to build a team of A players. Melani was the first person I called.” From there, Griffith enjoyed successful stints at cable operator Insight Communications and at Penthera Partners, reporting to Michael Willner in both roles.

“Melani and I have spent countless New Year’s Eves together,” said Willner, current chairman of Q30 Innovations and Penthera Partners. “Sadly, we were not toasting the new year. We were scrambling to finalize programming deals before the stroke of midnight. Our unique way of celebrating was never a burden. Melani brought a heavy dose of optimism, humor and thoughtful conversation to every interaction.”

Big Moves in Canada

But joining Rogers Communications in 2016 proved to be the turning point in her career. At Rogers, she explained that Dirk Wössner, then president of the Canadian telecom giant’s consumer business unit, had a strong leadership team in place. But he decided to shake things up, moving everyone into different roles.

“He put me in charge of 3,600 people and a $9 billion revenue-generating budget line,” Griffith said. Until that point, she had only led a team of 25 people. But Wössner recognized her leadership ability.

“When I promoted Melani to SVP of sales, despite her not having led a sales organization before, it was a calculated risk that paid off enormously,” said Wössner, now senior vice president of private-equity firm Warburg Pincus Germany. “She stepped into the role with focus, energy and authenticity and delivered beyond expectations. Melani is as clearheaded as she is collaborative, always raising the bar while bringing the team along.”
 

“I told [my team], ‘You know more than I do, so let’s not pretend otherwise.’ I was there to remove obstacles and help them be successful.”

— Melani Griffith

After the management shake-up, Wössner departed for another company. Rogers was then attempting to attract Dinni Jain, who Griffith had worked with at Insight. He didn’t accept the role at Rogers. Instead, he joined what was then known as Google Fiber as CEO and recruited Griffith to join him.

“I love this job,” she said. “I love my team. They are smart, passionate, and dedicated. They challenge me in ways that allow me to grow as a leader and as a human being.” Now seven years into the role, Griffith said each day is different. “I’m in meetings where I have to be massively analytical and then I go to a meeting where I have to be totally creative,” she said. With the help of the GFiber team, Griffith is this year’s Technology Leadership Award winner, a new category for the B+C Hall of Fame.

Proud Team-Builder

Over the course of her career, Griffith said she is most proud of building teams and of the people who do unbelievable things in their roles each day. She fosters that with the next generation by mentoring colleagues within GFiber through official and unofficial channels.

She also connects with people through her professional network and her alma maters, UCLA and Columbia Business School. “A lot of people spent time with me and took a chance on me,” she said. “It’s important to pay that forward.”

Griffith is also fortunate to have women in her life who taught her to “always go for it.” Her paternal grandmother returned to college at 55. Griffith’s mom went to medical school at 32, when Griffith was 6. She’s a pediatrician who went on to specialize in behavioral psychology.

Today, this Maryland native lives in Toronto with husband Bill Black, a private-client wealth money manager. They have three children. Ella is 10 and twins Zoe and Alex are 15. Zoe was born first. Alex wanted his own birthday, arriving just after midnight.