Lessons In Leadership with Fortune’s Most Powerful Woman: Tami Erwin, CEO at Verizon Business

Tami Erwin is executive vice president and CEO of Verizon Business, a global leader in 5G technology serving 97% of Fortune 500 companies. She is widely recognized for her strategic impact, marketing and operations focus, technical savvy, and passion for people.

As CEO of Verizon Business, a $30B+ business with over 26,000 employees that would be among the Fortune 100 if it was a separate entity, she and her team help businesses, governments and communities reimagine their employee, supply chain and end-customer experiences. As the shift to digital accelerates, Verizon Business is paving the way into a new 5G era of technology-led disruption and innovation.

Throughout her career, Tami has earned a reputation for building a world-class culture of customer-centricity and business performance. Prior to her current role, Tami played a crucial role in the evolution and growth of Verizon’s wireline and wireless business segments. She was the head of operations for Verizon Wireless, and led Verizon Fios, the nation’s largest residential and commercial fiber network. In those roles, she guided the growth of the company’s principal networks to record levels, delivering industry-leading experiences to consumer and business
customers.

Tami is a brand builder known for competitive turnarounds and market-moving strategies. Earlier in her career, she was Chief Marketing Officer of Verizon Wireless and led Verizon Wireless’ west region, taking it from fourth place to first place.

Corporate and charitable leadership
Tami leads by example in advocating for equality, inclusion and accessibility for all. She is passionate about technology’s role in improving the ways that we live, learn, work and play and is a leader on the importance of responsible business.

Personally, she has a long history of championing engagement and development programs that help women and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) grow their skills and networks. She’s the proud advisor of Verizon’s Veterans employee resource group that provides programs and resources to our more than 10,0000 veterans, active reservists and military families, and carries a passion for the impact of STEAM education on changing the trajectory of people’s lives.

Tami is active in Verizon’s Leadership Excellence Advancement Program and serves on the John Deere Board of Directors, Paley Media Center Board of Trustees and the board of the Verizon Foundation. In addition, she is honored to have served as the vice chairman of Chrysalis in Phoenix and vice chair of CommNexus in San Diego.

Personal and educational background
Tami is a graduate of the Executive Program at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and attended Pacific Union College, majoring in Business Administration. Originally from Seattle, Washington, Tami and her husband Darrell have two adult children and now call New Jersey home.

Mr. Aronow is a co-founder of the company and has served as CEO since 1996. Under his leadership, the company has achieved profitability and double-digit growth annually for the past decade while expanding from a regional communication solution provider in New York City to a global innovator and leader in digital transformation. MetTel is recognized as a Leader of the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Managed Network Services and has appeared in several other Gartner reports regarding SD-WAN, Managed Mobility Services, Telecom Expense Management and Internet Aggregation Services. Market successes include being named as one of nine communication vendors to the $50 billion GSA Enterprise Infrastructure Solution (EIS) contract as well as GSA Schedule 70, Navy Spiral 3 and FEMA. MetTel has also deployed some of the largest commercial SD-WAN installations to date and has strategic business partnerships with AT&T, Verizon, Apple, and Samsung, among others.