Making the connection: Meet Andre Selvyn, Comcast’s new leader for the Greater Sacramento area

Written by Lauren Lawley Head for Comcast

Comcast is working on a significant expansion in Northern California, bringing its next-generation broadband, wireless and video services to Butte and Colusa counties by 2026 and widening its reach in West Sacramento.

Leading the charge is Andre Selvyn, area vice president of field operations. Selvyn has been with Comcast for more than 15 years and moved from Denver to Sacramento in November.

“I’ve admired this team from afar for a long time,” Selvyn said in a recent interview. “I tried to get here a few times, so I was excited when I had the opportunity to join this awesome team and help them improve and expand our network.”

The following conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

You have a team of more than 500 people throughout the region. How do you describe your leadership style?

Selvyn: I don’t look at it as people work for me; I work for them. When you look at our history as a company, being a servant leader has been instilled in us by our founder, Ralph Roberts, since the 1960s. That has trickled down to all levels of leadership, along with making sure that we balance customer service and customer growth along with having a great employee culture.

Comcast has some specific plans for growth in West Sacramento. What can residents and businesses expect there?

Selvyn: In West Sacramento, we will have our next-generation network built on DOCSIS 4.0, which is an industry standard for how we deliver broadband. That technology enables us to deliver multi-gigabit symmetrical internet speeds to all residents and businesses in West Sacramento.

Residential customers will have access to our full suite of Xfinity services, including internet, mobile, voice, entertainment and home security. From a business perspective, West Sacramento also can expect our full suite of Comcast Business services, including advanced security, connectivity, wireless and managed services to help organizations of any size.

How do you see customers’ experiences evolving?

Selvyn: The DOCSIS 4.0 technology will be the biggest change. It essentially eliminates all lag and ensures that we’re delivering a constant, high-speed connection to customers. We’re excited as we fully deploy that to Northern California and all our footprint in California in the years to come.

Where do you see connectivity five years from now?

Selvyn: The demand for connectivity will grow.

This past year, Comcast saw the largest consumption in internet history driven by sports streaming and large gaming downloads. We’re working to ensure that everyone — including communities that are unserved today — has access.

At Comcast, we will continue to invest our own dollars, but we’re also partnering with the federal government, state governments and local communities to ensure that everyone has connectivity. For example, we recently announced plans to expand to the counties of Butte and Colusa. This broadband network expansion is made possible by an over $8 million Federal Funding Account (FFA) Grant from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and private funding by Comcast.

How does Comcast support communities in Northern California?

Selvyn: We’re very proud to have been a part of the Sacramento community for over 25 years, and we have a culture of giving back. We partner with and support organizations like Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento, American River Parkway Foundation, the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce and the Sacramento LGBT Community Center, just to name a few.

I recently spent the day in West Sacramento with about 10 of our teammates, volunteering with the Yolo County Children’s Alliance and the Yolo Food Bank as they distributed food to the community.

Another way we give back is through Project UP, a $1 billion commitment we’ve made to advance digital opportunity and support the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs and creators.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Selvyn: One of the other reasons I loved moving to California is that my wife and I enjoy the outdoors. A couple of weekends ago, I rode my bike past the Capitol. I enjoy riding across the Tower Bridge and then through the agricultural fields of West Sacramento, riding from Oak Park over to West Sacramento, down to Elk Grove and back up through Freeport, and riding through Land Park. I’m also excited to get on the mountain biking trails.

We’re just down the street from Oak Park Brewing and La Venadita, and we also enjoy Fixins Soul Kitchen and are expanding out and learning all there is to know about the food scene in Sacramento.

What are you reading right now?

Selvyn: I am currently reading Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Greaves Jean and Travis Bradberry for the third time. I just bought it for my entire leadership team. It’s important that we are empathetic about how we lead, have clear communications and build self-awareness, self-management and, more importantly, relationship management at all levels of the organization.