Kim Davis said the NHL will use data and analytics to improve its diversityGETTY IMAGES
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman indicated the purpose of the league's newly established Executive Inclusion Council is to "set goals and objectives and for us to be holding ourselves accountable that we’re progressing to the goals and objectives that we have." NHL Senior Exec VP/Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs Kim Davis said, "It’s important as we set the stage for this work to understand that this is work that we have been undertaking for over a year. For things like the kind of culture change that we’re talking about to be a movement and not a moment, you have to put the architecture in place that creates this to be part of the DNA of our sport." Bettman and Davis discussed a number of other diversity issues surrounding the league:
- Davis, on the importance of data to achieve more diversity in the sport: "You can’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been and where you are. Having a baseline of understanding and to be led by data and analytics is the way we run our business, and this is part of running our business well."
- Bettman, on the league setting an example: "If we’re going to make a difference through all of the levels of our game, we have to be setting the example at the NHL and club level. That relates to hiring and who we do business with. That’s all part of our broad program to set the right example for the entire hockey community at all levels."
- Bettman, on what progress will look like five years from now: "Progress looks like we’ve become more reflective of the communities in which our teams play, that there are more Black players of both sexes, players of color of both sexes, and that we are more diverse than we have been" (“Hockey Culture,” NBC Sports, 9/22).
