Last September in New York City, SportsBusiness Journal held an invitation-only discussion in our offices with roughly 20 leaders in diversity and inclusion in sports. Our goal was to listen and learn about what we could do as an organization to move the ball forward on this important topic. We know we need more ethnic and gender diversity in our newsroom, in our editorial pages through storytelling and news, and at our conferences and events both in terms of attendees, but more importantly our speakers, who can provide a different point of view. The three-hour discussion was very valuable, as the group talked powerfully and persuasively on the business imperative for diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Many suggestions were offered and ideas shared, and we are slowly beginning to act on a number of them.
This week we are introducing our first in a series of articles based on the findings from the Gender and Ethnic Report Card (see story), a longtime bellwether of where leagues and other industry segments stand when it comes to diversity hiring. We are working with The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports that under the direction of Richard Lapchick creates the report cards aimed at a variety of sports organizations. We begin with a look at Major League Baseball and we plan to do similar analysis around other sports leagues during the year.
We hope showcasing this data will elevate awareness and discussion of hiring trends going forward. In addition, last week at our World Congress of Sports in California, we had two featured presentations that were unique for us — one, a presentation by Andrew Davis at Coca-Cola that looked at the business imperative of diversity and inclusion. The second was a discussion by the architects of the #TimesUp movement that looked at one of the biggest stories in society during the past year, the amplified voice of women who are speaking out against discrimination, harassment and workplace misconduct. In addition, this summer we plan to introduce a new program highlighting some of the top minorities in sports business — men and women — who are leaders in their organizations but also serving as champions of diversity through mentorship, which we believe will be a nice addition to our features such as Forty Under 40 and Game Changers: Women in Sports Business. In September, we plan to bring together additional leaders in the space for another invitation-only discussion about the small steps we’ve taken and plans for the future.
These are baby steps, and they are slow to develop, but we will continue to seek the thoughts and ideas of leaders of diversity, inclusion and opportunity as we try to move these important initiatives forward. We welcome your thoughts, comments and suggestions as we develop this.
Abraham D. Madkour can be reached at amadkour@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
