Laura Meyer, VP of business intelligence for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx, is focused on increasing the number of women in data and technology jobs.Rick Ostentoski
For as long as she can remember, Laura Meyer has thought of herself as a math nerd. Numbers and data fascinate her. Numbers tell stories, confirming or contradicting conventional wisdom. At other times, numbers reveal trends and circumstances that would otherwise go unnoticed.
The stories and the numbers are disappointing when it comes to women in sports and women in technology. Meyer knows plenty about both subjects as vice president of business intelligence for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx.
And one of the things she’s determined to do is to encourage more girls and women to think about STEM-related careers. STEM is the educational shorthand for science, technology, engineering and math — subjects that are the foundation for many of the most important and high-paying jobs in the U.S. and around the world.
In fact, the STEM part trumps the sports part not just in society as a whole, but for Meyer, too, when she recruits for her department.
“I think there’s a misconception that you have to like basketball to be interested or to be good at the job,” she said. “I would much prefer that you like data or Excel spreadsheets or technology.”
At Xavier University, where Meyer graduated magna cum laude in 2003, her major was sports management with a double minor in business and psychology. There was plenty of STEM too: Meyer was in an honors math program in college.
In 2016-17, women accounted for 19% of students who earned bachelor’s degrees in computer and information sciences, according to figures compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics. Including master’s and doctoral degrees improved that percentage to 24%.
Meyer said the challenge of trying to recruit women for data and analytics jobs is also complicated by the fact that women continue to be a distinct minority in sports. The most recent Racial and Gender Report Card from the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport found that “gender hiring practices remained far behind those for racial hiring …” The annual report card analyzes diversity in college sports, MLB, MLS, the NBA, WNBA and NFL.
Women in sports business are usually in marketing jobs or human resources, Meyer said.
“It’s definitely something we’re focused on,” she said. “Females in the organization and females in my area. Because if you don’t start early, you definitely don’t have a chance of getting them in late.”
Meyer came up through the ticketing side of the business, starting as a college intern with the Cincinnati Reds. Later, when she joined the Timberwolves and Lynx, Meyer worked in ticket operations and, in her words, would “vortex down into the data.” Her boss, Ryan Tanke, now the chief revenue officer and then head of ticketing, encouraged Meyer to keep exploring how data could help with sales and strategy.
She never looked back. Since 2016, Meyer has run business data and analytics for the Wolves and Lynx. And during that span, her department has grown to nine employees from five.
In April, the National Diversity Council named Meyer to its annual list of the 50 most powerful women in technology. As the lone sports executive on the list, Meyer joined a group of female tech standouts from companies including financial software firm Intuit, Alphabet’s self-driving spin-off Waymo, ride-share company Lyft, and Citi.
Lesson: Never underestimate a math nerd.
