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Game Changers

Belicia Montgomery, Minor League Baseball

Courtney Kramer Photography

Belicia Montgomery

Director, Diversity and Inclusion, Minor League Baseball

Born: Birmingham, Ala.
Education: University of Alabama at Birmingham, B.S. marketing; University of South Florida, MBA/M.S., sport and entertainment management

While growing up in Birmingham, Ala., Belicia Montgomery always loved going to the hometown Barons’ minor league games and even saw Michael Jordan play there, although she was too young to remember. But it wasn’t until she spoke to an Atlanta Braves recruiter at a job fair years later that she set her sights on a career in baseball.

The recruiter, Kelvin Scott, now senior director of human resources with the Washington Nationals, recommended baseball, an industry with a dearth of minority female representation. That immediately piqued Montgomery’s interest for one reason: “I’m motivated to be in spaces where there aren’t a lot of people who look like me, to make room for people who do look like me.”

Now Minor League Baseball’s director of diversity and inclusion, Montgomery already has made a notable impact just a few years after first joining the organization as an intern in 2016. She led MiLB’s Black fan engagement efforts with the celebration of the 100-year anniversary of Negro Leagues Baseball in 2020, and created the Women in Baseball LIFT (Leaders Inspiring Future Talent) Mentorship Program. 

Through the creation of consistent benchmarking analysis, she also saw a year-over-year increase in league workforce diversity and upper-level representation across MiLB teams. She also helped successfully implement MiLB’s first #StrikeOutHate Day leaguewide virtual activation.  — Eric Prisbell

More about Belicia

Biggest work/life adjustment in quarantine: I have to be much more intentional about setting aside “me” time — whether it’s exercising, spending time connecting with loved ones undistracted, reading — anything that helps me to decompress. 
Guilty pleasures: True crime television + whisky and sweet tea.
Advice to my younger self: You are much stronger than you think. Mind over matter — keep going.
Woman in sports business I’d most like to meet: Melissa Proctor, CMO of the Atlanta Hawks. The creative and progressive genius that comes from that organization never ceases to amaze me, and I would love to pick the brain of the woman behind a lot of that genius!
Sports can grow its role in the social justice movement by: Sports should utilize our influence more outside of the spaces we occupy — collaborate and get in the weeds more with business and industry sectors that have a role in systemic issues, such as law enforcement, health care, education or public service, so that we can truly harness the power of sport and influence change where it is needed the most. 

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