Dallas Mavericks Executive Discusses Organization’s Push for Sports Diversity

Sports are loved by people from all walks of life and played by people of diverse backgrounds. Despite this fact, oftentimes the big players behind these scenes are not as diverse. Data shows that the diversity of executives in sports is actually lagging behind. However, some sports leagues fare better than others, and when it comes to the NBA, it’s one organization that has seen many of these changes in recent years.

Who are some of the people helping bring sports diversity to the forefront?

For an episode of Suite Talk, host Patrick Rishe interviewed sports executive Khalia Collier, the Vice President and Chief of Staff for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. The two talked about Collier’s sports career and her role as a team owner and executive. They also explored the ways in which more teams and organizations can promote more sports diversity.

A former college basketball player, Collier is now a team owner and sports executive. She owns the St. Louis Surge Professional Basketball team and is the Vice President and Chief of Staff of Basketball Operations for the Dallas Mavericks. Speaking on her role with the Mavericks, she mentioned that her role with the organization brings out a level of satisfaction she enjoys because of how involved she gets to be.

“No day is the same with the Mavs. I absolutely love it. I am in my element. When you talk about living in your purpose and passion, I’m exactly there. I live in this space of gratitude and my day-to-day, it changes — what I love about my role the most is the scope. I am a part of every facet of the business, from security, from our culinary experience, from player development, assisting player relations, from accounting and finance, to our sponsorship team. There’s no area of the business that I’m not involved in, in some aspect, which is pretty amazing because operationally is what I love to do,” said Collier.

Collier and Rishe also discussed …

1. Dallas Mavericks leadership and what they get right in terms of diversity
2. Collier’s work to build the brand of her team
3. The importance of diversity in sports leadership and how the Mavericks have become an example of promoting sports diversity

“When you walk in, you see the diversity that speaks for itself. It’s reflective of the community. You see the opportunities of watching people excel in roles that they wouldn’t always have the opportunity to be in those positions and they’re excelling, and I love every day that we work for like a dream team of people who are assembled that love what they do,” said Collier.

Khalia Collier is the Vice President and Chief of Staff of Basketball Operations for the Dallas Mavericks. She is also the owner of the professional women’s basketball team, the St. Louis Surge. Previously she was the Vice President of Community Relations for the St. Louis CITY SC and is an alumna of Missouri Baptist University.