50 women who have made a positive difference to me - Donna Wilkinson

2022 - On the?50th?anniversary of Title IX, I have been and will continue to shine?a?light on?50?women who have been amazing teachers, thereby affecting my?sports?career as well as the careers of other?women and men in sport.

Donna Wilkinson: Building a team of nationally renowned people takes top-ranked talent?

Indiana Senator Birch Bayh is one of the architects of Title IX.?In fact, it was his wife, Marvella, who encouraged?Birch to?introduce?legislation affording equal education for men and women after she was rejected from law school for being a woman.??Title IX?spilled over into collegiate athletics.?

Donna Wilkinson, her leadership team at the Indiana Pacers, and ultimately the?entire Indianapolis?community benefitted from the skills and lessons these women learned as collegiate athletes.?The Pacers in 2019 signed on to stay in Indianapolis for another 25 years!?Senator Birch Bayh had to be pleased as he passed away that same year.????

I met Donna Wilkinson, head of “People” at the Indiana Pacers,?at?one of our NBA Job Fairs.??I was in awe.?She had?been co-caption of her Duke University?field hockey?team, a top 20 ranked?squad.??When you’ve been on a top-ranked team, you have?the?kind of special gravitas and?know-how to attract other winners!?I could tell at that?Job Fair?that?Donna was intent on?having?the Pacers win the best talent.?

As Chief People Officer, Donna is responsible for identifying, recruiting, and further developing into leaders a team of top-notch people for the Indiana Pacers.?Among these are Mel Raines and Kelly?Krauskopf:????

• Mel, a 2015 recruit, was recently promoted to President and COO of the Pacers.?Mel came from politics,?the Vice President’s staff, to be specific, and joined?as the Senior Vice President overseeing the team’s facilities.?This is a role that the current CEO, Rick Fuson, once held.??Like Donna Daniels and Amy Latimer, Mel is one of few women who are in charge of running and building or renovating a major league sports arena.??
• Kelly became the first woman named as an Assistant General Manager of an NBA Team.?Kelly was a 1983 graduate of Texas A&M University and a?three-year varsity women’s basketball letter winner.?After stints with the Southwest Conference and the NBA League Office, the Pacers brought Kelly in to run the WNBA Indiana Fever; and won the WNBA Championship in 2012.??The?organization?added Pacers’ Gaming and esports to her responsibilities.?In?2018, Kelly assumed the new role of Assistant General Manager over the players, a role?almost always?given to men.?

Donna is grooming even more women?for?top positions.?The front of TeamWork Online website features the Indiana Fever’s Director of Marketing, Shayna Sangster.?She is?another former collegiate athlete, a track and field varsity standout from Western Michigan University.?

It’s?apparent?from?the successes of the women?featured in?my series?that Title IX is doing exactly what Birch and Marvella Bayh envisioned. The?lessons?women?learned on the track, on the field, on the court?provided a springboard for their future success in the sports business and in life.?These women, along with women everywhere, owe Indiana’s Senator Birch Bayh their gratitude.?

TeamWork Online is the leading hiring platform and talent community in sports and entertainment. Our mission is to connect talented people with the right employers.??If your career has been positively affected by one of the women, please share your comments.