“You gotta do the work… You can’t sit there and expect it to come to you…” How Donna Orender, former president of the WNBA, paved her path

The Path is a video series where I chat with some of the most influential leaders in the world exploring the successes, missteps, and key pivotal moments that shaped their professional paths. It’s through these authentic stories that we can learn how to navigate our own career journeys.

My guest this week is Donna Orender , the woman behind the success of the PGA TOUR Tour and the WNBA, and founder of the non-profit Generation W .?

As a young girl, Donna dreamt of becoming a doctor, but her path took her on an entirely different trajectory. In high school, she played several sports – seven, to be exact – including men’s tennis. But one caught her attention the most: basketball.?

“To me, basketball is poetry in motion. It's dance. It's ballet. It's actually mathematics. It's geometric.”

Donna then went on to go to Queens College, which had one of the best women’s basketball teams in the country. It turned out to be a great decision – Donna and the rest of the team made history when they were invited to play at Madison Square Garden. They were the first college women’s basketball team to play in the arena.?

Donna's life took a significant turn when she got drafted into the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL), the pioneering women's pro sports league before the WNBA came into existence. This happened while Donna was still grinding away in graduate school trying to earn her masters in social work. It was a lot of work – she had her academic pursuits on one hand and her basketball dreams on the other. That's when a major choice had to be made.

“I couldn't play basketball forever, but I could always go back and get my graduate degree.”

The WBL disbanded after three years due to lack of money, and it taught her a fundamental lesson: life is unpredictable, and being open to the unexpected is crucial.

“I meet a lot of young people today who are like, ‘Here's my five year plan, my 10-year plan.’ I'm like, ‘I have a five-minute plan. Now what do I do?’”

Donna's next move was into the world of media, leveraging the network she had built during her time in professional sports. She started as a production assistant at ABC Sports and steadily built her career, demonstrating her ability to pivot and learn in a new environment. One of the most pivotal chapters in Donna's career unfolded when she made the unexpected move to PGA TOUR Productions. She wasn't initially thrilled by the idea, but she embraced the opportunity. “There's so many lessons to learn no matter what job you have, whether it's hard, whether you hate it, whether you love it. And of course we all want to love it …But the important thing is to take the lessons that are in front of you,” Donna said. “Because then you're actually building your own belief system that translates into life satisfaction, and happiness.“

Donna’s impact on the PGA TOUR, and even golf as a whole, was undeniable. Under her leadership, the organization generated billions of dollars. And her work making the PGA Tour a massive success also led to massive success for golfers. Before Donna and her work in the PGA, players like Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer were mostly known to hardcore golf fans – now they’re household names. She helped make golf itself more appealing to the world – leaving a legacy within the industry.?

That’s what caught the attention of Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA. He asked her to become the second president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Donna remembers thinking: “so many people did so many good things for me, it was time for me to pay it forward… try to elevate basketball, especially women's basketball and women's sports.”?

Without knowing it – Donna came into the WNBA as it was losing it millions of dollars – on the verge of failing. “I could not have anticipated how challenging it was.” This experience taught her something new about job seeking: ask the right questions. How’s the company doing? What’s the culture like? (I’m linking some great resources below which dig into what questions to ask in your job search.) After six transformative years at the WNBA, Donna decided to step away and focus on her family and a new venture, Generation W – a nonprofit platform that aims to empower women and girls through mentorship, education, and inspiration, emphasizing the value of uplifting and supporting one another.

“Most work,” Donna said, “no matter what it is, does have an underlying value of impact and you have to figure out what it is, or you can create it, actually, and align with that.”

Donna's approach to her career aligns with that of Jodi Glickman, the CEO and founder of Great on the Job. Jodi’s GIFT framework: Generosity, Initiative, Forward Momentum, and Transparency.?

“These aren’t skills we all need to learn. They're muscles we can flex. Are you being generous? Are you adding value to your team? Are you sharing information, sharing resources, sharing credit?” Jodi said, “they all come together and can give you a sense of how you can work well in a team setting so that you become trusted, respected, admired, indispensable.”?

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Get more insights from Jodi Glick watching her LinkedIn Learning course.

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