What Makes A Great DEI Policy With The NBA's Chief DEI Officer

Forbes

The NBA's Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer Lesley Slaton Brown sat down with Forbes Senior Writer Jabari Young to talk about the state of DEI in the business world, how the NBA strives to leave an impact wherever they go, and what makes a great DEI policy.  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:02 Here in Indianapolis at the 2024 NBA All-Star Game

00:06 and at the 24th Annual Tech Summit,

00:09 joined by Leslie Slayton Brown, Chief DE Officer of the NBA.

00:13 Thank you so much for joining me.

00:14 Thank you for having me.

00:15 I appreciate it.

00:15 So when you come to Tech Summit, is there

00:18 something that you are looking for,

00:19 and is something that you're looking to learn

00:21 when you leave this building?

00:22 Wow.

00:23 You know what?

00:24 So I have to say, first of all, Tech Summit

00:26 is my favorite part of All-Star.

00:29 Mine's too.

00:30 I usually try to get out afterwards.

00:31 Yeah, it is.

00:33 And having come out of the tech industry, so for me,

00:36 it is looking at what's our latest and greatest innovation.

00:39 And so Adam Silver just talked about the NBAIA, NBIA.

00:45 And so when I look at that, I look at the technology

00:51 that we're bringing in and making sure

00:53 that we're looking at it from a lens in which when you think

00:57 about representation, when you think about business impact,

01:01 I like to look at it from that lens

01:03 and bring in our view of the work

01:08 that I do in the tech part of what we're doing

01:11 and making sure that we're going to stay on course with that.

01:14 Nice.

01:14 Yeah.

01:15 Well, here we are in February, right?

01:16 This is Black History Month.

01:17 And I want to also add that into this.

01:19 When you think of Black History Month--

01:21 and not the notable names, but is

01:23 anyone that stands out that maybe people don't think

01:25 of enough that has inspired you to this day?

01:29 Oh.

01:30 You know what?

01:31 I have to tell you, my inspiration really

01:33 comes from my family.

01:35 It comes from my ancestors.

01:37 It comes from my grandmother and her wisdom, Joyce Slayton,

01:41 Joyce Bass Slayton.

01:43 And so I bring that with me.

01:45 I was speaking with somebody yesterday,

01:47 and they said, you know, DEI, it's a heavy load right now.

01:51 And it is.

01:52 And I said, but I stand on the shoulders of folks

01:54 that have built this space for me to thrive in.

01:58 And so I've got to keep going.

02:00 I've got to keep building for others.

02:02 Yeah.

02:03 Yeah.

02:03 Well, listen, you kind of hit it, right,

02:05 as we sit here and talk at the Tech Summit.

02:07 DEI is definitely an important topic

02:10 as we are in an election year in 2024.

02:13 You have people saying we're in this phase of maybe a war

02:17 on DEI.

02:17 What do you see?

02:19 I see a lot of turbulence.

02:22 I see a lot of--

02:25 I say uncertainty.

02:28 I see fear.

02:31 I'm optimistic, though, because the mission of the NBA

02:36 is about how we inspire and connect people everywhere

02:41 around the game of basketball.

02:42 And we are staying the course.

02:44 We're staying true to our mission.

02:46 We're staying true to our values.

02:49 And so although all of that noise is happening,

02:53 we're staying focused on what we're doing.

02:55 And that is about impacting the communities that we reach.

02:58 That is about making sure that we have great representation,

03:02 which we do within the league office,

03:05 and on the court, and coaching.

03:08 And so when we think about this attack that is happening,

03:14 we're like we're armored and we're ready to go.

03:16 Because we are a purpose-driven brand

03:19 that's focused on the mission in these communities,

03:22 and so diverse, underrepresented communities.

03:26 And so we're ready.

03:28 Is the league, and it's Adams specifically,

03:31 are they telling you to push forward?

03:33 Because some corporations are starting to pull back,

03:36 because they're afraid of the political atmosphere, what

03:40 could be in 2025, and all of that.

03:43 And so you see people starting to push back.

03:44 You see some leagues starting to push back.

03:46 You see companies even starting to push back.

03:48 They're not hiring people.

03:49 They're laying off DEI officers.

03:52 What is the NBA doing to push this forward?

03:55 The NBA is prioritizing the work that we

04:00 do to focus on the underrepresented communities.

04:04 We are-- and you see this with our tech summit,

04:09 with our supplier diversity event we had yesterday.

04:13 We had almost 200 people show up.

04:16 Minority suppliers.

04:18 You see this in the work that we've

04:20 been encouraged to continue with our HBCU program,

04:23 our Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

04:25 We have 11 event interns here that

04:31 have been tagged by different organizations

04:34 to come in and bring their thoughts, their perspective,

04:38 their lens on the work that's happening from an event

04:41 standpoint.

04:42 We see our HBCU Fellows program continuing on

04:46 in the investment that we're making in students.

04:50 And so I say that to say that we're a leader in this space.

04:55 We're setting the standard, and we're

04:57 going to continue to make that standard rise.

05:00 And so that's the focus that we have.

05:02 What's the day in the life of a chief DEI

05:05 officer for a brand as big as the NBA entertainment?

05:08 There's no two days that are alike.

05:12 And I love that.

05:13 I love that.

05:15 We have days in which we flourish,

05:17 and we have days in which you're just pulling your hair out.

05:20 And at the end of the day, it is, as I said before,

05:24 it is about where our values are and continuing

05:29 to push through on those.

05:31 So some days it is about what do we

05:32 need to do in order to continue to diversify our coaching

05:37 pipeline.

05:39 And we've got a coaches initiative

05:40 that we are working with on that.

05:42 And we are-- another day it might be,

05:46 what do we need to do to continue

05:49 to grow sustainable impact with economies?

05:53 And our supplier diversity program

05:55 is an attribute from that standpoint.

05:59 Another day it's something else.

06:01 It is what do we need to do for our interns.

06:04 And so all of these things give us,

06:09 I think, hold us and ground us in what that mission is

06:14 and where our values are anchored to.

06:16 And so whatever it is on that particular day--

06:20 and as I said, it's no two days are the same--

06:22 we're at the end of the day, that's where we're grounded.

06:25 That's where our foundation lies.

06:26 Absolutely.

06:27 Here again at the 2024 24th annual tech summit, NBA Tech

06:31 Summit.

06:31 So take me back.

06:32 You grew up in Merced, California.

06:35 Merced.

06:36 I never heard of that place.

06:37 So you know I'm--

06:38 Merced, Cal-- how close is it to LA?

06:42 I have no idea where it is.

06:43 You know LA.

06:44 You know San Francisco.

06:45 Yes, I do.

06:46 And somewhere in there is Merced.

06:48 And somewhere in there, it's Central California.

06:51 It literally is the heart of California.

06:54 Very rural, very agricultural community.

06:58 If you've eaten an almond or a pistachio or an avocado,

07:02 it probably grew in that region of the world.

07:06 Great people.

07:08 And I say-- I often say it's a great place to be from.

07:11 But it's a thriving place to come to.

07:15 And there are new universities coming up there.

07:19 The newest is UC Merced.

07:22 I happen to sit on the board of directors,

07:24 or board of trustees there.

07:26 But it is-- it's the heartbeat of California.

07:31 And so you've got LA down south, four hours,

07:34 four and a half hours, and you have San Francisco up north

07:37 a couple of hours from Merced.

07:39 So it's a great access point.

07:41 Maybe I'll have to visit there one day.

07:42 Especially the avocados.

07:43 I love avocados.

07:44 If you ever go to Yosemite National Park,

07:46 Merced is the gateway to Yosemite.

07:48 Yeah, now I definitely want to go.

07:50 There you go.

07:51 And then from there, you go to Boise State University.

07:53 You play basketball there.

07:55 And went to Stanford Graduate School for business.

07:58 What did you want to be when you were in that phase?

08:01 Was it the basketball?

08:03 Were you headed that way?

08:04 Oversee-- like, what did you want to be?

08:06 I did play women's basketball.

08:07 And that is what introduced me to Boise State.

08:12 And interestingly enough, the question

08:15 is a good one, because it's part of what we're

08:17 doing with our HBCU students.

08:19 We want to give them exposure to places in which they might not

08:23 consider taking a job, taking an internship.

08:27 And you come to Indy, and you see-- in fact, I'm delighted.

08:32 Not that I had a negative view of it,

08:34 but I'm just delighted as I walk through this community

08:37 and explore.

08:38 And that's what happened to me and why I chose Boise State.

08:41 I saw opportunity.

08:43 I saw a place where, when you think of a young black girl

08:46 growing up in a rural community with access

08:50 in all kinds of different areas, and you come to a community

08:54 where you can see where you can leave a footprint,

08:57 that's exciting.

08:58 That's exciting.

08:59 And so that's what motivated me to go there.

09:02 And when I look at this community,

09:04 I see something very similar.

09:06 You have the opportunity to touch things, grow things,

09:11 nurture things in a way.

09:12 Yeah.

09:13 Well, take me back to that little girl who was playing

09:15 basketball with her brothers, when her brothers were telling

09:17 her, you hold--

09:18 pass it to me when I cut.

09:20 And you're thinking, why am I passing?

09:22 I can just shoot it.

09:22 What advice--

09:24 How did you know that?

09:26 What advice would you give that girl at that time?

09:30 Now, you've explored the world, right?

09:32 You're sitting here today.

09:33 Go back to that on that court.

09:35 What would you tell her?

09:38 Go for it.

09:39 Use the Nike slogan, just do it.

09:42 Because my brothers-- my brothers

09:44 made me tough, first of all.

09:47 But the thing that I loved about growing up

09:49 and the family that I had is-- and we talk about how

09:52 it takes a village.

09:53 And the wisdom that comes from it--

09:58 I honor my grandmother, and my mother, and my father,

10:01 and my siblings.

10:02 My brothers were-- we all were athletes.

10:06 But we had to be academic first, right?

10:09 We had to start with our education first.

10:12 And so for us, it was go and do your homework.

10:15 Then you can go play.

10:17 And my brothers were always trying

10:19 to coach me in a game that I knew better than they knew.

10:22 One ran track, one was a wrestler and played baseball.

10:27 One was an artist.

10:30 I knew this game.

10:31 And so I said, just like, no, I'm not passing.

10:35 I'm going to do it, right?

10:36 If the pass was necessary, I would.

10:39 But it's your confidence and doing what you know.

10:44 Sometimes it's intellectual, and sometimes it's gut.

10:48 And you have to marry those two things together.

10:51 And so it's like, just do it.

10:53 Go do what you need to do.

10:54 If it's layup, if it's pass, if it's alley-oop,

10:58 it's whatever, right?

10:59 Let's go for it.

11:00 Listen, going into the bigger business--

11:01 because you're in a C-suite.

11:02 You've got to get out of here.

11:03 The Tech Summit's going on.

11:04 And I don't want you to miss any key gems.

11:06 But looking at the bigger macro issue, if you are a--

11:10 or if there's a black company, a black entrepreneur that

11:13 wants to do business in the NBA--

11:14 we're talking about the supply chains,

11:16 the diversity supplier program that the NBA offers--

11:19 how do they do that?

11:21 How do they go about being in business with the NBA,

11:23 especially if you're a young company just looking for

11:26 change?

11:26 Yeah.

11:27 So we did host our annual supplier diversity

11:32 event yesterday.

11:33 It was wildly successful.

11:36 We had the opportunity to-- and we do this in every community

11:40 that we go into.

11:42 It is partner first with the local supplier diversity team.

11:48 And in this case, we partner with the Pacers.

11:51 And so we bring what we want to do

11:55 and what we know to do as far as this--

11:57 for us, Commissioner Adam Silver communicated a $230 million

12:02 impact that we wanted to make on the economy here.

12:06 The goal that we have is to not just come and then leave.

12:11 It's come and leave an imprint and leave a legacy.

12:14 And so that's why it's important to partner

12:17 with the teams.

12:20 And so you can come in to our system,

12:25 apply, make sure that you're certified.

12:29 The Pacers, in the case of this event we had,

12:32 they actually did certification leading up too.

12:35 And so there were, I don't know, seven to nine engagements

12:38 that they had.

12:39 How do we teach you about your elevator pitch

12:41 and your qualifications and your certifications?

12:44 And so they came ready for this event.

12:48 We had matchmaking that occurred.

12:50 We took local corporations from around.

12:55 And we set them at tables.

12:56 And they did rotations.

12:58 And they had an opportunity to do their pitch

13:00 and learn what's needed for that particular organization

13:04 to get qualified and to be selected as a vendor.

13:08 And so it's not a single thing that you do.

13:11 There are multiple steps that you need to take.

13:13 Is there a secret to working with the league

13:15 that you can offer?

13:16 I know you've only-- it hasn't even been a year yet

13:17 that you've been in this position.

13:19 But is there a secret that you can offer

13:20 that you've learned so far?

13:21 You know, Jabari, I think what's interesting

13:24 is I don't know that there's a secret.

13:27 This year we did something new and different.

13:30 And that is we created a training that

13:35 was around cultural competency and then values.

13:41 And so I think that it's important for any company,

13:45 when you're thinking about who you want to do services with,

13:49 to align to those values.

13:51 And so I would say that if you know the values that we exhibit

13:55 and you are an organization-- so I don't know if that's

13:58 a secret.

13:58 But I think that it's a good way, a good entree

14:03 into a partnership.

14:05 And so I would say, look at what services you have,

14:12 what values you have that align to the NBA or to a team,

14:16 and then go sell that.

14:18 Absolutely.

14:19 Absolutely.

14:19 And then also the bigger picture as far as diversity, right?

14:24 When I think of the great job the league has

14:27 done with players as well as coaches,

14:29 but I go to the front office.

14:31 And I go beyond the general manager.

14:32 I go beyond the president of basketball operations.

14:35 There's this F that the league always

14:37 gets when it comes down to CEOs and presidents and team business

14:40 operations.

14:41 How can we change that?

14:42 Well, so first of all, right now we

14:47 have an initiative that we do in partnership

14:50 with what we call Team HR.

14:53 Fabulous organization.

14:55 They focus on executive placement.

14:58 And they do consulting for not only the league office,

15:01 but for the teams as well.

15:03 And so the opportunity that we have

15:05 when we look at and being able to have a portfolio of talent

15:09 to reach out to and to consult and give opportunity

15:14 for our teams and bring in within the league,

15:18 we have seen an increase in our diversity at the C-suite level

15:22 as well.

15:23 And so we're 60, almost what, 62% women and people of color

15:31 within the league office.

15:32 And we're going to continue to grow that.

15:34 Because as I said before, it's the standard that we uphold.

15:38 Do the teams listen to you?

15:40 Each team is like small businesses within themselves,

15:42 right?

15:42 None of them control their own jurisdictions and all that.

15:45 But do they listen to the league's direction

15:47 when we're telling or when they're

15:49 explaining how important to have more diversity in business,

15:52 front office positions?

15:54 Yeah.

15:54 I think we have a really good--

15:56 we've established a really great relationship.

15:58 And so over the last couple of years,

16:00 we've built out a DEI alliance, a Diversity, Equity,

16:04 and Inclusion alliance.

16:05 And that's in partnership with the teams.

16:08 We do a composition report that we

16:10 share with the governors of the teams,

16:13 as well as the president's head of HR and head of DEI.

16:18 And so that partnership, what I've seen in my year here,

16:22 has helped elevate visibility, opportunity, and relationship

16:27 to take advice and consultation on opportunities or talent

16:34 that has come through.

16:35 And so I love what I see.

16:37 I'm very optimistic about the direction that we're going.

16:40 As I said before, we're going to continue,

16:42 even with the headwinds that we're facing within DEI,

16:46 we're going to continue to strive to be the standard

16:49 and push forward that aligns to our mission

16:52 and drive that mission forward.

16:53 Yeah.

16:54 Last thing for me, Jim Collins wrote a great book,

16:56 "The Great," one of my favorite business books.

16:58 I love that book.

16:58 It's a phenomenal business book, right?

17:00 A lot of Jim's in that book, a lot of we, not I's.

17:03 I love that book.

17:05 I know the Cavs are a team that really stands out

17:07 with what they're doing with their DEI policy

17:09 because they attach salary compensation to it.

17:12 Phenomenal way to get people motivated.

17:13 We're in a world of money, and that's what motivates people.

17:17 Sticking to Jim Collins' book, what's

17:19 the difference between a good DEI policy and a great one?

17:23 Oh, I love that question.

17:25 I think-- so I think a couple of things.

17:29 I think that if you are doing DEI in the sense of it's

17:34 just about representation, you might be doing good.

17:39 But take it to great is when you show the impact of that work,

17:43 right, the business impact, the business bottom line

17:47 and the value of bringing inclusive behaviors,

17:51 inclusive leadership into your organization

17:54 because you get in the representation.

17:57 But to get to the innovation, to get to that creativity,

18:00 to impact that bottom line, you have to allow

18:03 people to really flourish.

18:04 And that is establishing cultures

18:07 in which that can happen.

18:08 Ideas can be shared.

18:11 People's voices can be heard.

18:12 Their ideas kind of come to fruition.

18:16 And so I see that.

18:18 And even in my previous role is good is good.

18:22 But when you get to great, it feels good.

18:24 And you see the impact on your bottom line as well.

18:28 And that's where we are right now.

18:30 Absolutely.

18:30 And that allows people to go for it.

18:31 Yep.

18:32 Yeah.

18:32 Leslie Slaton Brown, thank you so much for the time.

18:34 And I look forward to doing this again.

18:36 Thank you.

18:36 All right.

18:38 Thank you.

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