Last fall, Keia Clarke steered the New York Liberty to their first WNBA championship, earning the city’s first professional basketball title since 1973.
As the team’s CEO for the past five years, Clarke wasn’t surprised by this achievement; she had deliberately and carefully built towards it, not really looking for outside approval.
“The sports industry hasn’t always provided the infrastructure, visibility, or investment the WNBA and women’s sports deserve,” Clarke told Essence. “And sports weren’t necessarily built with Black women, women of color, or women executives in mind.”
After 15 years in the WNBA, Clarke realized that waiting for the industry to change wasn’t going to cut it. So, the Liberty shook things up, building a front office with women of color at the helm —not just for diversity’s sake, but as a key part of their business.
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“Our front office is led by women of color, and I truly believe that’s our competitive edge,” Clarke said. “The Liberty are successful because we reflect the culture in every aspect of our business.”
The results speak for themselves in the form of a championship, sold-out arenas, and of course, major brand partnership opportunities with Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, Pinterest, Essie, and so on. All relationships that Clarke built and was able to bring in.
“These partnerships are powerful validation that we’re not just in the conversation; we’re leading it,” she said. “The Liberty didn’t wait for the market to catch up; instead, we intentionally did the work that forced the market to catch up to us.”
Now, other teams are observing and attempting to emulate the Liberty’s success. Clarke refers to this as creating opportunities where none previously existed. This is nothing new to her since throughout her career, she has consistently entered spaces where her presence was unexpected, compelling those environments to adapt.
“As a Black woman, I understand how rare my seat is as the CEO of a professional sports team,” she recounted. And she’s not taking that lightly. “Behind every business decision is my commitment to growing the league and the sport, not just in scale, but in impact, and leaving the industry better than when I found it 15 years ago.”
The Liberty’s mission is deeply rooted in community engagement, making community work a cornerstone of their operational philosophy. The aim is to involve young girls in basketball and build their self-assurance and character.
As Clarke stated, “For the New York Liberty, giving back has never been optional, it’s embedded in our mission.”
Clarke, who currently resides in New Jersey with her husband, Brian, and their children, Avery and Gavin, boasts an impressive career trajectory, according to the New York Liberty.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Canisius College (2003), where she was a four-year member of the women’s basketball team. She furthered her education with a Master’s in Sports Business from New York University (2006) and graduated from Harvard Business School in 2022 after completing the Advanced Management Program (AMP).
Before her tenure with the New York Liberty, Clarke gained extensive experience in various facets of the WNBA business through her work with Team Marketing & Business Operations (TMBO) at the NBA/WNBA league office. Her early career also included roles as a Marketing Analyst for Golf Digest Magazine and as an Account Executive for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.
