Nikki Fargas and Keia Clarke are currently the only black women holding CEO or president roles in the WNBA.
Fargas has been president of the Las Vegas Aces since 2021. She guided the team to win its first title in franchise history in 2022 and doubled the feat in 2023. The 2022 franchise win was also the first major professional sports championship in Las Vegas’ history, as per Las Vegas Aces.
As president of the Las Vegas Aces, she also led the team to move into their brand-new home—a 64,000-square-foot practice facility and team headquarters. It was the first in the history of the league that a facility of this kind had been built solely for use by a WNBA team.
Prior to joining the Aces, Fargas served as the head coach of the Louisiana State University (where she led the team to six NCAA Tournament appearances) and UCLA women’s basketball teams.
Clarke, on the other hand, has been Chief Executive Officer of the New York Liberty since 2020. In her role, she leads and manages all business aspects of the Liberty organization, including strategic planning, revenue, P&L, and operations, according to the team.
Before her current role, she was the Chief Operating Officer of the team for two seasons, where she managed the business and P&L, including strategic planning, budgeting, and day-to-day team business operations.
She also served as Liberty’s Manager of Marketing for four seasons prior to her promotion to Director in 2015 and Vice President for Team Business Development in 2017.
Prior to joining Liberty, she worked as a member of Team Marketing & Business Operations (TMBO) at the NBA/WNBA league office. Also, she worked as a marketing analyst for Golf Digest Magazine. Clark began her career as an account executive for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
A Canisius College graduate with a degree in marketing, she was a four-year member of the university’s women’s basketball team. She also has a Master’s in Sports Business from New York University.
On Sunday, her team earned a WNBA championship for the first time.
