The Hawks named Nzinga Shaw as the organization’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Thursday, a position created following the racial issues that rocked the franchise earlier this year.
According to the Hawks, Shaw will be responsible for developing and embedding diversity and inclusion best practices throughout the organization. She will design a strategic, cross-departmental program that creates deeper cultural awareness and sensitivity. She will serve as a member of the team’s Executive Committee and report to CEO Steve Koonin.
“I am excited to be a member of the Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena organization at such a pivotal time,” Shaw said in a statement. “My goal as the CDIO is to help our organization continue to rebuild trust and partnership in the Atlanta community, emphasizing civility and sportsmanship in an effort to ensure that everyone can be a fan of the team, attend home games, and so that we can serve as a model for inclusion in the NBA. More specifically, I will lead the charge of creating a strategic framework to help shift the culture so that we can create greater inclusion and engagement with all of our fans and stakeholders.”
In September, Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson announced that he would sell his controlling interest in the team after the discovery of a 2012 email that contained racist comments, including remarks about the fan base and basketball operations. The e-mail was discovered during an internal investigation into racially insensitive remarks about made by general manager Danny Ferry about free-agent target Luol Deng during a June conference call with ownership and management. Ferry has been on an indefinite leave of absence.
Koonin made several promises in an open letter to the team, fans and city of Atlanta in September titled ‘We are very sorry.’ One of those commitments was to hire a chief diversity officer.
Shaw most recently served as senior vice president of Diversity & Inclusion at Edelman, the world’s largest public relations agency. Prior to her work at Edelman, Shaw worked in organizational change and diversity and inclusion at other companies such as Essence Magazine, the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network and the National Football League.
