Toronto Raptors execs talk diversity in leadership

How does an organization foster diversity in its leadership? For Masai Ujiri, the president of the Toronto Raptors, the answer is simple: “Everybody that works with me has to be smarter than me. It’s a rule.”

On February 27, Ujiri and Teresa Resch (VP basketball operations, Toronto Raptors) took part in an onstage discussion about diversity in the workplace at the Ted Rogers School of Management. Titled “Leadership Diversity in Sports,” the event was organized by the Women in Leadership Association (external link)  (WiLA), and moderated by CTV’s Marci Ien. In contrast to the sports industry’s “old boys club” tradition, the Raptors employ 11 women in front-office roles—the largest number in the NBA. As Ujiri describes it, these hires were just common sense: “Why are people scared to hire smart people? You should always do that, because you know what? They raise you. They raise you to the highest standards.”

Resch said that this attitude has fostered a workplace culture resulting in diversity from the top down. “They were able to go out and pick candidates with no bias, and it happened to be women who were the best fit for the roles. … They would have hired the candidates that they felt were bringing the most to their team—it just so happened that they were all women. I think that that started from the top down with building this culture, building this group of people that all felt like they had a voice.”

She added, “Within the NBA, there haven’t been a lot of women who have been given the reins like Masai has really given me—I think that’s changing. Three of my colleagues from the [Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment] office actually hold senior positions at NBA teams now. That’s all happened since I joined the Raptors four seasons ago.”

Ujiri described the “diversity of perspective” as “so, so, so important. Once we’re all agreeing on something, Teresa knows that I’m going to look at her, because I know she’s going to bring a totally different perspective that’s going to throw everything we’ve been saying basically out of the room. That’s what you need.”

In 2017, the Raptors launched a high-profile diversity initiative with “She the North (external link) ,” a series of speaking/networking events to encourage women to consider sports careers. “It wasn’t just sports people—it was people from all different types of industries coming out,” said Resch. “‘She the North’ became this rallying cry, which is amazing.

“It made me realize that people like myself, who are in positions that are not typically thought of as a role that women have, really have a responsibility to go out and tell people their story, so more people can see themselves in those roles. I think that’s really why I’m here.”