Val Ackerman, Commissioner of the Big East Conference

In this episode of Talks at GS, Big East Conference Commissioner Val Ackerman discusses navigating the conference through COVID-19, the future of live sports and her ideas to foster greater diversity in college and professional athletics. 

On the recent protests sparking a conversation around diversity: “I hope that the events of the last few weeks do bring attention to [diversity issues] and that responsible employers across many industry sectors realize the importance of again, making our workplaces look like our society. And I can certainly say in the sports world, we're committed to doing our part, and hopefully we can see that in other businesses as well.” 

On the future of the Big East Conference: “For me, I'd like it to be more than just a college sports conference. One thing I learned from working for David Stern for 16 years is that you can be and should be more than a sports league. There are ways that the power of sports can be leveraged to do more and to do good. That was certainly David's vision of the NBA. And that's kind of how I've approached my work at a Big East. What can we do more of and better in order to help our student athletes, help our schools and hopefully help the communities where we are operating?”