01 Feb Power Suit: The Power of Purpose

Driven by purpose, Diahann Billings-Burford, CEO of the nonprofit RISE, helps foster social change through the unifying power of sports

By Jackie Krentzman

RISE CEO Diahann Billings-Burford knows firsthand and deeply the power of intentionality. Growing up the youngest of three girls in Brooklyn, she faced an uncertain future. Like many of her peers, her personal and career ambitions and trajectory could have easily been derailed by overcrowded, underfunded schools unable to foster a talented and determined student like Billings-Burford.

When she was 10, her mother enrolled her in a program called Prep to Prep, which identifies academically gifted children and helps them get into independent schools for high achievers, providing support along the way. Billings-Burford soared. She went on to earn her bachelor’s degree from Yale and a JD from Columbia.

Over the course of her distinguished career, she has served as executive director of cultural investments and vice president of the Time Warner Foundation; as New York City’s chief service officer at NYC Service, a division of the mayor’s office, engaging more than 1.3 million New Yorkers in a range of volunteer activities; and on the national board of directors for buildOn, which works to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through engaging underserved US high schools in service learning programs.

Billings-Burford joined the nonprofit RISE in 2018. The Ross Institute in Sports for Equality (RISE) was founded in 2015 by real estate developer and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross, with the mission of leveraging sports’ unifying power to end racism and to champion social justice. RISE is formed from a coalition of all the major US sports leagues, pro and college, as well as media outlets, athletes, educators, and social justice leaders. The organization, which operates in 40 states, has served more than five million people through its robust programming, including youth leadership programs, civic engagement and voting initiatives, and Critical Conversation, a project that brings together people from disparate backgrounds for challenging and rewarding conversations to foster understanding and spark social change.

Diversity Woman: What has been the through line in your roles over the years?

Diahann Billings-Burford: Purpose. The older I become, I realize how deliberately this has driven all my career choices. I used to be a college counselor; I have mentored many young people. I tell all these talented young adults, no matter what you think you are good at, make sure to align those skills with your purpose.

I learned that early in my life. Both my sisters were good at school, but one didn’t finish high school and one didn’t finish college. I don’t think the difference between my sisters and me is intelligence or academic aptitude. But my mother enrolled me when I was 10 in an early-intervention program, Prep for Prep, which changed the entire trajectory of my life.

My eldest sister passed away while incarcerated. She struggled mightily with substance abuse. By the way, my middle sister is awesome! She lives in North Carolina with my four nieces. But my career trajectory was so different from theirs because of that intervention.

Not only did Prep to Prep have us think about our purpose and mission in life, it also instilled in us values that I can still rattle off—excellence, integrity, commitment, and courage. These are my values to this day.

DW: What led you to join RISE? Why does its mission resonate for you?

DBB: My previous position was at Time Warner, leading its corporate philanthropy and employee engagement. When AT&T acquired Time Warner, I was offered a severance package. I came from a family that did not have all that much. When I saw that severance package, I was, OMG! Am I going to get that money not to work? I’m in! I never had not been a working mom. I finally could watch my son in college and daughter in high school play sports. Here was my time to be that mom in yoga pants with my Starbucks watching them play.

But around that time, a friend said, “Diahann, there is a role I would like you to look at.” I said, “No, no!” But I gave in and had a couple of conversations [with RISE]. The interviews went well, but they said, “We’re looking for someone with more sports management experience, more sports business connections.” I thought, great!

Then this phenomenal woman, Josie Sandler, who runs an executive search firm, called me and said, “I got this role I would like you to look at.” It was the same position! I said to myself, OK, God, you put this in front of me again. I feel like you are saying something to me that is different than my future is yoga pants and Starbucks. If I get to build an organization and work with [former NFL commissioner and RISE board member] Paul Tagliabue, with a mission that resonates with me so deeply, that’s a golden opportunity.

I also had another motive. Our country was so divided at that time [2018]. I feel one of my strengths is unifying people. This is the right place for me at the right time. It all goes back to purpose.

DW: How can an organization unify through sports?

DBB: We educate and we empower around targeted issues. And we do it based on truth—each person’s own truth and facts. We educate folks based on the same body of knowledge. Then we empower people.

For example, one of the first modules we do with a group focuses on educating around diversity concepts. We as a nation are having conversations around race. But it turns out, not everyone defines race the same way. Some think it is about biological makeup, others ethnicity, others political alliance. We need to define it so we are having a conversation about the same thing.

And then, once a group has learned from that same body of knowledge, the next step is, what do you do with it? How can that knowledge be used to empower the sports community? In one of our most powerful initiatives, we work with college athletes on promoting civil engagement and voting. Rise to Vote is active on roughly 40 college campuses, and this year, with a federal election, we will be on even more. These college athletes do not just register voters. [The program] is also about having conversations with them around civic engagement, what it means and why it is important not only for society but personally.

So, why sports? We have always known deeply that sports are an excellent medium for bringing people together—which is what the country needs so badly now. Sports and arts are chosen human experiences that resonate deeply with individuals and allow us to overcome obstacles. By working together toward a common goal—winning a championship, for example—we can see what we hold in common with other human beings who on the surface might seem so different.

DW: What are some examples of initiatives in local communities?

DBB: We have several very structured multiweek programs that work with youth, largely high school students. In one example, we work with the NBA and its corporate partner Under Armour in our Building Bridges Through Basketball initiative. We operate in 13 cities, running 10-week programs that use basketball to unite local youth with local law enforcement members, to build empathy, break barriers, and create pathways to positive communication.

We also work with teams directly in their local community. An example is Rise with the Rams, which works with local varsity football teams. We developed a curriculum together, which we facilitate, exploring, What is race? What is privilege? What is bias? How does it show up? The program brings together students from very different high schools in terms of diversity. It is critical for folks from different backgrounds not only to have these conversations but to have them together. That’s what’s going to bring about unity.

DW: There has been a significant increase in recent years of women rising into high-level leadership roles in sports, off and even on the field. What do you attribute this to?

DBB: We are seeing women in these spaces because of the long-term commitment by leagues, teams, and nonprofits. I think sometimes folks don’t understand the power of systemic oppression and how it gets baked in. If you are not creating intentional interventions, it is unlikely that you are going to create change.

For example, when Coco Gauff won the US Open this past summer, that only happened because tennis was intentional about creating opportunities for women of color. We wouldn’t have seen hundreds of thousands of folks excited about female athletes before without that intentional intervention. DW

“We have always known deeply that sports are an excellent medium for bringing people together which is what the country needs so badly now.”