Posted October 12, 2021 in Press Releases
Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and The City Club of Cleveland host live forum as part of Velocity programming
Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and The City Club of Cleveland will host Oris Stuart, Chief People & Inclusion Officer at the National Basketball Association (NBA), Bonnie Thurston, Director of Player Programs at the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Kevin Clayton, VP of Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement at the Cleveland Cavaliers, as part of the KeyBank Diversity Thought Leadership Series on Friday, Oct. 15, at 12:30 p.m. for League Leaders: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the NBA and WNBA.
The NBA and WNBA have been leaders among professional sports leagues in addressing issues of inequality and social justice. Their players have spoken out on topics such as mental health, police brutality and equal pay.
This live event will feature a conversation between Stuart, Thurston and Clayton on how the past year has reshaped how both leagues engage athletes and fans to become allies for social change.
Moderated by Dan Moulthrop, Chief Executive Officer of The City Club of Cleveland, this team will also share how NBA All-Star 2022 in Cleveland will provide opportunities to engage the community in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts locally.
The forum will air on 90.3 WCPN and be livestreamed on cityclub.org.
This event is to the public. Ticket prices range from $25 for individuals to $480 for corporate tables and are available online. The City Club is requiring all ticketholders to provide proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid test. Email info@cityclub.org with questions.
Media interested in attending must RSVP to pr@clevelandsports.org no later than Thursday,
Oct. 14 at 5 p.m.
As part of Velocity’s community programming, this annual speaker series will be hosted by the historic City Club of Cleveland, featuring pioneers in sports to discuss topics such as athlete activism, social justice, women in sports, LGBTQ+ and minorities in professional sports.
Velocity is a community-wide initiative of Greater Cleveland Sports Commission to support and maximize the community impact of hosting some of the most significant events in sports. In addition to the 2019 MLB All-Star Week, Cleveland will host the 2021 NFL Draft, NBA All-Star 2022 and 2024 NCAA DI Women’s Final Four. Community events provide opportunities to extend each event’s footprint in Northeast Ohio. These programs will highlight important social issues such as diversity and inclusion and provide opportunities to underserved populations.
More information about Velocity can be found at velocitycle.org.
WHO:
Oris Stuart, Chief People & Inclusion Officer, NBA
Bonnie Thurston, Director of Player Programs, WNBA
Kevin Clayton, VP of Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement, Cleveland Cavaliers
WHERE:
The City Club of Cleveland
850 Euclid Ave., 2nd Floor
Cleveland, OH 44114
WHEN:
Friday, Oct. 15, 2021
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
###
About Greater Cleveland Sports Commission: Since 2000, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission (GCSC) is responsible for attracting over 200 sporting events which provide more than $780 million in economic activity to Northeast Ohio. GCSC serves to measurably improve the economy of Greater Cleveland and enrich the community by attracting, creating, managing and enhancing significant sporting and competitive events. For more information, visit clevelandsports.org.
About The City Club of Cleveland: The City Club of Cleveland is one of the nation’s great free speech forums. A product of the Progressive Era, it was founded in 1912 and is one of the nation’s oldest continuous independent free speech forums, renowned for our tradition of debate and discussion. For more than a hundred years, all speakers, from sitting presidents to community activists, have answered unfiltered, unrehearsed questions directly from an audience. Its mission is to crate conversation of consequence that let democracy thrive. For more information, visit cityclub.org.