Vincent Pierson: MiLB Director of Diversity and Inclusion – Work In Sports Podcast - a podcast by Brian Clapp - Work in Sports

It’s one of the hottest topics in all of sports; Diversity and Inclusion. In this episode of the Work in Sports podcast host Brian Clapp welcomes Vincent Pierson, Minor League Baseball Director of Diversity and Inclusion for an insightful conversation on equality in our industry. Hi everybody, I’m Brian Clapp Director of Content for WorkinSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast…People tune into sports as an escape. Their day to day lives hold stress – bills to pay, meetings to attend, promotions to fight for, sickness, relationships – all stressful endeavors.Sports, either playing or watching, in theory, is a release, a chance to tune out the external stressors and enjoy an art form not on canvas with oils and acrylics, but on the turf with muscles and mind power.My career has embodied this to a tee. I thought about working in hard news, but the constant stress of politics and death and fires and traffic and tragedy and peril – was too much for me. Sports was light. A passion play that I could engage my mind into the strategy, but stay loose and separate from the constant constriction of life.But this is a naïve viewpoint because sports isn’t separate from society, quite the opposite. Sports is a microcosm for society, mirroring the way it operates and often dealing with large-scale issues before they become large scale. Call sports a precursor to global events, almost a trial society where issues are played out int real-time, then graduated to the society at large.The sports world is complete with societies conflicts, assets, and defects.Our escape world is not bereft of greed, corruption, inequality or entitlement. Our personal utopia isn’t all upside, it’s flawed and broken just like the rest of the world.In sports, we deal with real-life issues like Ray Rice and Kareem Hunt’s issues with abuse, Tonya Harding conspiring to assault a competitor, Pete Rose gambling.  We deal with people ruined by drugs or alcohol like Roy Tarpley, Josh Gordon, Mickey Mantle, and Lance ArmstrongWe talk about social justice issues in the context of Colin Kaepernick, but the use of sports as a platform for social justice started decades ago.Why does sports act as a microcosm of our world? Because it is the ultimate meritocracy.Elite athletes are put into the position to thrive based purely on their skills and ability, not their color or gender.  If they stink they get cut, if they thrive and achieve and lead they get signed to massive contracts.When you have a meritocracy it almost forces diversity, because different people in different sports succeed in different ways. There is *some* balance.Alas, not all is rosy. The workplace in sports is just like the workplace in every other business in the world – there are struggles to enforce diversity and inclusion. Teams have had massive problems with these tenets. Google stories on the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks and your jaw could drop – they are far from the only two.This issue is hot. It’s important, and it deserves constant conversation and more importantly action. There are leaders in the field of Diversity and Inclusion as it relates to sports, none more impressive than today’s guest – Vincent Pierson, Director of Diversity and Inclusion for all of Minor League Baseball.  Let’s get to it – here’s Vincent Pierson.Questions for Vincent Pierson, Minor League Baseball Director of Diversity of Inclusion1: Before we get into the larger and extremely important issue of diversity and inclusion in sports, let’s talk a little about you. For undergrad you attended Virginia State, graduating in 2011 – at this point did you have the intention to work in sports or was that something that developed over your college experience?2: You have a Masters from Central Florida – how much did getting that...

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