SEC Opportunity Forum class meets in Nashville

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (March 10, 2023) – During the 2023 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament in Nashville, the SEC hosted the third session of its inaugural SEC Opportunity Forum, a year-long program designed to connect mid to senior level administrators in the SEC from historically underrepresented groups with industry leaders and assist them with professional development opportunities.  The inaugural class consists of fifteen university and conference administrators who are participating in a four-part series of engagements.

“The Southeastern Conference and its member institutions are committed to expanding the diversity of our athletics department leadership,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “It is important for the Conference and its member institutions to achieve measurable and sustained progress in increasing diversity and representation of historically underrepresented groups in athletics positions, consistent with the overall educational mission.”

Phase I of the SEC Opportunity Forum is focusing on administrators in the SEC who aspire to become an athletics director or conference commissioner. Future phases of the Forum will be designed to engage coaches who are on the verge of being named a head coach and administrators and coaches who are earlier in their careers.

The four-part series of engagements in 2022-2023 has included in-person sessions at the SEC Office in Birmingham in October and the SEC Football Championship in Atlanta in December.  The program will culminate during the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin in May.

The SEC Opportunity Forum is one result of SEC Bylaw 23, a Conference rule adopted by the SEC Presidents and Chancellors in 2021 to encourage, facilitate and assist member institutions in attracting, hiring and retaining individuals from historically underrepresented groups in the leadership of athletics departments, particularly in the roles of athletics director, head coach, and senior woman administrator (SWA) and in positions that typically lead to those roles.

The SEC collaborated with each member university to identify the individuals invited to participate in the Forum. The inaugural SEC Opportunity Forum class of administrators consists of:

2023 Opportunity Forum

ADMINISTRATOR	ROLE
Joe Suiter, Alabama	Assistant Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Enhancement
Terry Prentice, Arkansas	Senior Associate Athletics Director/Athlete Brand Development
Djenane Paul, Auburn	Executive Associate Athletics Director/SWA
Kim Green, Florida	Associate Athletics Director for Compliance
Darrice Griffin, Georgia	Senior Deputy Athletic Director
Ray Oliver, Kentucky	Executive Associate Athletics Director/ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Lori Williams, LSU	Deputy Athletics Director for Leadership and Strategy
Dr. Jennifer Saxon, Ole Miss	Executive Associate Athletics Director/SWA
Alvin Franklin, Mississippi State	Associate Athletics Director/Development and Team Lead
Donald Senat, Missouri	Academic Coordinator
David Jackson, South Carolina	Senior Accounting/Fiscal Manager
Marcus Hilliard, Tennessee	Senior Associate Athletics Director and Chief of Staff
Dan Childs, Texas A&M	Associate Athletics Director for Academic Services
Eugene Henderson, Vanderbilt	Assistant Athletics Director for Student Services
Misty Brown, Southeastern Conference	Assistant Commissioner/Competition and Student-Athlete Engagement