ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club today announced Jemele Hill, Chief Correspondent and Senior Columnist at ESPN’s The Undefeated, as the keynote speaker at the third annual MOSAIC symposium on Wednesday, March 14 at the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot. The 2018 MOSAIC, an acronym for Model Of Shaping Atlanta through Inclusive Conversations, will focus on the theme of “disruption” and will also include panel discussions and an interactive session highlighting diverse thought leaders from business, politics, media and education.
Hill, who formerly co-hosted ESPN’s nightly SC6 program, recently joined the network’s microsite focused on sports, race and culture. The outspoken journalist notably made headlines for her comments around racially-charged issues including the NFL player protests and riots in Charlottesville, Va., that garnered passionate responses across the Twitter-verse including from the President of the United States.
“I’m thrilled to be involved in the MOSAIC symposium,” said Hill. “In this climate, it’s vitally important to bring thought leaders together for honest conversations and to share progressive ideas. I’m excited to be among those who have exhibited a serious commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
In 2016, the inaugural MOSAIC addressed race and gender in sports and featured executive panelists from the NBA, NFL and NCAA. In 2017, the second installment of the day-long seminar highlighted athletes in their roles as activists. Previous speakers and panelists include seven-time NBA All Star Grant Hill, ESPN’s Keri Potts, CNN’s Bakari Sellers, The Undefeated’s Marc Spears and NCAA Director of Gender Inclusion Amy Wilson. This year, the event will focus on disruptive conversations that the Hawks believe are necessary to bring about change, innovative strategies and new solutions related to diversity and inclusion.
“As we continue to evolve our programmatic content, it is important that we focus on current affairs, breaking news and subjects that are relevant to our everyday lives,” said Nzinga Shaw, SVP, Community and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Atlanta Hawks. “By providing a forum to share information and ideas, we have created a platform to create positive change and help shape the Atlanta community.”
The invitation-only event, which brings together more than 200 of Atlanta’s leadership community will also feature:
- Gabrielle Claiborne, a transgender business owner and co-founder of Transformation Journeys Worldwide
- Dr. Steve L. Robbins, founder and owner of S.L. Robbins and Associates, a human behavior based consulting firm
- Symone Sanders, a strategist and CNN commentator who served as the national press secretary for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign
In addition to the aforementioned speakers, Bank of America’s Atlanta Market President Wendy Stewart and Atlanta-based grassroots organization Fearless Dialogues will be honored with the inaugural True Comes in All Colors Awards for their work in diversity and inclusion.
For more information about the Atlanta Hawks diversity programs go here.