Inside the NBA: Creating Teams Where People Belong
The webinar explored how the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs institutionalized belonging as a core business strategy, featuring Dr. Kara Allen, the league’s first chief people impact and belonging officer, and Dr. Hooria Jazaieri, who authored a case study on the initiative. The discussion framed belonging not as a soft‑skill but as a performance lever that can coexist with championship ambitions and financial strength. Allen described a rigorous diagnostic process that began with more than 250 interviews spanning the mayor, local residents, and unhoused individuals. She distilled the conversations into three probing questions about truth, accountability, and power, which shaped the Spurs’ external partnership roadmap. Simultaneously, an internal training curriculum tackled bias, created shared language, and secured cross‑departmental buy‑in, ensuring the organization practiced belonging inward before projecting it outward. Memorable moments included Allen’s childhood story of using a football jersey to bring an isolated classmate into a community, illustrating belonging’s transformative power. Jazaieri highlighted a stark statistic: a 20‑year life‑expectancy gap between North and South San Antonio Spurs fans, underscoring the tangible health implications of community disengagement. The Spurs’ CEO, R.C. Buford, provided the decisive investment that turned these insights into a strategic plan. The case signals that high‑pressure enterprises can embed social impact without sacrificing profit or performance. By listening first, asking the right questions, and aligning internal culture with external outreach, other organizations can replicate the Spurs’ model to boost employee engagement, enhance brand reputation, and address broader societal inequities.
Centering in Action: A Guided Practice From Beth Douthirt-Cohen
The video presents a guided centering practice developed by Beth Douthirt‑Cohen and shared through the Greater Good Science Center’s Bridging Differences in Higher Education series. The exercise is positioned as a research‑backed tool to build belonging among students and faculty. Douthirt‑Cohen...