In Conversation with Zenab Keita ’10

ALUMNI PROFILE

In Conversation with Zenab Keita ’10

"The Athletic" partnerships manager speaks up.

INTERVIEW BY CORRINE KING

For as long as she can remember, Zenab Keita ’10 (Zee-na Kay-ta) says she has suffered from imposter syndrome, wondering if she was where she should be, doing what she should be doing.

It didn’t matter that she had graduated from Yale with a BA in anthropology, or that she had played college basketball for the Bulldogs (appearing in 88 games), or that she earned a master's degree in business management from Wake Forest, or that she was killing it at work, or even that the "Sports Business Journal" had named her one of its New Voices Under 30.

“As a Black kid, with African roots, born in France, growing up in the American South, you are always gonna have a little bit of imposter syndrome,” she says. “I was always thinking, ‘Should I be here?’ But every time — I dug in, I did the work, and I proved to myself that I belonged.”

In October, we sat down with Zenab to discuss where confidence comes from, why she chose to leave the Golden State Warriors, what she misses most about Pomfret, and how she is using her seat at the table to empower others.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED WITH THE GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS?

I joined the Golden State Warriors in 2018, as they were opening the brand-new arena — Chase Center. They needed to outfit a team that could handle growing their existing partnerships and manage new ones brought on board. The CMO at the time reached out looking for someone who could learn quickly and jump right in, and I was sold. I was excited to bring an elevated level of sports business and partnerships into my day-to-day, and being able to do this with the Golden State Warriors was a no-brainer.

WHAT DOES A PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MANAGER FOR A PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAM DO?

My responsibilities have varied based on the team and the partners they have, but essentially, brands are looking to partner with a sports team in order to use that team’s cache to help sell their service and products. It is my responsibility to act as the face of the team for that partner, helping to execute their agreements with the team by activating our contracts. This includes providing them with contractual assets, such as access to our players and fan database, our special gameday experiences, hospitality at games and concerts, and things of that sort. I was also involved with significant community programs put on with these partners, such as turkey giveaways, court refurbishments in under-resourced neighborhoods, and food drives.

HOW DID COVID CHANGE YOUR WORK?

Since we didn’t have assets like tickets or in-arena activations to rely on, I had to come up with new and different kinds of partnerships and community programs. One project that I am particularly proud of was a partnership with Nike to celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day. A co-worker and I created an all-day celebration that ultimately culminated with us featuring some WNBA players and putting on a virtual clinic for young girls to participate in. What was most rewarding was when Natasha Cloud, a known activist and WNBA champion, posted on Twitter a shout-out to the Warriors for actually doing something tangible and creating a space in which women and young girls could be celebrated. It felt good to be able to create that experience for our community, our partner, and our organization.

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAD A GREAT TIME WITH THE WARRIORS. WHY DID YOU LEAVE?

After seven years on the team side, I wanted to do something new, especially after the Covid year. I had a thirst for being on the brand side and thinking of ideas and strategies on how to use partnership funds to sell products and build brand equity. The unique opportunity with "The Athletic" came up, and it was not only on the brand side, but also in the media and tech industries, both of which I wanted to get involved in — especially being in the Bay Area. It was a perfect little launchpad.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR JOB AT "THE ATHLETIC", WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT?

It’s cool because the job is all about getting to set the strategy for our partnership plan. I get to work with a team and figure out what we are going to do to get our brand out there and do something different that helps people choose "The Athletic" over other media platforms. I get to use the tools and knowledge that I developed in my two previous roles and now set a strategy for a brand, which is amazing.

Early on in my career, I experienced some imposter syndrome. I used to wonder if I should be at the table — especially with senior leaders — having a say in the strategy and the decisions. So earning this new job and being in my role is great validation that I'm supposed to be here, I'm supposed to be at this table, and I'm supposed to be involved in these types of conversations. I'm excited to get going on that.

YOU TALK ABOUT IMPOSTER SYNDROME, WHERE DOES THAT COME FROM AND HOW HAVE YOU OVERCOME IT?

I think I have experienced imposter syndrome since I came to the United States as a child. Now, I think my imposter syndrome is creeping back because I’m in this brand-new space in my career. I’m in tech and media, two new industries for me. And everyone at "The Athletic" is incredibly talented, so I feel a bit of pressure to perform exceedingly well. However, I continue to remind myself, as I have in my other roles, you have to be confident in your skills and what you uniquely bring to the table in order to perform and excel in unfamiliar environments. I affirm myself every morning, “You’re here for a reason. You’re doing a good job.” Then I do the work.

YOU WERE RECENTLY HONORED AS ONE OF "SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL’S" 2020 NEW VOICES UNDER 30. HOW HAVE YOU USED THAT VOICE IN THE SPORTS INDUSTRY?

I think I was selected for that award because I use my voice to say the things others may not want to say aloud, to encourage dialogue, and hopefully to educate others. That is how I disrupt spaces — I speak up.

For example, with the social and racial injustice events of 2020, I used social media to express my opinion and it encouraged other people in my organization (even some of our players) to share their own opinions and thoughts on their platforms. Sometimes they reshared my content and sometimes they shared their own, but in all cases, it was good to have people feel empowered to discuss. I had co-workers, classmates, and mentors all calling me to talk about what was going on in the world because they saw me being vocal. I think people felt comfortable coming to me because they knew I was not going to judge them and I was open to the conversation.

So in that situation and in my life and sports career thus far, I’ve always tried to use my voice and empathy to empower others and ensure people feel heard. Whether it’s speaking up for women, for younnger employees, for underrepresented people, or anyone who feels like they can’t speak up themselves, it is important to me to make sure people feel validated and can trust me to be a vocal leader.

WHAT ARE SOME CHALLENGES OR MISCONCEPTIONS YOU’VE FACED AS A BLACK WOMAN WORKING IN SPORTS?

Due to generalizations created by reality TV or the media in general about the tie between Black women and athletes and sports, I sometimes feel a pressure to expand upon the roles Black women play when it comes to being involved with sports. I sometimes feel a need to represent Black women in those business settings — to demonstrate our intelligence, to display how nuanced we can be in sports business, and more generally, to provide examples of how we, too, can highly contribute in Corporate America.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE OTHER WOMEN ASPIRING FOR A SENIOR ROLE WITHIN A SPORTS ORGANIZATION?

Be authentic in everything you do, whether it’s networking across the league or just working across the organization. The field of sports and entertainment is filled with enough people forcing or faking their influence, authority, and worth. Don’t be one of them. Trying to subscribe to a version of you that you think other people will accept, respect, and promote is exhausting, and it’s likely to be exposed eventually. People respect authenticity, and they appreciate it. If you can be trusted to be authentic when working alongside your team and trusted to get your work done in a way that’s true to you and the values of your team, you’ll get the role you want.

IF YOU HAD TO GIVE A CHAPEL TALK NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE ABOUT?

It would have to be around the concept of you belong here and you have a seat at the table. You were driven to this place. There is a purpose that you are supposed to fulfill by being here. So whether it is a short time or a long time, live in this space. Be in this space and take up space. Have a seat, not on the outside, but at the table. Say your piece, but come prepared. Having a seat doesn’t give you an excuse to be uninformed and ignorant. The worst that can happen is that someone can correct you, you can learn something new, or you could realize this table is not for me.

WHO WERE SOME OF THE PEOPLE AT POMFRET WHO LEFT A LASTING IMPRESSION?

Shout out to my basketball coach Rebecca Brooks, who was also my advisor. I have never seen a more poised, calm individual, ever. She was also always a person that you could count on and she was consistent — she was a great role model in that aspect. Even now, to this day, wanting to be a consistent person at work or for friends, I am so thankful for her. Also Bruce Wolanin, my college counselor, I am so grateful for him. He always believed in me and my ability to get into Yale. Also grateful to Johára Tucker, Bobby Fisher, and Sharon Gaudreau for making Pomfret feel like home. I appreciate them being unofficial aunts and uncles. Lastly, my classmates, many of whom I’m still friends with to this day, made a huge impact on me. I came to Pomfret having been one person my entire young life and they took me into their world and allowed me to explore myself and my interests. I think my time with them was a perfect segue into Yale and my college experience.

HOW HAS THE NEW OPPORTUNITY WITH "THE ATHLETIC" CHANGED YOUR WORK-LIFE BALANCE?

At "The Athletic", I get to work from home. During the pandemic, I rescued a dog, Remy, so I get to be home with him. I hope to get him a French passport soon, so he can travel throughout the European Union with me. My family lives overseas, and being able to go visit them is a blessing. I really couldn’t do that during basketball season — especially when you work for a team as good as the Warriors — their season was always two months longer than everyone else’s!

Overall, I’m just happy to have flexibility in my life to work anywhere and work on a schedule that is more accommodating to my lifestyle, while still getting to work in and around sports. Quarantine helped illuminate what was really important in life, and I’m grateful this new role gives me the time, resources, and inspiration to go after those things.