50 women who have made a positive difference to me - Meka White Morris

2022 - On the 50th anniversary of Title IX, I have been and will continue to shine a light on 50 women who have been amazing teachers, thereby affecting my sports career as well as the careers of other women and men in sport.

Meka White Morris: Title IX is a father-daughter story

Title IX obligated institutions receiving federal funding to provide it equally to men and women. That included men’s and women’s athletic scholarships. Did anyone envision Title IX would provide the daughter of a former male scholarship athlete an athletic scholarship at the same school? That would be real “equal opportunity! 

You can’t help credit the value of Title IX without highlighting the career of Meka White Morris and her award-winning career to date in sports. 

Think of the pressure and spotlight on a legacy: Meka is the daughter of Boston Celtic’s star and the University of Kansas basketball standout, Jo Jo White. Can you imagine when her college application landed on the University of Kansas admissions desk? Besides being a legacy, the Kansas track and field coaches were offering her a scholarship. Approved, says admissions! And so writes the story of Title IX. Equal funding for both men and women, father and daughter! 

An E&Y study found that 52% of C-level women across multiple businesses were collegiate athletes, an experience that helped them to achieve that success. Meka is one of those success stories. 

Undaunted by the spotlight and ready for the challenge of making her scholarship mean something, upon graduation Meka decided to make her mark in sports, just like her father … but this time from the business side. And she went directly into the same sport her father played - the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers in ticket sales. (Cleveland connection!) Women in sales was a novel concept at the time. Meka proved her worth - she became one of the top five salespeople out of the team’s 30 men and women in inside ticket sales. Meka’s competitive spirit had found a new venue! 

Like typical pro athletes moving from team to team, Meka too moved around, to the Oakland Raiders, the Charlotte Hornets, Live Nation, and an aptly named company for her, Legends. She racked up All-Star stats with every move - such as one year achieving top 10 status in new sponsorship revenue across all NBA salespersons. 

In 2021 Meka was named the Minnesota Twins’ Senior Vice President - Chief Revenue Officer. Six months later the Twins promoted her to Executive Vice President. 

The Title IX scholarships afforded equally to men and women have provided women the same confidence to succeed as men. Meka White Morris is an example of Title IX’s impact. 

TeamWork Online is the leading hiring platform and talent community in sports and entertainment. Our mission is to connect talented people with the right employers.  If your career has been positively affected by one of the women, please share your comments.