Karen Wilkins-Mickey has been announced Seattle Seahawks first ever Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
In her new role, Wilkins-Mickey will lead the Seahawks’ overall efforts towards diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), as well as act as a liaison for the team, its senior management group, players and the community to drive strategic DEI initiatives and programs. She will report to Seahawks President Chuck Arnold.
Karen Wilkins-Mickey boasts of over twenty years of DEI leadership experience.
“I am thrilled to welcome Karen to the Seahawks family as our organization’s first Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion,” said Chuck Arnold, President, Seattle Seahawks and First & Goal Inc. “Our organization is guided upon core values of acceptance and understanding that help us create a culture of respect, equality and inclusiveness both on and off the field. Over the past year, we’ve looked to take additional meaningful steps to directly address inequality and social justice efforts and felt it was critical to add this position to our senior leadership team. We look forward to Karen’s vast expertise in this area to further strengthen our organization as we strive to continually make a lasting impact both internally and in our community.”
Additional responsibilities include overseeing the team’s internal DEI Council, representing the team as its liaison for NFL social justice initiatives as well as an internal consultant to department leaders across the team’s football and business operations to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion take centre stage in decision-making process throughout the organization.
Prior to the Seahawks, she was Director of Diversity & Inclusion for Alaska Airlines, and has previously held diversity and inclusion leadership roles within Expedia Group and Microsoft.
She was honored in 2018 by the Seattle Mariners as part of African American Heritage Day, where she was recognized for her contributions to the Northwest community. She is also a Certified Diversity Recruiter.
A native of New York City, Wilkins-Mickey has Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from California State University Chico.
