DaWon Baker Named Associate AD for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
April 06, 2021 | General, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
BOULDER – DaWon Baker has been named the University of Colorado's first-ever Associate Athletic Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Athletic Director Rick George announced Tuesday.
Baker joins the Colorado staff from the University of Nebraska, where he has served in a similar role as the Huskers' Diversity & Inclusion Director in Life Skills and Enrichment since September 2018. He will begin his new position on May 1.
At Nebraska, he was responsible for diversity and inclusion initiatives for all staff, coaches and student-athletes. He provided oversight and direction on the annual Diversity and Inclusion Summit, Next Steps outreach, N-Vest Mentoring Program, direction of the campus-wide Husker Athletics Diversity & Inclusion Committee (HADIC) and Husker Inclusion Council (HIC). He also served as a Life Skills coach for three varsity programs (football, rifle and men's gymnastics), where he worked with almost 200 athletes on leadership, career and personal development.
"I am excited to get to Boulder with my family and contribute my all to CU Athletics," Baker said. "My interest in CU grew much before the role, as I attended the Inclusive Sports Summit and came away impressed in the vision, detail and commitment to inclusion that was on display. I saw this role as a natural progression to not just be a more inclusive athletic department and campus, but to be a national leader in this space. What excites me most is the opportunity to build on the foundation that has been laid, with the creativity to build this into a premier leader in college athletics."
Though only at Nebraska for two-and-a-half years, he was heavily involved from practically the start in representing the athletic department in numerous campus partnerships, including the Diversity Engagement Team, comprised of a group of administrative professionals whose primary responsibilities are keenly focused on promoting diversity, equity, and/or inclusion across the UNL campus.
In August 2019, Baker co-founded the Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Council of Excellence (DIECE), a membership organization that provides support and resources for diversity officers who work in athletics. He is also an advisory board member for Return On Inclusion (ROI) and an advisory committee member for the Winning Edge Leadership Academy.
"I am excited that someone with the qualifications and experience that DaWon has will be leading our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts for our department," George said. "I am impressed with what he has accomplished in something that has become a growing profession nationally. He has really invested himself in it and will bring a lot of passion to this role. I am looking forward to what he will accomplish at CU."
A native of St. Louis, Baker is a 2015 graduate of the University of Missouri, where he earned his bachelor's degree in Parks, Recreation and Tourism and also participated in track and field (long jump). It is also where he received his first experience working in intercollegiate athletics as a marketing intern for the volleyball team and as a student customer service representative for the ticket office.
His passion for DEI started while he was attending Missouri; born and raised in St. Louis, an event that drew national attention prompted his initial interest.
"My senior year of college was 2014, and the shooting of Michael Brown served as a major turning point in my career and personal life," Baker said. "I saw how the tragic event of Michael's death affected the world, and I saw how it affected my own campus and saw that the need for an inclusive environment was a necessity to create the best environment for staff, faculty and students on campus and beyond. For the first time, I saw that there was a strategy to creating inclusive cultures, and that drove me to learn about diversity and inclusion in sport."
Baker earned his Master's degree in Business Administration and a Master's in Sport Business Management from the University of Central Florida in 2016. While attending UCF, he served as an academic mentor and game day intern in the athletic department, as well as a student assistant in the Office of Student-Athlete Welfare and Development. In addition, he was also a graduate research assistant for The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES), where he was under the tutelage of Dr. Richard Lapchick, the well-respected national expert in diversity management, race relations, academics, sports and social issues.
"My graduate school program, the UCF DeVos Sport Business Management program, has core values of diversity and ethics in sport, and that both increased and sharpened my knowledge of diversity and inclusion work in athletics," Baker noted. "The curriculum and program set me up for a career as an administrator that looked at how sport could be a catalyst for social change, and how sport could be a leader in cultivating an inclusive world."
After he earned his graduate degrees, he worked at the NCAA as a postgraduate intern in the Leadership Development department from June 2017 through June 2018. In that role, he worked on career, professional and personal development programs, which was designed to help student-athletes, coaches and administrators enhance their skills. He also worked closely with administrators to coordinate programs for minority administrators throughout the NCAA membership, and served as a member of the project team for the NCAA Inclusion Forum.
He is also an accomplished writer, as he spent three years as a contributor to FrontOfficeSports.com, writing features and contributing content about professional development opportunities and specific business professions in the world of sports.
Baker joins the Colorado staff from the University of Nebraska, where he has served in a similar role as the Huskers' Diversity & Inclusion Director in Life Skills and Enrichment since September 2018. He will begin his new position on May 1.
At Nebraska, he was responsible for diversity and inclusion initiatives for all staff, coaches and student-athletes. He provided oversight and direction on the annual Diversity and Inclusion Summit, Next Steps outreach, N-Vest Mentoring Program, direction of the campus-wide Husker Athletics Diversity & Inclusion Committee (HADIC) and Husker Inclusion Council (HIC). He also served as a Life Skills coach for three varsity programs (football, rifle and men's gymnastics), where he worked with almost 200 athletes on leadership, career and personal development.
"I am excited to get to Boulder with my family and contribute my all to CU Athletics," Baker said. "My interest in CU grew much before the role, as I attended the Inclusive Sports Summit and came away impressed in the vision, detail and commitment to inclusion that was on display. I saw this role as a natural progression to not just be a more inclusive athletic department and campus, but to be a national leader in this space. What excites me most is the opportunity to build on the foundation that has been laid, with the creativity to build this into a premier leader in college athletics."
Though only at Nebraska for two-and-a-half years, he was heavily involved from practically the start in representing the athletic department in numerous campus partnerships, including the Diversity Engagement Team, comprised of a group of administrative professionals whose primary responsibilities are keenly focused on promoting diversity, equity, and/or inclusion across the UNL campus.
In August 2019, Baker co-founded the Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Council of Excellence (DIECE), a membership organization that provides support and resources for diversity officers who work in athletics. He is also an advisory board member for Return On Inclusion (ROI) and an advisory committee member for the Winning Edge Leadership Academy.
"I am excited that someone with the qualifications and experience that DaWon has will be leading our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts for our department," George said. "I am impressed with what he has accomplished in something that has become a growing profession nationally. He has really invested himself in it and will bring a lot of passion to this role. I am looking forward to what he will accomplish at CU."
A native of St. Louis, Baker is a 2015 graduate of the University of Missouri, where he earned his bachelor's degree in Parks, Recreation and Tourism and also participated in track and field (long jump). It is also where he received his first experience working in intercollegiate athletics as a marketing intern for the volleyball team and as a student customer service representative for the ticket office.
His passion for DEI started while he was attending Missouri; born and raised in St. Louis, an event that drew national attention prompted his initial interest.
"My senior year of college was 2014, and the shooting of Michael Brown served as a major turning point in my career and personal life," Baker said. "I saw how the tragic event of Michael's death affected the world, and I saw how it affected my own campus and saw that the need for an inclusive environment was a necessity to create the best environment for staff, faculty and students on campus and beyond. For the first time, I saw that there was a strategy to creating inclusive cultures, and that drove me to learn about diversity and inclusion in sport."
Baker earned his Master's degree in Business Administration and a Master's in Sport Business Management from the University of Central Florida in 2016. While attending UCF, he served as an academic mentor and game day intern in the athletic department, as well as a student assistant in the Office of Student-Athlete Welfare and Development. In addition, he was also a graduate research assistant for The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES), where he was under the tutelage of Dr. Richard Lapchick, the well-respected national expert in diversity management, race relations, academics, sports and social issues.
"My graduate school program, the UCF DeVos Sport Business Management program, has core values of diversity and ethics in sport, and that both increased and sharpened my knowledge of diversity and inclusion work in athletics," Baker noted. "The curriculum and program set me up for a career as an administrator that looked at how sport could be a catalyst for social change, and how sport could be a leader in cultivating an inclusive world."
After he earned his graduate degrees, he worked at the NCAA as a postgraduate intern in the Leadership Development department from June 2017 through June 2018. In that role, he worked on career, professional and personal development programs, which was designed to help student-athletes, coaches and administrators enhance their skills. He also worked closely with administrators to coordinate programs for minority administrators throughout the NCAA membership, and served as a member of the project team for the NCAA Inclusion Forum.
He is also an accomplished writer, as he spent three years as a contributor to FrontOfficeSports.com, writing features and contributing content about professional development opportunities and specific business professions in the world of sports.