How Dillard's Kiki Baker Barnes Leads: 100 Influential Black Women in Sports

Kiki-Baker-Barnes-100-influencer — Courtesy of Kiki Baker Barnes

Sports Illustrated and Empower Onyx are highlighting the diverse journeys of black women through sports, from veteran athletes to rising stars, coaches, executives and more, in the series, Elle-evate: 100 Influential Black Women in Sports.

It seems that Dr. Kiki Baker Barnes, athletic director at Dillard University, always understood the power of intentional leadership, especially for women new to sports. Since taking over from the New Orleans-based HBCU in 2006 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Barnes has excelled at elevating not just sports programs, but also the communities and individual athletes around her. Through her own experiences and those of the mentors and peers who paved the way for her, Barnes is determined to raise the next generation of black women in athletics and provide them with the same gentle care, and more.

Barnes’ start in sports was a bit untraditional. He did not directly address basketball, the sport that would set the tone for the rest of his career. “Actually, I initially wanted to be a cheerleader. I only tried basketball because I wanted to be with my friends. It wasn’t because I had this love or enthusiasm for basketball, ”Barnes recalls, laughing. Still, it was through a strong leader that he realized how to take his own career more seriously. “We had a great coach, Elliot Gilbert, my friend’s dad. He was just an amazing man, and he made us work to death, let me tell you that. I learned the game of basketball and I learned that I wanted to be very, very good, “she says. “I ended up being a fairly decent player. I got a scholarship! ”

Fast forward to 1997 and the launch of the WNBA, a milestone that would impact the lives of thousands of women in basketball and, for the first time, give them a legitimate platform. As a star athlete at the University of New Orleans, Barnes was certain this would be her next path. “My coach brings me in, says, ‘Hey, talk to a couple of scouts. If you are interested in playing, I have a chance for you to try. You can go to Houston or Charlotte; You tell me which one and we set the date, and we take you there. I will help you in whatever way I can to get there. ‘

Barnes was overwhelmed by the opportunity, but she set her sights on a state where her community could still visit, attend games, and support her. “I didn’t even think it was a possibility. At that time, women had to go abroad to play basketball, ”he says. “I choose Houston, I mean, everyone should be able to come see me play. So I made it to the second round … and then they cut me off. I am like, Man, my basketball career is really over. What I’m going to do with my life?”

But then she got a call from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette that changed her life. “They wanted to hire me as a graduate assistant for the women’s basketball team. They gave me a chance and showed me the ropes. That was the first time I thought of myself as an athletic director, ”she says. “I never related to the fact that once I finished playing sports, I could continue in this job. Once I got in, I said, okay, there are a lot of people who work in sports, but half of them still don’t look like me. You didn’t see women in these roles, and I was young. I’m sitting there looking up, and I’m thinking, How can I get a chance to sit in the chair?? “

That motivation, and the ability to see herself in a role outside of the athlete, are things Barnes would carry with her for the rest of her career, which includes serving as the first woman and first African-American president of the Coastal Athletic Conference. del Golfo, and the first black woman to be commissioned into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. But it is not pressured; in fact, she is humbly ready to share her wealth of knowledge with the next generation of black women and set them up for success beyond what they could imagine for themselves and beyond what they have been told is possible. “Now here I am, 16 years in the game. I have been the athletic director for so long. I was like, we need to do something about the pipeline prep. As a college student, no one talked to me about opportunities. I didn’t see anyone who looked like me, and we know how important it is when you see someone you can connect with. “

“I started my mentoring program in 2017, ‘So you want a career in track and field?’ It’s my inherited job. It’s my hard work. It’s my passion, ”says Barnes. “Now I am helping young women to connect. It is about them knowing that it is possible. And I feel like because of my journey, I have an obligation to make sure they are aware of what those opportunities look like and how they can successfully navigate and achieve their leadership goal. “

Barnes also focuses on the mental health and genuine well-being of its trainees and athletes. She wants to make sure that the pressure to be “first” or, in some cases, “only” doesn’t drastically affect the young black women around her, or herself. She believes in creating spaces to feel, cry, grieve, and be completely open and held. “It is absolutely essential that we take the time to focus on ourselves, that we create networks. We have circulated in spaces where we can deal with ourselves, when we need to, so that we are healthy and fully prepared for the opportunities, challenges and obstacles that come our way.

“We don’t want to fail in front of the people. There is a great burden that we carry to be in those spaces, so as not to spoil it for anyone else. Correct? If you get the chance, they look at you, they judge other blacks for what you do. So you do not have breakdowns. One of the things I’ve been very strategic about with my apprentices is letting them see me have bad days, letting them see me cry, letting them see me break down. We all deserve the opportunity to be well. We deserve it and we have to prioritize it ”.

Ultimately, Barnes is aware of the weight of his position and what that visibility means to incoming black women in athletics, period. She doesn’t take her own power lightly, but somehow manages to lead with lightness, humor, and grace, in a way that absolutely no one else can. “I, and all of my athletic admin sisters, are examples who can lead in how You they were made to lead, ”she says. “Each person has something unique about them that makes them powerful. We each have our own way. I am Kiki, and there is no one better to be Kiki than me. You cannot win. You will never win, because that’s the way I was created lead and make a difference in this world. “

Naya Samuel is a contributor to Empower Onyx, a diverse multi-channel platform that celebrates the stories and transformative power of sports for black women and girls.

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