Jaia Thomas is dedicated to spotlighting the enormous impact of Black women across every sector of the sports industry. From the trailblazing achievements of Black female athletes, coaches, executives, and other professionals, her organization, Diverse Representation, highlights their resilience, excellence, and advocacy. She also addresses the pervasive challenges and "blind spots" Black women encounter in terms of treatment and coverage within the industry. In a male-dominated space, Thomas’ vision serves as a vital reminder of the ongoing need for greater representation, equity, and meaningful conversations surrounding Black women in sports.

In a recent interview, Thomas discussed the numerous career paths available to Black women in sports, the increasing interest in sports among Black women, and how she first developed a passion for sports.

“I'm originally from Cincinnati, and I've always been a Cincinnati Bengals fan. My first time going to a Bengals game was with my dad,” Thomas told BET. “One time, I got to the locker room afterwards, and I just really enjoyed it. I've never played sports, but I've always been an avid watcher.”

Since she could remember, Thomas said she had always aspired to be an attorney and a voice for marginalized Black people. Eventually, her passion for advocacy work and her love of sports came together after noticing that many of her clients did not have any Black professionals working for them. She sought to address this glaring omission.

“I always wanted to be a lawyer, and my initial goal was to be a civil rights lawyer. I ended up going to undergrad at NY and law school in DC, and I worked for a big law firm in New York doing civil litigation work. I want to get back into sports, so I relocated to LA to make that happen,” she explained. “I started my law practice in sports and entertainment, where I represented athletes and entertainers. A lot of the athletes that I worked with did not have a Black professional on their team.”

“I would be their lawyer, but their agents, managers, publicist, and their financial advisers would be white. So I started Diverse Representation to educate Black athletes about Black agents, Black attorneys, Black managers, and Black publicists,” Thomas went on. “When they're looking to build their team, they have this resource to make sure that Black athletes and entertainers can do a better job of hiring people who look like them and to keep their money in their community.”

The latest project from Diverse Representation is the Black Women in Sports report. In partnership with Wasserman, a renowned sports marketing and talent management company, the report is the first of its kind to chronicle how Black women engage with sports.

“Wasserman is a long-time partner of ours, and last year, on Black Women in Sports Day, they attended some of our programming. We decided to do a report that focuses on Black women's sports agents and Black women as sports fans. There has never been a report on Black women's sports fandom, and very limited data on Black women sports fans have been released.  The second part of the report, which comes out in November, will focus on black women's sports executives and black women athletes.”

In the report, Thomas shared that she was shocked to learn that several firms don’t have any Black women on their roster of agents.

“One of the findings that I specifically found interesting was that a lot of the larger agencies don't have any Black women's sports agents,” she said. “I was kind of surprised that over 85% of Black women's sports agents run their own agencies, but they still have a hard time getting their foot in the door at a lot of these larger agencies. That's still a problem.”

In terms of sheer numbers, 2.3 percent of all NFL agents are Black women, 2 percent of all NBA agents are Black women, and 1 percent of all MLB agents are black women,” she explained.

As Black women watch sports in record numbers, Thomas believes that one of the contributing factors is that the achievements of Black women have been lauded in the media and within their respective sports. Sports and social media have given Black women in numerous sports significant platforms to gain recognition.

“I think we're seeing a lot more Black women receive notoriety in the news for their accomplishments,” Thomas said. “From Angel Reese to Coco Gauff, we're seeing a lot more Black women kind of take center stage in sports, and Black women are rallying behind them, you know. I think that's a big part of it.”

“I also think that the growth in sports in general is because of accessibility. At one point, we were only able to access sports through traditional forms like television. Now you can stream it and watch on social media,” she added. “There are just so many other outlets to watch sports than there were in the past.”

In a world where DEI has become synonymous with anti-Black, Thomas notes that the rollback of inclusive practices and programs has profoundly impacted the sports landscape. Whether explicitly or implicitly, Thomas has noticed the changes.

“There are some sports organizations that are now scaling back the money they're putting into programming. Some of the larger leagues, the NFL, MLB, and the NBA, are standing tall, but a lot of places are scaling back, or they're changing up their language,” she said. “Their websites used to say, ‘We're committed to diversity,' now they're scrubbing that to say ‘We're committed to everyone.’ They're just being a lot more particular about their language, too.”

One of Thomas’ main goals is to introduce Black women to the numerous career opportunities in the sports space that do not involve being an athlete. To capitalize on the momentum of Black women in the sports space, having a new generation of movers and shakers is crucial. 

“Most Black girls have no idea about all the different avenues that they can get into in sports, behind the scenes.  When I was growing up, I never met a Black woman sports agent or sports executive until I graduated from college,” Thomas shared. 

“That was never a career path I would have ever even thought about. Now I want to expose younger Black women to all these different pathways. They can be a sports publicist or an agent with multiple certifications. A lot of people just still don't know because they don't know any people who are doing this personally.”