Sonja O. Stills is an influential figure in collegiate athletics, best known as the first female commissioner in the history of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). She’s also the first female commissioner of a Division I Historically Black College and University (HBCU) conference. After holding several leadership positions in the MEAC for more than two decades, Stills officially assumed the top leadership role on January 1, 2022, bringing a proven track record of strategic vision, operational efficiency, and a deep commitment to elevating the student-athlete experience across the eight-member institutions of the conference. Her appointment was the culmination of a distinguished career rising through the MEAC ranks, where she previously served as Chief of Staff/Chief Operating Officer and has been instrumental in securing major corporate partnerships, developing the conference's strategic plan, and pioneering its cutting-edge esports initiative.

BET.com spoke with Stills, who spoke with pride about her conference and the schools that make up the MEAC.

“We are what I call the Elite Eight member institutions. We’re on the East Coast, the Mid-Atlantic from Delaware all the way to South Carolina. We have Delaware State University, Coppin State, Morgan State, Howard University, Maryland Eastern Shore, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central, and then South Carolina State University,” Stills said. “We have 13 sports with championships. Our biggest event is our basketball tournament, which is hosted in Norfolk, Virginia. We were in the Celebration Bowl with the SWAC conference, and we are the only FCS bowl.”

What's amazing about Stills’ remarkable journey is that she doesn’t have an athletic background. In fact, she’s never played organized sports except for a short stint with her church’s local softball league. According to Stills, her path in the sports space was “purely by accident.”

“So my college degrees are all in counseling. I went to Hampton when it was time for me to do my graduate internship, and Mindy Soper was my intern advisor in Greek life. I wanted to work with her again when she moved into athletic academic support and they gave me five red-shirt freshmen to work with,” Stills recalled.

“When I graduated, I was sending letters to schools in the area, asking to start an Athletic Academic Support Program. The athletic director, Dr. Dennis Thomas, offered me a job after I graduated from my masters degree. I was able to get a job as the Assistant Dean of Women at Hampton,” she continued.

What she didn’t anticipate was that she would make a significant impact in sports administration.

“About a year and a half later, the VP of Student Affairs asked if I liked my job. I told him I do, but I want to be in athletic student support. He was also the athletic Chair of the athletic Certification Committee, and he talked to Dr. Dennis Thomas, the Athletic Director, and got me an interview,” she said. “I was able to start the athletic academics program over there because he knew my name.”

Because she was not an athlete, Stills made sure she learned all aspects of the athletic department where she worked. This practice not only helped her understand the sports side of her institution, but it will also open future doors for her.

“I volunteered for work at the pass gate, I was able to do game operations, and I was [moved] over to cheerleaders. Basically, I didn't say no to anything because I wanted to be beneficial to the department,” she said. “It was a great learning experience.” 

“In 2002, when he became the commissioner of MEAC, Dr. Thomas called me and said, ‘It's time for you to get paid for what you're worth.’ He said, ‘You can be the Director of compliance. I hate compliance. I remember crying all the way across the bridge, trying to leave Virginia to go to Greensboro, but I learned compliance,”Stills said.

Looking back, Stills said this role was the preparation she needed to eventually take on the role of commissioner.

“I was able to shadow again, and I went to the championships to learn how everything worked. I began to move up the ranks. I didn't ask for promotions or praises. I got them  because I was just focused on doing the job, providing the services, and again, not saying no.”

When the opportunity came for Stills to make history as the first female commissioner, she initially tried to avoid applying for the position.

“I fought it before Dr. Thomas retired. He said, ‘Hey, you're going to be the next Commissioner. I'm going to talk to the President.’ I said, ‘I don't want that job. I don't want all them bosses, because all the Council of Presidents,” she said. “My mama was like, ‘Everybody got bosses, you can do it.’So I was like, ‘I guess I'll go ahead and put my name in the hat. Miraculously, I got through the interviews, and they selected me to be the commissioner.”

Under Stills' leadership, the MEAC continues to thrive, and her efforts have not gone unnoticed. Recently given the award for the 2025 Nike Executive of the Year for Women Leaders, which she described as her “greatest accomplishment at this point. The MEAC has established a cheerleading championship with certified judges, launched the “Guardians of the Game Awards” that recognize contributions of women, and introduced  Women’s flag football.

“I’m proud that we’ve been able to provide those young ladies who probably played football in the neighborhood to see that there's a place for them in the sport of football,” she said. “We've had three successful clinics, and we are going to continue to do that.”

For Stills, she hopes that her journey will lead to other barrier-breaking Black women who want to lead institutions with the power of sports. She shared some advice she would offer to Black women who aspire to work in sports on the executive side.

“For Black women who want to get to this place, I want to move over and let them have it,” Stills said. “I think sometimes women want to get into positions and then close the door behind them. It’s very important to keep that pipeline going. The most important thing is to be able to provide these opportunities to those who are coming after me. That's really what drives me to be in this position.”