Here’s an interesting article about Val Ackerman, the current commissioner of the Big East Conference and the first president of the WNBA (and a former attorney). The article relates her role in the Big East to that of an entrepreneur.

The article is particularly interesting because it tracks her work with the Big East when it was new, similar to a company start-up. The article states: “In 2013, the opportunity to lead The Big East materialized and Ackerman grabbed it, tasked with re-building the conference from scratch. It was essentially a startup, and as most of us know, that means a hell of a lot of work.” Just like any start-up, Ackerman experienced “the joy and pain of taking on a huge new project.”

Indeed, the article states that when Ackerman joined the Big East, “it was after a massive reshuffling of schools and [she was] basically tasked with rebuilding the conference from scratch.” On the “start-up” nature of her job, Ackerman states: “There was a lot to be done—everything from hiring a staff, establishing bank accounts and accounting systems to pay all of our expenses. We had no insurance, we needed to set up a website, set up workplace policies, set up everything. We were hiring and creating while running the everyday operations. “

As a former student-athlete at ND in the Big East, it’s amazing to hear about the rise of the Big East from Ackerman’s perspective, and to read details about how much work went into its launch.