The Cal 100: No. 25 -- Cynt Marshall

A one-time cheerleader at Cal, Marshall has assembled a productive five-year run as the first Black female CEO in the NBA, overhauling the office culture of the Dallas Mavericks.

We count down the top 100 individuals associated with Cal athletics, based on their impact in sports or in the world at large – a wide-open category. See if you agree.

No. 25: Cynt Marshall

Cal Sports Connection: Marshall attended Cal in the late 1970s, serving as one of the university's first Black cheerleaders and earning degrees in Business Administration and Human Resources Management. 

Claim to Fame: A long-time executive with AT&T, Marshall became the first Black female hired as an NBA franchise CEO when Mark Cuban brought her on in 2018 to change the work environment of the Dallas Mavericks.

When Cynt Marshall became the first African American female CEO of an NBA team in 2018, she jumped back into the sports world for the first time since her days as one of Cal’s first Black cheerleaders in the late 1970s.

Marshall had worked 36 years for AT&T where she held leadership roles designed to improve diversity and create a better culture in the workplace.

She brought the Dallas Mavericks exactly what team owner Mark Cuban wanted and needed to change what had become a toxic work environment.

Sports Illustrated reported instances of sexual harassment and domestic violence allegations, and the NBA investigated. In response, Marshall arrived and delivered an aggressive agenda featuring a 100-day plan that included 200 initiatives to revamp the franchise’s culture.

Cynt Marshall / Photo by Jerome Miron, USA Today

Former Mavs coach Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, in a 2021 interview with USA Today, described Marshall as “one of the great leaders that I’ve ever been around” and said she “has transformed this organization into one of the great examples of equality and diversity.”

The Mavericks had no women or people of color in their leadership group when Marshall came on board. Within three years, the 14-person executive team was nearly 50 percent women and 50 percent people of color.

Cuban has praised Marshall for her “vision, leadership, communication and business skills.”

“We have more diverse ideas and initiatives coming from our team,” Cuban wrote in an e-mail to USA Today. “People know they can speak up and bring a perspective we may not have thought of before. That's made us a much more vibrant culture.”

For her transformative work with the Mavs, Marshall, 63, is the No. 25 entry in The Cal 100.

Born in Birmingham, Ala., Marshall moved with her family to California when she was three years old, settling in the projects of the East Bay community of Richmond.

A decade later, things turned sour. She became a victim of domestic violence when her father broke her nose. “My father was abusive so we had to get out of that,” Marshall, who had five sisters and brothers, told USA Today. “My mom got us out of that. She just raised us to have really, really big dreams and we could do whatever we wanted to do.”

When her parents divorced, Carolyn Gardener worked as a high school administrator and a librarian, setting a strong example of work ethic. She also told her children, “It’s not where you live, it’s how you live.”

Marshall exceled in high school, in the classroom and on the athletic field. She was a track and field standout, fast enough she was nicknamed “Cynt the sprint.”

Cal Alumni Association

She also was accomplished enough academically to received multiple scholarship offers. She chose Cal. Joining the cheer squad and a primarily white sorority gave Marshall the chance to experience different cultures, which was a turning point in her growth.

AT&T hired her at 21 and for most of four decades Marshall climbed the corporate ladder while she worked to create a better environment for the company’s employees.

Marshall faced a serious life challenge at 51 when she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. She survived it and last year wrote a memoir, You’ve Been Chosen: Thriving Through the Unexpected, which focuses on her battle with cancer but also her willingness to take on a new challenge with the Mavericks.

Ballantine Books

Outgoing Cal Chancellor Carol Christ is among those who gave the book a thumbs-up review. “You’ve Been Chosen is an inspiring memoir by a remarkable leader. While never minimizing pain, Marshall enables you to see the opportunity for growth embedded in it,” Christ wrote.

Marshall retired from AT&T in 2017 to open her own consulting firm, Marshalling Resources. Just a year into that project, she heard from Mark Cuban.

“When Mark appointed me, he wasn’t trying to make history,” Marshall said. “He was trying to find somebody qualified to do what needed to do to be done.”

Marshall worked to close the gender pay gap, bring in new talent, promote underappreciated employees and restructure the human resources department. She also created the “Women of Mavs Empowering Network” to support the career paths of female employees.

During the height of the COVID pandemic, Marshall campaigned to convince Black men and women to get vaccinated, and established a program that provided free game tickets to vaccinated essential workers, including first responders but also grocery store employees.

She changed things so dramatically that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver reached out to NBA team executives, encouraging them draw from “the Marshall plan.”

Others also have noticed her contributions. In March 2021, Forbes named Marshall one of 15 of the world’s most inspirational female leaders. She was given the 2020 Girls Scouts of America Lifetime Achievement award after being honored with the 2019 Women of Power Legacy Award by Black Enterprise.

Besides her Cal degrees in Business Administration and Human Resources Management, Marshall has been awarded four honorary doctorates.

She believes her experience with the Dallas Mavericks can help normalize the hiring Mark Cuban made.

“I want to make sure I do a good job, be a good role model and show that it shouldn’t be unusual for a Black woman to be in a job like this. We are capable,” Marshall said. 

“I want to make sure I’m working and others are working to cultivate the second, third, fourth and fifth one that’s coming. I want to make sure I’m not the last. I can’t be the last, and I won’t be the last. I know I won’t be.”

-- No. 26: Ky Ebright

Cover photo of Cynt Marshall with Mark Cuban by Jerome Miron, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo