Black women in leadership positions have proven to be integral parts of companies’ growth and development time and time again.

While diversity in the workforce has ramped up for many businesses over the last few months, LeBron James’ SpringHill Imprint has long since fought to close the gaps of systemic racism by granting more opportunities to Black and brown people.

As the conglomerate company’s newest hire, Nike and ESPN alum Gianina Thompson has been appointed Communications Director where she’ll be responsible for “developing and executing the communications initiative within the media, consumer, and entertainment industries across each of the company’s three pillars,” she told ESSENCE.

Within her new role, Thompson is expected to reshape SpringHill’s narrative in the media and entertainment industries to reflect social justice issues that require attention from the perspectives of Black and brown communities.

In addition to her latest accomplishment, Thompson has a long history of exceeding expectations for young Black women her age.

At the age of 21, Thompson earned her master’s degree in communications from Old Dominion University and started her career early as a Senior PR Specialist for Hampton University, according to ESSENCE.

Her role at Hampton introduced her to her passion where she discovered how she wanted to present herself as a leader for her community in her industry.

“I knew I had to forge my own path because if my plan was to just try to do exactly what someone else did in the exact way that they did it, I wasn’t going to get anywhere,” she said.

She later moved on to more endeavors such as a PR assistant position for the former Washington Redskins, a writer and Senior Publicist role at ESPN, and a Communications Manager role for Nike on the Converse brand, ESSENCE reports.

According to Thompson, she’s most excited about learning from superstar athlete and mogul LeBron James as he continues to use his massive platform to advocate for changes inside and outside of the industry.

As a young Black woman, she’s also proud to be able to step into this new role and be the representation she hopes to see across all industries.

“In any of the work that I have done and will do, the beauty in it is that my being a Black woman is in the front seat of my story-telling and truth seeking,” she said to ESSENCE. “There’s no detaching from it and like LeBron, I feel it my responsibility to be intentional in that.”

Thompson — a self-described storyteller and truth-seeker — leaves a powerful trail of content that highlights important Black narratives in entertainment and plans to continue this legacy through her newly appointed position at SpringHill.

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