Engagement Insider
Latria Leak found a way to blend her love of helping people, especially children, with her love of sports and for good measure is paid to do it.
That’s a pretty good trifecta.
Leak, a graduate of the University of Florida, works with the NBA’s Orlando Magic in Community Relations and Government Affairs.
Her current responsibilities include developing and executing community and government relations initiatives that align with the company’s focus areas of education, health and wellness, arts, multi-cultural inclusion and the economically underserved. These programs include, but are not limited to: community events, NBA Cares, holiday outreach programs, ticket programs, player initiatives and volunteer and cause-related philanthropic programs.
“I actually wear four different hats,’’ Leak said. “The community relations area where we get involved and help children is the first one. There’s the corporate one where I am dealing with our many sponsors, like Disney and Chase Bank and our broadcast partners. The third hat is the multi-cultural inclusion. We’re big on diversity and we’re getting the African-American, the Asian and the Hispanic chapters involved. And finally, there is the player program where I help players get involved in the community. I try to find out what their passion is and put them in the proper setting.’’
She’s also at the Magic’s home games where often she is again helping children.
“Some of our players buy tickets to a lot of games for kids who wouldn’t be able to afford to attend a NBA game,’’ Leak said. “So we’ll have groups of kids and I’ll be there with them making sure everything is right.’’
Leak’s outreach doesn’t just include the Magic where she began her career as intern in 2006 and worked her way up into the team’s administration. She is also involved in several volunteer and leadership activities, including serving on the boards of the City of Orlando Mayor’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission, former President of Central Florida’s National Association of Black Sports Professionals (NABSP), UCF’s Multicultural Academic and Support Services Advisory Board (MASS), the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation (OMYF) VIP Grant Committee and is a Director for Orlando’s Big Brothers and Big Sisters.
“I love helping people, I always have,’’ Leak said.
“When I’m able to impact children it’s just a great thing for me. The fact that I get paid to do this is even better. I just like to make a difference in what I do.’’
It’s always been that way for her.
While at the University of Florida, Latria served as the Director of Black Female Extravaganza (BFE), Black Student Union’s Miss Freshman, Secretary of the Association of Black Communicators (ABC), and Step Leader of the Lambda Psi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority where she performed and won multiple Black Greek Extravaganza Champion’s Awards.
It’s also where she met her future husband.
“I was on the journalism side then,’’ she said. “We did an athlete spotlight and the editor wanted to do one on Chris. He was so tough to get a hold of though. The editor was ready to move on and do someone else when I told him I knew him from class and would try to interview him.
“He was so quiet at first, but then he opened up and gave me a good interview. Later, he called me and left me a message thanking me and asking me if I wanted to hang out. He was the quarterback of the football team. I wasn’t sure I wanted to deal with all of that. But as I got to know him, I realized we had similar values. And here we are eight years later, married and with our child.’’
Just two more of Latria’s loves.