As Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at the National Basketball Association (NBA), Tatia L. Williams is responsible for the legal and business affairs related to the league’s Social Responsibility and Player Programs department, which includes all programs related to NBA Cares, the Jr. NBA, Player Marketing and Player Development. Williams also leads a league-wide, inter-departmental team that reviews global brand compliance for the use of creative promotions and advertising. Additionally, she manages a portfolio of NBA TV media deals, handling all aspects of the affiliate relationship, oversees the NBA’s compulsory license work and, most recently, focused on the 2019- 20 NBA Season Restart, concentrating on the legal process for vendors, staff, player and team guests.
Williams is a member of several of the NBA’s affinity groups, including the NBA Women’s Network and Dream in Color, where she holds a leadership role. Recently she has been active in assisting the league in establishing and activating new social justice initiatives and commitments, including the NBA Foundation and National Basketball Social Justice Coalition.
Prior to joining the NBA, she worked as a Director in the Sales Planning and Strategy/Media Distribution Group at MTV Networks and as a Vice President of Legal and Business Affairs at Oxygen Media. In addition, she has served as a political appointee in the Executive Branch of the United States Government as a lawyer for a Presidential Transition Team, Special Counsel to the President in the White House (White House Counsel’s Office), and Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) at the Department of Commerce. She began her career in the Corporate Department of the New York office of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett.
Williams dedicates much of her personal time to serving her community. She recently was asked to serve on the College Foundation Board of the University of Virginia and is on the Board of Directors of iLiveFor, a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit, committed to ending the cultural stigma of depression, anxiety and other mental disorders in teenagers and young adults of color. She previously served on the Board of Directors of the Girls, Inc. of NYC and on the Board of Advisors of the National Cathedral School in Washington, DC. She also has held numerous leadership positions as a member of the Links, Inc., and was elected to and serves as a Mentor for the W.O.M.E.N. in America Organization, whose mission is to enable women to fulfill their highest potential by positioning them early in their careers for success. She is a graduate of the Women in Sports and Events (WISE) Executive Leadership Institute (WELI) and is a member of WISE.
Originally from Washington, DC, Williams currently resides in New York City. She earned her B.A. with High Distinction from the University of Virginia, where she was an Echols Scholar, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.