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The WNBA introduced Laurel J. Richie as the third president in league history today. Richie, who succeeds Donna Orender after Orender resigned her position last year, comes to the WNBA after a lengthy tenure with Girl Scouts of the USA, where she was most recently senior vice president and chief marketing officer. Richie brings tremendous business experience to the league as it transitions into maturity entering its 15th season.

“We were thrilled to learn that Laurel Richie was named our new president,” said Storm CEO Karen Bryant. “The owners and I had the great pleasure of meeting Laurel at a recent Girl Scouts event in Seattle and were very impressed by her credentials and her presence. We look forward to working with her as as she leads the next era of the WNBA.”

One of Richie’s first acts as president will be distributing championship rings to the Storm during the June 4 Celebration of Champions. Coincidentally, the last time the Storm received rings, Orender was new to the league.

As Bryant noted, Richie is already familiar with the Storm. In February, she was the keynote speaker at the Girl Scouts of Western Washington Seattle Leadership Luncheon. During the luncheon, Bryant and members of Force 10 Hoops LLC were honored as the Girl Scouts’ Women of Distinction. Storm Head Coach Brian Agler was also in attendance.

With Storm memorabilia at each table, Richie got her first exposure to what she’ll experience at KeyArena on June 4.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 21st, 2011 at 11:52 am and is filed under WNBA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.