Among Major League Baseball teams, Elaine Weddington Steward, Vice President, Assistant General Manager and General Counsel of the Red Sox, was the sole women of color among 134 team vice presidents. However, among the staff assigned to the WNBA, women, including women of color, were relatively well represented. Renee Brown, an African-American, was Vice President, Player Personnel in the central office. Certainly a look at the past would not give us much optimism. Political pressure really seems like a key element here.
White males control most of the operations on all levels of sport.
The successes of Serena and Venus Williams, while so important, is but a faint knock on the door. It is not even clear yet if their success will encourage more girls of color to play sports previously played in mostly by whites. Hopes were high when Althea Gibson won at Wimbledon. It took 42 years for a repeat by an African-American woman. Unless more women of color compete in sport as children, it is unlikely that they will be part of the sports world as adults.