Erica McKinley is an accomplished attorney who broke the glass ceiling in professional basketball and college sports. Ms. McKinley has the distinction of being the first woman named Chief Operating Officer for the National Basketball Players Association. In 2016, she spearheaded the construction of the NBPA’s award-winning training facility and basketball court. Ms. McKinley also partnered with other NBPA leaders to produce the NBPA One Court Experience, a bespoke program that provided NBA players exclusive amenities and accommodations during NBA All-Star Weekend.

After the NBPA, Ms. McKinley entered Division 1 college sports as the Chief Legal Officer for the Big Ten Conference. She managed all governance, NCAA compliance, and legal matters for the Conference. Her areas of responsibility included media rights, sponsorships, and the class action litigations involving concussions and name, image, and likeness. Ms. McKinley was also a thought partner and strategist for the Conference commissioner and the presidents, chancellors, and athletic directors for the fourteen Conference institutions. Before joining the Big Ten Conference, Ms. McKinley was the Chief Legal Officer for an institution in the Southeastern Conference, the University of Mississippi. She handled NCAA infractions and prepared multimillion dollar coach’s contracts. Ms. McKinley also counseled the Ole Miss Athletics Department on various complex issues driving college sports, including student-athlete social activism and protests.

Ms. McKinley’s exceptional body of legal work includes in house, government, and law firm experience. She was associate general counsel for the world’s largest retailer, Walmart Stores, Inc. As an attorney in Walmart’s global investigations group, Ms. McKinley spent considerable time in Mexico, Brazil, and Chile, where she investigated violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Her government service includes serving as Chief of General Litigation in the District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General. Ms. McKinley first started her legal career in Washington, D.C. in 1999, where she was a litigation associate at two prominent international law firms, Arnold & Porter and Akin Gump. Before joining Arnold & Porter, Ms. McKinley completed a judicial clerkship with Justice E. Grady Jolly on United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She is a 1998 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law. Ms. McKinley earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Tougaloo College.

Ms. McKinley is an engaging and dynamic speaker who lectures on the interconnectedness of one’s passion and one’s profession. She is an activist at heart. Ms. McKinley’s most recent role is Chief Legal Officer for Sierra Club, the nation's oldest environmental organization. Ms. McKinley’s team includes more than fifty lawyers and staff who leverage litigation, advocacy, and grassroots organizing to fight climate change, protect clean air, water, and wilderness, and pursue justice for communities threatened by pollution.