Jermaine Daw
Director, HR Business Partner
National Basketball Association (NBA)
New York, N.Y.
Age: 38
A surprise phone call gave Jermaine Daw the chance of a lifetime. ?I got a rare opportunity to merge my personal and professional passions,? he explains, recalling the offer to join the Talent Acquisition Team at the National Basketball Association. Almost five years later, the basketball enthusiast is a director, human resources business partner at the NBA. He is the principal HR consultant for the League Operations functions, which includes Basketball Operations, Referee Operations, and Basketball Strategy & Analysis, and he also is the HR lead for the NBA Development League.
Prior to the NBA, Daw was a corporate recruiter at HBO and a manager of Recruitment at Luxottica USA, parent company to Lenscrafters, Sunglass Hut, Oakley, Sears Optical and other eyewear subsidiaries. He attributes his success to a laser focus on his work product, an unparalleled work ethic and treating others with respect. His focus and work ethic stem from a deeply held belief described in his personal motto, ?If I didn?t get something it is because I didn?t want it bad enough.? Daw shares this belief unstintingly with his mentees. ?If you make a goal a big enough priority you can accomplish it or some version of it,? he insists.
Passionate about developing students, Daw is a volunteer mentor for the TEAK Fellowship, a free New York City program that helps academically talented students from low-income families to reach their potential through intensive after-school and summer classes. He recalls the many adults who positively influenced his life, keeping him on the right path and instilling in him the importance of education. By mentoring, he says, he gets an opportunity to pay it forward while sharing some of his life lessons.
A native of Guyana, Daw holds both a bachelor?s degree in economics and a master?s degree in human resources management from Stony Brook University.
