While in college, Liz Montaño interned with the Washington Wizards and Mystics. She was inspired by Susan O'Malley, then the president of business operations for the NBA and WNBA franchises.
Montaño told herself she wanted to be president of an NBA franchise. At that time, she didn't realize all of the challenges she would face as a woman and a Latina in a largely white male-dominated field.
"Representation definitely matters," she said.
Twenty-plus year later, Montaño is a top executive with a professional sports franchise, believed to be the first Latina chief operations officer in the history of the NHL.