For Major League Baseball SVP Marianne Boak, Inclusive Leadership Underpins Success

Celebrating 10 Under 10 honoree Marianne Boak, MBA ’23

A senior vice president in the sports industry and a mentor who believes that being a Cornellian means building communities where everyone feels they belong, Marianne Boak, MBA ’23, a graduate of the Executive MBA Metro NY program at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, is one of the 2024 10 Under 10 Notable Alumni honored by the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.

Boak is senior vice president of enterprise products and data operations at Major League Baseball (MLB), where she has held positions of increasing responsibility since she joined in 2011. In her current role, she leads the strategic partnership between MLB’s business and enterprise technology initiatives. Before joining MLB she was at PepsiCo, where she held a series of positions over 10 years, culminating in senior manager, customer supply chain. Boak first connected with MLB early in her career as a consultant at PwC, where she was responsible for building out MLB’s player transaction system and supported arbitration analysis for the league.

Boak hails from Sayville, NY, a hamlet on the South Shore of Long Island, and now lives in Eastchester, NY. Asked what she does when not making power moves, she says enjoys “spending quality time, hopefully outside, with my husband and our two amazing daughters.”

 Learn more about Boak in this Q&A.

Inclusive leadership supports expanded responsibilities

What drives your commitment and focus in your professional career?

Boak: Today it is called having a growth mindset—remaining curious. I have always loved learning, while acknowledging all there is yet to learn. My desire to grow, coupled with openness to feedback, has opened doors throughout my career. My curiosity about people and how I can help them succeed has helped me build and maintain relationships. I believe my inclusive leadership style has supported my expanded responsibilities over critical business functions and teams over time.

I now lead the strategic partnership between MLB’s business and enterprise technology initiatives. Within my large portfolio are technologies that support core business functions for finance, legal affairs, human resources, youth baseball and softball development, and global events. I am responsible for custom-built technologies that support the draft and draft prospects, baseball operations and many of their strategic on-field initiatives, as well as products used by MLB’s clubs, umpire, and replay operations. I am also accountable for MLB’s digital initiatives, which manage more than 150 fan-facing and internal websites, including MLB Pressbox, World Baseball Classic, and MLB Network; and finally for data operations, which collects and manages baseball data that feed our owned and operated and partner systems and manages critical game-day functions like official scoring and pace-of-game operations.

Here’s my twist on a line from The Rookie: You know what I get to do today? I get to work for baseball!

Leave the world a better place

“Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on earth.” —Roberto Clemente

“These words are printed on the floor outside of the doors I enter to work each day,” says Boak. “They are a beautiful reminder to try to leave the world a better place than I found it.”

To that end, Boak is an active mentor for people at different stages of their lives and careers who aspire to work within the sports industry.

What inspires you to dedicate your time and energy to this community service? What impact do you want to have in the world?

Boak: I want to give what I can while I can. When I was starting my career 20+ years ago, there were no formal mentorships programs and I had little guidance in the early stages of my career. So now, I mentor within my network internally, and externally through American Corporate Partners in support of our veterans returning to the civilian workforce. I also enjoy attending local career nights for high schoolers to discuss all the opportunities within the sports industry beyond playing a sport.

Inspired by “… any person … any study.”

What drives your continued engagement with and contribution to the Cornell community?

Boak: I was and remain very inspired by Ezra Cornell’s founding principle to “… found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.” I believe being a Cornellian means you are obligated to help build a community where everyone feels they belong. I try to do this in my personal and professional life, and now through the Cornell community as well.

What does being selected for the 10 Under 10 Notable Alumni list mean to you?

Boak: Being selected for the 10 Under 10 Notable Alumni further codified my belief that you should never stop investing in yourself, no matter your age or stage. You are always worth the investment.

An agent of change

What are the most valuable things you learned at Cornell that have helped you in your career?

Boak: My definition of an entrepreneur before Cornell was limited to someone who starts or owns a business. Through my MBA, I significantly expanded this definition to mean an agent of change, to be someone who recognizes new opportunities and creates innovative ideas. At the end of the day, it is about passion, something I have always had in ample supply. Seeing myself as an entrepreneur within an existing organization has changed the way I approach obstacles and has expanded opportunities for myself and my team.

Did any particular faculty or staff member(s) influence you on your chosen career path?

Boak: One of my favorite quotes I try to live by is from Maya Angelou:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

That resonated after a lecture from Risa Mish [professor of the practice of management and Day Family Senior Lecturer of Business Ethics at the Johnson School], when I would feel so inspired and motivated to continue to make a difference, to pause and truly appreciate the privilege of the education I was receiving, and to pay it forward. At the end of one of her lectures, we all gave her a standing ovation. That feeling has stayed with me as I continue to give back where I can and try to make the most of the gifts I have received.

Welcoming diverse voices

Describe a challenge you encountered as you built your career and how you overcame it.

Boak: Starting my career in tech consulting and then later in tech within sports, I have often found myself the only woman in the room—although it has gotten so much better! It can be hard to be the only one; that was especially true when I was younger and had not yet found my voice and was less confident in my abilities. Now one of my passions is bringing diverse voices into the room, and it is an area where I have had direct impact.

What is the proudest moment of your career or of your personal life?

Boak: I found out in April 2023 that I was promoted to senior vice president and in May 2023 I graduated from Cornell. The two events happening so close together was fairly overwhelming; I felt it was a culmination of all my hard work throughout my career and education. Graduating in May with my family and young girls by my side made me exceptionally proud.

What do you do to recharge?

Boak: One of the ways I recharge is by physically moving my body—outside in nature, where possible. I discovered my love for running in my 30s when training for my first triathlon. Running outside is where some of my best thinking happens, where I practice speaking for presentations, or chew on a problem I am working through. Also, at the end of a long day, nothing beats a group hug from my girls. In that moment, my whole day melts away and I am reminded of so many of my ‘whys.’

What do you wish you’d known as a current student and what advice would you give to students today?

Boak: The Executive MBA Metro NY program is really well done for working professionals with its every-other-weekend format and semester breaks. My advice is to spend as much time as you can with your classmates during class weekends. The time really does go by fast and you should make the most out of your investment, which includes spending time with your newly expanded network!