Punching Above Her Weight
At 5’2″, Allison Howard proves that size doesn’t determine impact. Now, as President of Business Operations for the new Cleveland WNBA franchise, Howard is bringing that same philosophy to Cleveland, a city that knows something about punching above its weight.
At Rocket Arena on September 16, 2025, Howard said, “We don’t start bouncing the basketball for 32 more months and look at what we’re already doing today.” Nearly 700 K-12 and college students had gathered to celebrate the WNBA’s return to Cleveland.
Howard’s vision extends far beyond basketball. The organization has already planned 28 training and development programs for young girls and women through June 2026, starting with the September 16 event at Rocket Arena.
“We believe that if you want real, lasting impact, you have to first listen, show up and connect before you ever draw up a playbook,” Howard explains. “That’s why every decision we make is grounded in empowering Cleveland, letting the city’s energy, ideas and spirit shape the team—long before the action hits the court.”
Building from the Ground Up
Howard’s journey to leading a professional sports franchise began with a love of work and a dedication to making an impact. At nine years old, she was walking dogs for 50 cents an hour, then babysitting for neighbors. Later, she worked at her family’s Hallmark store in Haslett, Michigan.
“I love work,” Howard reflects. “I just have always loved working.”
That foundation of hard work led her to the University of Dayton, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. But Howard’s choice of Dayton wasn’t just about academics.
“I might not have been as successful at a Michigan State or University of Michigan,” she explains. “It’s not the way my brain works. I needed a smaller setting where I could build relationships with different people, not just those in my area of study.” That penchant for building relationships eventually proved more powerful than her engineering degree.
The Power of Relationships
After graduation, Howard worked for Shell Oil in California, running environmental projects. But at 27, she experienced what she calls her first “look in the mirror moment.” Howard realized she wasn’t excited about her work, or in her words, she was not “jumping out of bed to do my job.”
“I wanted to make more of an impact,” she recalls.
That moment led her to Premier Partnerships, where she became only the fifth employee in the organization. Randy Bernstein, who worked with Major League Soccer’s founding commissioner Alan Rothenberg, presented Howard the opportunity to make an impact. There, Howard discovered her superpower: building relationships.
“That is probably one of my biggest strengths,” Howard says. “I really enjoy getting to know people, having meaningful conversations and creating impacful relationships and plans.”
Bernstein gave Howard autonomy, sending her across the country to sports meetings where she met commissioners and owners. “He would put me in the room, and I would go,” she remembers. “I would make sure people knew who I was. I would ask what I thought were appropriate and interesting questions so they would remember my name.”
Scaling New Heights
Howard’s relationship-building skills eventually caught the attention of the Los Angeles Lakers. Tim Harris, the team’s president of business operations, made her a family promise that would shape the next decade of her career.
“Within two minutes of meeting me, he said, “Allison, I know what being a mom means to you, and I will make this job work for you,'” Howard recalls. “I worked for him for over a decade and he always made the job work for my family.”
At the Lakers, Howard helped transform the organization from a business scattered across three buildings in El Segundo to a unified operation with a $100 million training facility. She secured the naming rights deal with UCLA Health and later closed $150 million in partnership deals with Bibigo and DWS.
But success brought another mirror moment. Despite the massive deals, Howard wanted to do more. “It wasn’t filling my soul,” she said, realizing that she wanted to have even more of an impact.
Finding Her Purpose
That realization led Howard to Kansas City, where she became the first president of the NWSL’s Kansas City Current. There, she built the first stadium dedicated to women’s professional sports and helped create something from nothing—exactly the kind of challenge that energizes her.
“I loved being able to design this whole thing,” Howard says. “I had confidence in myself. And I did it.”
Then she realized that with the soccer season running through the summer, she couldn’t spend time with her boys. While they were out of school, she was constantly working, and the overlap meant she rarely saw them. The demanding travel schedule and summer season pulled her away from her family, making her busiest months the very time her children were most free. “That was a dagger to my heart,” Howard recalls, when she recognized, “I’m not spending nearly the amount of time with my family that I should.”
Cleveland: Where Purpose Meets Opportunity
When Cleveland Cavaliers CEO Nic Barlage reached out, Howard was honest about her priorities. “I have to keep my family first,” she told him. “I only have six more years left until I’m an empty nester!”
Barlage’s response aligned perfectly with the Family of Companies’ For More Than Profit philosophy, which Dan Gilbert trademarked to describe organizations that both generate revenue and serve their communities.
“I totally understand that,” Barlage told her. “And we will give you that space.”
Howard found herself drawn to the Family of Companies, an organization that embodies many of the same principles that have guided her career—the ISMs that shape our culture: “We are all in, all the time (Every client, every time)” and “We obsess over our team members and clients (Obsessed with finding a better way).”
“I’m so impressed with the resources that we pour into our team members and the culture and the caring and the love that we create,” Howard explains. “When we’re working 8 a.m. in the morning in the office until 10, 11 o’clock at night on a game night, we’re enjoying each other. You’re getting to know the people around you and who their kids are, where they volunteer, what boards they’re on.”
Cleveland Punches Higher
Howard recognized something familiar in Cleveland—a city that, like her, punches above its weight class. She had watched from Los Angeles as the Cavaliers maintained their commercial success even after LeBron James left for Miami.
“I knew Cleveland punched above its weight,” she says. “I was especially impressed with what the commercial teams were able to do after LeBron left because they remained successful.”
That resilience reflects the broader Cleveland spirit that Howard now helps channel. At the September 16 announcement, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert explained why Cleveland stood out among 13 potential markets.
“It was pretty apparent that Cleveland deserved a WNBA team at this time of hyper growth that the league is in,” Engelbert said, citing the city’s successful hosting of the NCAA Final Four, which generated $35 million in economic impact.
Building the Future
The response has been immediate and overwhelming. Nearly 7,000 initial seat payments have already been placed, demonstrating the pent-up demand for women’s professional sports in Cleveland.
“Make no mistake, this is just the beginning,” Howard told the students at the event. “Because empowering the next generation is what this team is built for. Together starts now.”
The Long Orange Runway
For Howard, leading the Cleveland WNBA franchise represents the perfect intersection of her professional expertise and personal values. She is building something meaningful in a city that shares her determination to exceed expectations.
“What excites me most is showing my boys how much this city is going to change and grow,” she said. “The heartbeat of that transformation starts at Rocket Arena.”
Looking ahead to 2028, when the team begins play, Howard sees an opportunity to prove that success isn’t defined by size but by impact and relationships. “Sports elicit emotion, and Cleveland is a city that feels deeply,” she explained. “In women’s sports we’ve long said, you have to see her to be her. That inspiration is what drives us.”
Tip off may still be years away, but Howard is already laying the foundation. Through the programs announced in September and the connections being built across the community, she wants young women to see themselves in the game. “When a girl sees a coach who looks like her or a team president who looks like her, the world opens up,” she said.
Howard has spent her career dedicated to impact and relationships, and in Cleveland she is building more than a team. She is shaping a future where young women see what’s possible, believe in themselves, and embrace the power of punching above their weight.
