Laura Diaz
Diversity, inclusion and impact
Golf, much like a stucco ceiling, has been dishearteningly uniform in makeup for much of its history. At one time, diversity within the game was not only rare, but actively discouraged. If the sport is to thrive and hold a place in society, it must be a reflection of the modern cultural values held by today’s players.
That’s where Laura Diaz comes in. As the senior director of learning and inclusion for the LPGA, she is one of the most ardent crusaders for equity within golf. Through community outreach efforts and internal programming, Diaz strives to make the sport more accessible, welcoming, and understanding to players and administrators of all stripes. To her, a proud Puerto Rican, golf as a game for everyone is not simply a mantra - it is a reality she actively strives for.
Uniquely, sound forms the basis of Diaz’s earliest golfing memories. Her father, a physician in their home of Aguadilla, would tee it up every Thursday with a regular group of friends at the local Air Force course. She attributes the crunch of his metal spikes when he walked as an early driver of interest.
“One day I asked him," Diaz recalled, “can you take me to the place where the shoes go click, click, click?”
From the sonic influence of metal on concrete, Diaz launched a playing career that would see her rise to the collegiate level. She excelled in Puerto Rico’s local scene, and was eventually recruited to play Division I golf for East Tennessee State.
Through contacts met in her playing days, Diaz was exposed to the colorful spectrum of administrative positions within the game. She spent the years after her graduation on a walking tour of the game’s prominent organizations. She returned home to work with the Puerto Rico Golf Association, did two separate stints with the Florida-based First Tee, and even worked as a scoring specialist for the PGA Tour Latinoamerica.
However, it was in 2019 when Diaz took the job that would define her career arc. In the midst of a managerial reshuffling, she jumped on board with the LPGA.
“The future is going to be young, it's going to be female, it's going to be multicultural, it's going to be tech savvy, it's going to be purpose driven. All these things are what inclusion is about.”
This original position was focused on the association’s foundation, the philanthropic arm that oversees fundraising, community outreach programs, and charitable endeavors. Diaz drew from her past expertise from the First Tee to excel quickly in this new role.
“It was all things that I'd done before, but I was leading a brand new team in a new organization,” Diaz said. “I kind of had to really focus on structure and operations internally before I could focus on the external.”
However, her responsibilities within the LPGA would soon evolve due to a recent flashpoint in American history. The death of George Floyd in 2020 caused Diaz to reflect on her association’s response to the tragedy.
“I remember emailing our CMO at the time,” Diaz said. “I was just curious how an organization decides what to put out in a moment like that.”
Motivated, Diaz began developing internal inclusion and education initiatives within the LPGA. As this domain expanded, the burden of both this new effort and her existing foundation work proved too much to handle.
“I was going to have to go one way or the other,” Diaz recalled.
Reflecting on her own association’s birth, she knew which way she wanted to lean.
“The 13 women who founded the organization were pioneers and trailblazers in that space,” Diaz said. “To follow in their lead and continue to advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion … it felt like a big responsibility.”
According to Diaz, inclusion is a driving force behind organizational development. Cycling ideas across domains and getting new faces involved in decision making is a primary concern.
“If you're not including the right people in the conversations, you're just going to get stuck into the same thing that you’ve normally done,” Diaz said. “The future is going to be young, it's going to be female, it's going to be multicultural, it's going to be tech savvy, it's going to be purpose driven. All these things are what inclusion is about.”
Daniel Polce
