The class was made up of the 22 up-and-coming diverse sports professionals, who received scholarships including complimentary badges to attend the 2013 National Sports Forum in Orlando, FL. On January 27th, the Diversity Class held a private day-long seminar entitled, The NSF Diversity Class of 2013 - Professional Development Session.

This program focused on key industry issues and trends and sharing best practices of networking and professional development within the industry. The seminar was led under the direction of internationally recognized educator Dr. Richard Lapchick, as well as the guidance of Mary Pink, Associate Athletic Director of Marketing at Iowa State University, Dr. Keith Harrison, Associate Professor in the DeVos Sports Business Management Graduate Program at the University of Central Florida and Karen Rundle, Senior Recruiter with the Orlando Magic.

"The National Sports Forum's Inaugural Diversity Class was a great opportunity to not only engage with other diverse sports professionals, but also build communication lines across the country. The programming for the Diversity Class breakout gave me a lot of perspective on my career path and served as a reminder of our duty to bring other, qualified diverse candidates into the sports industry pipeline. Since the National Sports Forum ended I have stayed very engaged with the new connections I made and I look forward to future involvement with the Sports Forum diversity initiatives." --Tara Jackson, Monumental Sports (member of the Inaugural Diversity Class of 2013).