Featured Speaker

Felicia Martin
Senior Vice President of Inclusion, Education & Community Engagement
NCAA

Felicia Martin

In March 2022, Felicia Martin was named senior vice president of inclusion, education and community engagement.

She had held the role in an interim capacity beginning in June 2021. Internally, she leads all inclusion operations and leadership development programming and supervises national office staff in inclusion, education and community engagement. She serves as a national office ambassador to member organizations, promoting the NCAA’s core values of diversity and inclusion.

Martin became the vice president of the NCAA Eligibility Center in February 2017. In that role, she was responsible for the Eligibility Center’s strategic direction and oversaw a staff that annually certified academics and sport participation credentials for approximately 100,000 Division I and II prospective student-athletes.

In addition to her regulatory affairs experience, Martin has an extensive campus background. Before coming to the NCAA, Martin was a senior associate director of athletics for academics, student services and sports administration at Texas Tech from 2008 to 2017. From 2003 to 2008, Martin served as the assistant executive director at the Division 1A Athletic Directors’ Association, now known as the LEAD1 Association. She began her athletics career at Texas Tech as a counseling specialist focusing on freshman student transition, student-athlete tutorial services and mentoring programming.

Martin is a long-standing member of the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals, where she has held various leadership roles, including president from 2017-18. Previously Martin represented the NCAA on the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Executive Committee as an at-large representative. In addition, she is a member of the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association, Women Leaders in College Sports and the Indy Chamber. Martin serves on the NCORE National Advisory Council, Athletics in the Academy committee and McLendon Foundation board. She also is a graduate of the NCAA Dr. Charles Whitcomb Leadership Institute. Martin is credited as a co-founder of the Lauro Cavazos & Ophelia Powell-Malone Mentoring Program (Mentor Tech). She has facilitated several student athlete development leadership conferences and is a frequent panelist, presenter and keynote speaker.

A native of Bay Springs, Mississippi, Martin earned her bachelor’s degree in educational psychology and master’s degree in counselor education from Mississippi State.

©