The next interview in our Women in Baseball series features Chartese Burnett, Vice President of Communications, Washington Nationals.

It was early in the season when we sat down with Chartese Burnett, a moment and an interview each of us had eagerly looked forward to. Because Chartese is actively involved in the Washington Nationals community, we had all looked up to her for some time and appreciated the opportunity to learn more about her path, accomplishments and experiences. Chartese was candid and shared so much with us. Because she was generous with her time and so open and honest with her answers, it took us some time to write a piece that could reflect and capture her story in a compelling way. Alas, here is her story, with our apology for an extended delay.

Chartese grew up in Washington, the daughter of a man immersed in DC sports. Though she herself had no passion for any particular sport, her path would bring her into contact with several, both at the collegiate and professional level.  But before that, as a young child and eventually as a college student at Georgetown University, her plans were worlds away from professional sports.   She was eight when she first traveled to Europe and fell in love with foreign languages and cultures.  She studied French and Spanish and planned to be an interpreter/translator, but a college course in Communications really captured her interest. “I really liked it; I thought this is what I want to do.” It was actually during a stint as a Customer Support Representative with Xerox Corporation after college when she developed a love for dealing with the public.

She began working for Georgetown in Sports Information and left four years later as the Director of the department.  From there, she went on to work for the Commissioner of the NBA as Assistant Director of Media Relations.  In her two years there, she developed a great working relationship with Commissioner David Stern.  As a mentor, he helped prepare her for new opportunities in the sports world.

In 1993, she left the NBA.  Her husband’s job forced their family to move to Arizona and Burnett was anxious to spend time at home with their newborn.   Were it not for the move, “I think I would have tried to pursue being a working mother as I am now, but [looking back] it was a really worth while decision because I got to stay at home with my child.”  After three years, the family moved back to Washington and Chartese took a position with the licensing and marketing subsidiary of the NFL Players Union.  There she worked with “licensing and sponsors that utilize NFL players in their products, like NFL trading cards, computer games, and things like that.”

Five years later she took a break from sports and went to work for NASA Headquarters as Director of Public Outreach, coordinating special events, arranging public appearances and working with astronauts.  After a year with NASA, the Washington Nationals were moving to town and Burnett was recruited.

I was thinking baseball? I know nothing about baseball.  I promise you I had never really watched a baseball game.  My Dad had been a huge baseball fan, but I had never watched a baseball game even in the professional sports arena, I had never gone to a baseball game, so I was like and how many games do they have a year?

She interviewed for the position and decided that it was an amazing opportunity. RFK was just five minutes from her childhood home, giving her the chance to frequently visit her mother, who was very sick at the time and who has since passed away. “It was just working out too well.  I was able to go home and take care of my mom and have lunch with her.  I could get in the car and be there in five minutes.”

Though Chartese has always been an accomplished professional and a strong woman in her own right, her family has always been her top priority  Just as her mom’s health helped lead her to the Nationals, her two young daughters continue to help Chartese maintain an important balance with work and family, one that many working moms struggle to achieve.

For me it’s very important to get home to see my family. Even if there’s something that needs to get done past the workday hours, I go home and spend some time with my family and I put my kids to bed. If it can wait till tomorrow, it waits till tomorrow. If it can’t, then I go back to work in my home office and that’s okay. But I try to maintain as much of a balance as possible. The balance should be spending more time then 50/50, but I don’t. Unfortunately, I don’t. But I don’t beat myself up for it. But you know, I try to do it as best I can spending as much quality time with my kids as I can.

Achieving that balance is certainly not the first or only challenge Chartese has overcome.  In 1999, she was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. After six months of chemotherapy and eight weeks of radiation, Burnett was declared cancer free.  She battled through it - overcoming the odds with a determination to do everything she could to raise money and awareness to help others overcome it as well.  This year she was chosen as The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Woman of the Year.  She raised over $80,000 over a ten week period.  You can donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by clicking here.

Beating the disease strengthened her already strong resolve and today nothing can bring her down, not even the obvious challenges she faces in a male dominated profession, like baseball.  It may come as a surprise, but Burnett admits that for various reasons, baseball is far more male dominated than the other professional sports she has worked in.

People sometimes think you don’t know as much, or you’re not qualified, because I should know more about Ryan Zimmerman’s batting average.  Well that’s not germane to what I do.  I’m very qualified.  I’ve been around for a long time.

After proving that you’re as qualified as your male counterparts, women still face a very real glass ceiling in terms of executive positions available to them in the industry.  A friend of Burnett’s had just been skipped over for a promotion in the industry, despite having served a step under the executive for over a decade.

The challenge just makes women like Burnett work harder.  Every morning, Chartese starts the day by reading press clips assembled by her staff.  Her role is primarily administrative, overseeing all off the field public relations for the organization.  “I love talking to people, engaging people.  It really is my favorite part of the job.  I love working with my staff.  I like working with people and making an impact.”  She hates to write these days, citing a lack of creative energy, but loves to edit and tries to oversee, not micromanage her Communications department.  She can’t say enough about the strength of her staff. “The higher up you go the less hands on you have to be, I mean you can be as hands on as you’d like to be, but I have a phenomenal staff, they are very talented and experienced.”

As a mentor to her staffers, a responsibility she cherishes, she emphasizes professionalism.

As a mom of two girls, if you work for me, I’m going to treat you like my daughter. And it’s such a male dominated industry. You work in a male dominated arena. The first thing you want people to see is who you are inside — how knowledgeable you are, how professional and capable you are.  You’re already behind a little bit.  It’s unfortunate but you are.  Don’t put yourself further behind.

Of course, Burnett is the perfect mentor to inspire respect and trust from her staff.  Her story says as much.  These challenges are nothing compared to what she’s already overcome in life.  She’s a remarkable woman and only through the accomplishments of people like Burnett will the industry adjust to having bright, capable women making decisions.  “I believe that things can change; they will change. It’s up to us to make that happen. When you’re a woman in this business, you shouldn’t let that stop you.”

A surprise visit during our interview by Stan Kasten confirmed as much.  “We’re talking about women in baseball,” said Burnett.  Kasten’s replied with a smile: “We need more of them.”  In addition to being supportive of women in the industry, Kasten has also served as a mentor to Burnett.  “Working for him has been an amazing opportunity…He’s bright.  He’s talented.  He’s funny.  He’s engaging.  He’s sincere.  He’s a good person.”

Though she had never watched a baseball game before working for the Nationals, she quickly understood how and why baseball touches so many lives.

I think it is the most, well, the purest sport. The pace is slower, maybe it’s because of the audience.  There’s the experience of a family.  Then I see people in the Presidents Club.  There are corporate clients, typically companies entertaining.  But I also see families. I see kids. I see moms and I think it’s just about everybody. The game, the players.  When you think about these guys playing almost every day for 6 months. Baseball players are just so real. Maybe because we’re around each other all the time.

It may be special, even for someone who didn’t fall in love with the game the same way a fan or a young child did.  “There is nothing glamorous about this, but it’s fun, it’s entertaining, it really is, I think I have the best job in the world.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 11th, 2008 at 10:35 am and is filed under Women in Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.