Kim Ng

General Manager, Miami Marlins

Kimberly Ng is the first woman to serve as general manager of a major professional sports league team in North America.  She is also the first Asian American general manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) history.

Ng has been a trailblazer in sports since her early years.  Her interest in baseball started by playing stickball in Queens.  At the University of Chicago, she played softball for four years and was named MVP infielder while earning a B.A. in public policy.  During her senior year, she served as president of the university’s Women’s Athletic Association. After graduating in 1990, Ng interned with the Chicago White Sox and was soon hired full-time.  In 1995, she became the youngest person and the first woman to present a salary arbitration case in the major leagues.  Ng won that case.  In 1998, at age 29, she worked for the New York Yankees as assistant general manager, becoming the youngest in the major leagues and the second woman ever to hold the position. Ng was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the first of five daughters, to Virginia, Thailand-born of Chinese descent, and Jin Ng of Chinese American descent.  

Ng’s hiring by the Marlins was widely celebrated as a breakthrough for women in professional sports and beyond.  Ng had interviewed for general manager positions at least 10 times over the years, as noted by Forbes.  Each time, she was passed over for someone else. Ng attributes her breaking of barriers to hard work, perseverance, and belief in herself.  She feels a responsibility to continue to set an example for other minorities and women.  She said, “There’s an adage, ‘You can’t be it if you can’t see it.’ I suggest to them, ‘Now you can see it.’” Seeing Ng in a role traditionally dominated by men inspires Chinese American women to believe they can lead in any field.