White Sox manager Pedro Grifol says he isn’t feeling the pressure
In August 2023, the White Sox fired then-general manager Rick Hahn and Vice President of Baseball Operations Kenny Williams, marking the first time neither of them was to run the team since 2000.
Williams, 60, is up to new things during his post-White Sox career. He's attempting to become a trailblazer in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion space, according to a report from Bob Nightengale.
"Kenny Williams, the former Chicago White Sox vice president of baseball operations who was baseball’s highest-ranking Black executive among clubs, is now using his expertise to help open doors for minorities in the business world. ... He helped develop a tool called CLARA, hoping to pave more inclusive hiring practices among corporations," Nightengale recently wrote.
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Williams told Nightengale the move to the DEI space was one that came out of frustration and anger.
"This was really born out of frustration, fatigue and angst," Williams told Nightengale. "I’ve been in board rooms for 30-plus years, and the board rooms lacked diversity. I’ve been championing the reasons for diversity and the need for it, but I did not see it coming of age, and reflecting of society. ... So, I got tired of hearing myself complain and fight for it. ... Instead of talking about it, I decided to start doing something about it."
"CLARA is a clear, consistent screening platform that produces more equitable outcomes and puts the best-match and highest-potential candidates in front of teams faster," their LinkedIn page reads in its biography.
Williams technically had been with the White Sox organization since 1986, when he played for the team's rookie league in the minors. After his playing career, which included three years with the White Sox, he immediately returned to the front office of his native team.
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He joined the organization as a scout in 1992. By 2000, he was the general manager of the club. In 2012, he was promoted to executive vice president, a position he held until 2023.
Not only had Williams been with the organization's front office for over 30 years, but his relationship with owner and chairman Jerry Reinsdorf was particularly special. That made it difficult for Reinsdorf to dismiss Williams.
"A change killed me because it wouldn't have been any harder for me to fire my son, Michael, than it was to fire Kenny because Kenny was my son and is still my son," Reinsdorf said then.
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