Bio

Steven B. Martin, a native New Orleanian, attended St. Augustine High School and graduated from Georgetown University. He has an extensive background in accounting, business development, finance, marketing, public relations, community relations and sports administration. 

Before beginning his successful career as an executive, Martin enjoyed success on the basketball court.  He was an All-American, an All-State selection and a city MVP during his time at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans.  From there, he went on to become the first player from New Orleans to be recruited by Hall of Fame Coach John Thompson at Georgetown.  Martin was selected by the Clarion Herald as one of the top 100 prep basketball players in the City of New Orleans, as well as the State of Louisiana.  After earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration (with an emphasis in accounting), Martin was drafted by the Washington Bullets in 1979.

For fourteen years he served in the capacity of Director of Corporate Affairs for the National Basketball Association. He was responsible for instituting initiatives to position the NBA and the sport of basketball as a viable global marketing property.  He secured the support of international government officials and diplomats for future projects requiring governmental approval. He established the NBA’s first global community efforts with outreach programs in Europe and Africa.  This resulted in the first professional sports league to implement programs on the African continent, and served as the catalyst for the NBA to begin global branding and business development. He developed partnerships with national and international organizations to leverage co-branding opportunities and maximize the delivery of positive images and messages.  He created television and radio public service campaigns to craft positive perceptions of the NBA and its players.

Martin also served as the liaison between the NBA and the City of New Orleans to develop and implement plans for the New Orleans Arena (Smoothie King Center) and the relocation of the Charlotte Hornets professional basketball team to New Orleans. 

During his ten-year tenure as Senior Vice President for the New Orleans Hornets, Martin forged the vision and strategic direction for the corporate social responsibility philosophy, and comprehensive community investment initiatives. He developed strategic alliances with government agencies, non-profit organizations, corporate sponsors, school districts, youth organizations, recreation departments, colleges, universities and local and state elected officials to further the mission of the organization. Martin conceptualized, designed and developed strategic plans for community relations and governmental affairs initiatives to enhance the team’s relationship with elected officials and community leaders. He interfaced with legislators during legislative sessions, committee meetings and special sessions to obtain insight on all legislation and appropriations that directly affected team operations and represented the organization’s position. 

Martin served as commissioner for the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) from 2014 until 2019. During his tenure with the GCAC, Martin oversaw the conference's comprehensive rebranding effort, retooling the conference logo and Web site, introducing social media to the conference, and overseeing a process to streamline the conference's by-laws. He was also responsible for improvements in the conference's championships, focusing on improving the overall fan experience, as well as venue quality. Martin was also responsible for increasing the conference membership from 7 to 8 members.

Steve is married to Stacy, they have two adult children and two grandchildren.