February 2, 2026
Cayette-Wilson is one of the Luminary Award nominees for this year’s Women of Power Summit.
As Shelly Cayette-Weston prepares for BLACK ENTERPRISE’s 2026 Women of Power Summit as a 2026 Luminary Award Nominee, the businesswoman has already made a slam dunk in sports leadership.
Cayette-Weston currently serves as President of Business Operations for the NBA’s Hornets Sports & Entertainment (HSE), taking over the position in July 2024. Although a woman leader in a traditionally male-dominated sport, Cayette-Weston thrives in this role of overseeing all Hornets teams within the over-three-decades-old franchise.
With her own decades of leadership in sports and entertainment, Cayette-Weston has lent her steady expertise to grow and shape the franchise. Not only does her work cover the Charlotte Hornets and their G-League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, but also the newly renovated Spectrum Center, bringing dynamic events like concerts and NCAA tournaments to the Carolinas.
Prior to this role, Cayette-Weston took on the roles of Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer for the Cleveland Cavaliers, making history as the first Black woman to ever hold the latter title within the NBA. However, her accolades go beyond this monumental stride in diversity. According to the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, her tenure included the Cavaliers’ launch of new jersey patch partnerships, a client engagement team, and a new practice facility, while still leaving a legacy expanding their youth sports outreach.
Integrating the team into its extended community while emphasizing its platform on an international scale, Cayette-Weston garnered several recognitions for her work toward Cleveland’s lucrative rise in the NBA. In her 12 years with the franchise, she earned the Crain’s Cleveland Business Forty Under 40 nod in 2019, as well as the Sports Business Journal Game Changer nod that same year.
Since then, she has skyrocketed in the field of sports leadership. Cayette-Weston continues to scale young franchises as they seek glory and titles each season. Outside of basketball, the sports business leader gives back to social causes, serving on several boards such as the College Now, the Commission on Economic Inclusion, and the American Heart Association.
The New Orleans native has her own history on the court as well, playing women’s basketball at Tulane while earning her bachelor’s degree from the Louisiana institution. The accomplished player was later inducted into the college’s Hall of Fame in 2024, also receiving the Don and Lora Peters Career Achievement Award.
Now, Cayette-Weston will receive another tremendous honor, BE‘s Luminary Award, at the 2026 Women of Power Summit in Las Vegas. To see Cayette-Weston grace the stage among other trailblazing women, registration to the empowering summit remains available now.
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