Career Panel Speakers
Meghan Chayka
Mike Zarren
Evan Wasch
Michael Zarren is the Celtics’ VP of Basketball Operations and Team Counsel. Now in his 21st year with the team after starting as an unpaid intern, Mike is widely recognized as one of the leaders in the field of advanced statistical analysis of basketball players and teams, and is an important part of the team’s strategic planning and player personnel evaluation processes. Mike is also the team’s lead salary cap expert and lead in-house counsel for basketball issues, and is responsible for leading the group that develops new technologies for team use, including the team’s statistical database and video archive/delivery system.
Meghan is a Co-Founder/CEO of Stathletes, a hockey data and analytics company. Stathletes provides industry leading hockey insights in over 22 leagues worldwide. Meghan is also a Data Scientist in Residence at the University of Toronto. She was featured on the insert cover of the Hockey News’ Top 100 of Power and Influence in 2019. Meghan has a weekly segment for FanDuel on TSN called “Strength in Numbers”. She has appeared in the last two NHL Drafts as an analyst on the panel for ESPN.
As Executive Vice President of Basketball Strategy & Analytics at the NBA, Evan focuses on strategic initiatives targeted at innovating and improving the NBA game, such as scheduling, competition issues, and technological enhancements. Evan also oversees strategy, data, and analytics for all on-court activities, including player performance, game analytics, and metrics pertaining to officiating performance.
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Ben Shields
Ben Shields is a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His work as an award-winning teacher, researcher, and practitioner focuses on digital transformation in the sports, media, and entertainment industries. He has created and teaches three new courses in MIT Sloan’s degree programs, including "Sports Strategy and Analytics". He has also created several programs and written case studies and books pertaining to sports and data. Prior to MIT, Shields worked at ESPN (2008-14) and served as Director of Social Media and Marketing.