Leader of the Pack: Sianneh Mulbah’s rise with Timberwolves and Lynx traces back to Bemidji State

Sianneh Mulbah's home has featured one constant ever since her days living in Bemidji State University's Cedar Apartments. It's a photo of her son, Christopher, snapped by a BSU photography student.

“At home now, we have a picture that one of the students took of Christopher while he was in the daycare center,” Mulbah said. “It’s the original one, and that is framed in our house to this day. It’s never been down. Bemidji just has a special place in my heart because it allowed me to do this. It allowed me to see that I can do all the hard things.”

That picture – a snapshot in time before Mulbah’s rise with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx – exemplifies how Bemidji State is woven into the fabric of Mulbah’s story.

Mulbah grew up in the neighboring Cass Lake, and she transferred to BSU to finish her undergraduate degree when her son was born. She landed in Cedar Apartments, the nation’s first residence hall tailored to single-parent students. The chance to live in Cedar allowed Mulbah to continue her education, receive a psychology degree in 2004 and pursue her dreams.

At the time, she just didn’t know those dreams included a basketball.

“I actually never knew that I could work in human resources in sports, and I didn’t aspire to work in sports,” she said. “But it was exciting, the idea of (being able) to do something that I love in a sport that I love.”

Her path was foreshadowed through her connections to the game that started long before she came to BSU. As an enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Mulbah grew up engrossed in the revered traditions of Cass Lake-Bena High School basketball. Then, at Bemidji State, she and Christopher were quickly befriended by BSU basketball players. Today, her office overlooks practice courts for the Timberwolves and Lynx, firmly rooting the game – figuratively and literally – in her background.

Within the front office for Minnesota’s NBA and WNBA teams, Mulbah serves as the chief people and inclusion officer. It’s an HR-style role that provides structure for employees to create an inclusive environment, and it pushes Mulbah to be more strategic in developing individuals and reaching business objectives – two things that often go hand-in-hand.

Mulbah has held her position for the past five years, and she’s now totaled 13 with the organization. Her efforts were recently recognized by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, which named her a Top 50 Influential Black Leader. Mulbah’s strides as a biracial Black and Native woman have proven she’s more than capable of reaching success – while never forgetting where she came from.

“I meet with new employees, and when they ask me about my journey, I’m proud of my journey,” she said. “It was hard, but it’s really pushed me to be who I am, to figure things out and to know that things work out in the end.”

And she has photographic proof of that.