CHICAGO – U.S. Soccer Thursday announced that Ann Seeney has been named chief people and diversity officer.

Seeney will lead all HR programs and functions at U.S. Soccer, including all organizational employment practices as well as spearheading the advancement of its efforts in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB).

She will start on March 21 and report to U.S. Soccer CEO Will Wilson.

“We’re excited to have Ann join us as we continue building our human resources capabilities with a strong focus on our people as well as our ongoing efforts to take actions focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging across the Federation,” Wilson said in a statement. “She brings a wealth of experience and expertise that make her uniquely qualified to help us further support our staff, increase our efforts and ensure we are reaching our goals to make DEIB part of our DNA at all levels of the game.”

Seeney joins U.S. Soccer with more than 20 years of experience in the field, most recently serving as Vice President of Human Resources at the St. Louis Cardinals, which she originally joined in 2013 as director of human resources before being elevated to her role as vice president in 2019. She is largely credited for the cultural transformation at the Cardinals in recent years as well as substantially building out their HR capabilities throughout her tenure.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.