SAN DIEGO -- Marlins general manager Kim Ng knows more than anyone how far Major League Baseball has come in supporting women in the industry over the past decade or so.

When Ng first started working in baseball more than 30 years ago, most women who worked in front offices were given secretarial titles, even if their job responsibilities exceeded traditional descriptions.

“And if you were a really progressive organization, you probably had the title of 'executive assistant',” Ng said.

So much has changed over time, not only from three decades ago but even more so in the past handful of years. As Ng surveyed the crowd that had gathered at a reception honoring 32 participants selected as part of the Katy Feeney Leadership events Tuesday night at the Winter Meetings, she noted just how much progress has been made.

“We got to six, seven, eight years ago, and these programs started -- that were meant to recognize, support and celebrate a lot of these accomplishments of the people here and the ones who are coming behind us,” Ng said.

The Katy Feeney Leadership program, named after the longtime executive who passed away in 2016 after a 40-year career working in Major League Baseball, celebrates women already working in the industry while opening opportunities for them to advance their careers through networking and meeting others in baseball.

Earlier on Tuesday, MLB hosted a luncheon for the 32 participants -- one from each Major League team, plus the Central Office and MLB Network. That night, the group was toasted at a large reception with high-ranking baseball officials in attendance, including Commissioner Rob Manfred.

“It’s amazing the progress we’ve made in the last few years,” Manfred said. “It’s a sign of support for the programming and the effort that Major League Baseball has made to promote diversity, particularly gender diversity. It’s an opportunity for me to meet some of the younger people in the industry that are going to be leaders in the future.”

Ng delivered opening remarks at the start of the reception. She first congratulated the Feeney Leadership honorees who were selected to this year’s program, and encouraged all women to support each other as they work to advance their careers. She also challenged men who work in baseball to advocate for their female colleagues as they continue to make inroads in the sports world.

“I was talking tonight about when I was first starting in this industry, if you put all the women together in a room, there was probably a few dozen of us,” Ng said. “And now to see several hundred out here in the crowd, it’s just amazing. Kudos to Major League Baseball, the Commissioner, Billy Bean [MLB’s senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion] and their staffs who have really helped with a lot of this programming and really helped with a lot of numbers just blossoming.”

Feeney started her career as an assistant in the National League office, but she quickly ascended to supervise the NL’s scheduling and public relations functions. When the league offices merged with the Office of the Commissioner in 2000, Feeney directed the construction of the entire MLB schedule. Mentorship was her passion, and as a senior executive later in her career, she advocated for other women to succeed and advance.

Six years ago, after her sudden passing, MLB formed the Katy Feeney Leadership program to connect women in baseball to her legacy in perpetuity.

“I worked with Katy for a long time,” Ng said. “I knew Katy when I was very young in this industry, and [she was] always a model of integrity, of earnestness and excellence. She was one of the women that had a VP title when I was very young. It’s always important for me to pay homage to her and her legacy.”