LAS VEGAS -- Approximately 300 women who work in Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball gathered at the Fall Business Meetings in Las Vegas last week.

“Women in Baseball” is an event designed to support women who chose a career in professional baseball. The goal is to celebrate their work, introduce them to new professional relationships and provide unique career development opportunities.

"It was an inclusive invitation to have everyone who wanted to be in the room be in the room. That is the best way to invite people," said Kathy Killian, the Phillies’ vice president of administration.

Along with Killian, the list of women who addressed the crowd included Melissa Harkavy, manager of Minor League Baseball club services and co-chair of MLB Women Employee Research Group; Nicolette Hawthorne, CEO and founder of P.R.O.S Enterprises; Allison Creekmore, vice president of MiLB business operations; and Catalina Villegas, director of diversity, equity and inclusion at MLB.

Killian has worked for the Phillies for 38 years, starting as an intern in the team's sales office in 1985 and working her way up to vice president of human resources and customer services in December 2008. Killian moved into her current position in October 2018, serving as a catalyst for preserving and developing the organization's culture.

In 1986, the year Killian became a full-time employee with the Phillies, only 26 women worked in the organization. Today, 120 women work for the Phils, who have more than 500 full-time employees. While the team employs more women compared to when Killian was first hired, Killian acknowledged that the ratio of men to women remains similar.

"To think 26 and 120, that's pretty awesome -- [but] the percentages there are pretty much the same," Killian said. "But we have our voice here, we're finding placement and finding new ways to help out each of our clubs."

Killian told the audience about the Phillies organization connecting their employees with all its Minor League affiliates.

"Each year we are lucky enough to take our employees to all of our Minor League Baseball stadiums," Killian said. "That's probably one of the best things we do in the offseason: encourage us as employees to get to our Minor League sisters and brothers that are doing so much work."

Killian discussed how, over the course of a long Major League season, a team's chemistry plays an invaluable role in team success, crediting chemistry as the reason that the D-backs defeated the Phillies in the National League Championship Series.

"Despite desiring to win every year, we do a lot of losing in baseball, too, and one of the things I learned is that in most of the successes we do experience, some of that success is due to chemistry," Killian said.

Along with clubhouse chemistry, Killian believes chemistry can derive from the fans as well. Killian credited the Phillies' fans for lifting Trea Turner from his slump to start the 2023 season.

"Our fans were responsible for the lift of Trea Turner, because they stand and cheer and sing and do all the things people need when they looking for love and support," Killian said.

In Killian's closing remarks, she connected with all the women in attendance by providing a gift bag, each item providing sentimental value.

The "Women in Baseball" event followed the Katy Feeney Leadership Luncheon, which was held the same day. The luncheon, composed of 32 women who work in Major League Baseball, is part of the Katy Feeney Leadership Awards. The annual program, formed by the league seven years ago after Feeney passed away, recognizes one exceptional woman employee from the front office of all 30 teams, as well as one from the Office of the Commissioner and one from MLB Network.

"I remember Katy when she would come and visit us,” said Killian, a nominee during the first year of the Katy Feeney Leadership Awards. “She would like to come to the individual clubs while she worked in New York. She always made time for people."

Killian added, "Now we have created a legacy of new women that may have not known Katy, but her work and who she was is the best way to be remembered."