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Blazers COO Mensah Named One Of 50 Most Influential Portlanders

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Portland Monthly Magazine named Portland Trail Blazers COO Sarah Mensah one of the 50 Most Influential Portlanders in its January issue, on newsstands now. ------------------------------ Signature move: This 47-year-old Portland native runs the Trail Blazers’ day-to-day operations. Since 2007, Mensah helped sell out every Rose Garden game; sponsorship revenue has doubled during her tenure. She also played a key role in expunging the "Jail Blazers" era in favor of the community-focused "Rise With Us" brand revival. "Harry Glickman [the franchise founder] told me that the Blazers need to equal community involvement," she says. Mensah sits on boards for the NW Autism Foundation and All Hands Raised. What’s next: While Blazers president Larry Miller seems like he’ll be around awhile—he appears to get along with mercurial owner Paul Allen—industry insiders predict that Mensah, the league’s highest-ranking female staffer, will become president of some NBA team in the next 10 to 15 years. ------------------------------ Mike Golub, a former Blazers executive now with the Portland Timbers, was also named to the list. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter