The first few months of the second Trump administration have been marked by anti-DEI efforts targeting corporate America and the government, and as the administration seeks to prevent trans athletes from competing in sports, athletic organizations are finding themselves in the crosshairs.
The WNBA is one of a few sports leagues standing firm. This year, the league is doubling down on its partnership with Voice in Sport, a platform that’s designed to keep girls and women involved in sports through services like content and athlete mentorships, and which shares stories in support of trans athletes and has highlighted how anti-trans legislation can negatively affect women’s sports.
Last year, the W and its Changemaker Collective, five brands that have pledged to partner with the league beyond financial investments, teamed up with Voice in Sport to provide virtual mentorship to 50,000 girls. The group is aiming to bring that number up to 100,000 this year with new services, athlete mentors, and brand integrations.
“The long-term support from brands, investors, and governing bodies is really how we’re going to power the women’s sports and youth sports ecosystem,” Stef Strack, founder and CEO of Voice in Sport, told Marketing Brew. “We’re at a really critical moment right now with the new administration, and so it’s really cool to look at a league like the W that’s leading the way with how you get brands to triple down on investing in women in sports.”
Brand buy-in
In addition to bringing 50,000 girls into the Voice in Sport ecosystem in the first year of the partnership, the organization provided more than 140 group mentorship sessions about topics like body image, mental health, and nutrition with 12 athlete mentors representing each team in the league, including Aliyah Boston of the Indiana Fever, Alysha Clark of the Seattle Storm, and Haley Jones of the Atlanta Dream.
The Changemakers—AT&T, CarMax, Deloitte, Google, and Nike, where Strack was previously an executive—helped fund that work, WNBA Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison said. Year 2 of the partnership is set to include even more involvement from those brands, like a series of sessions on the Voice in Sport platform that will feature women execs discussing their paths from sport to the C-suite.
“The resources that they’re providing are making the virtual mentorship accessible and sustainable,” Edison said. “But this year, having these women leaders from these companies provide the virtual mentoring sessions really shows young girls that a career in sports doesn’t have to just be on the court.”
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The group is seeking to mentor another 50,000 girls this year, Strack said, a goal supported by the addition of four more athlete mentors and the debut of a Voice in Sport app that gives users access to virtual mentorship and other content like giveaways to encourage engagement. The giveaways will incorporate products from Changemaker brands, she said.
Long game
The partnerships stemmed from a commonly cited stat that shows by the age of 14, girls drop out of sports at 2x the rate boys do. After just a year, Strack said there’s no hard evidence to suggest that figure has shifted, but said that anecdotally, girls in the program say they feel more optimistic about keeping up their athletic involvement.
“The long-term impact that we’re looking to make will take years, and it’s not something that will turn around so quickly, but there’s a commitment from the WNBA Changemakers and, of course, from Voice in Sport, to ensure that these girls have this access for multiple years,” she said.
The increased visibility of women’s leagues like the W through broader media rights deals could also help girls feel more empowered to continue playing sports, Strack said, and Voice in Sport has a nonprofit foundation that’s currently working to help enact the Fair Play for Women Act, a bill that would strengthen Title IX.
Edison said the W remains committed to working with brands that “match our core values” and that she hasn’t seen any pullback on these types of initiatives from sponsors, likely because of that effort. The NBA, meanwhile, might be without a DEI head soon: Current Chief DEI Officer Lesley Slaton Brown is stepping down in June, and the NBA is reportedly considering whether or not to fill the role.
“From the corporate partnership side, the financial support is helping us stand up programs like this, but it also amplifies the stories and the impact of women in sports on a global stage, showing the world that women’s sports are not just viable, they’re essential,” Edison said.
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