Springtime Media
The Women’s Sports Foundation on Wednesday night hosted a private event celebrating its 50th year of operations. The event featured a panel conversation, moderated by
Cari Champion, with WSF President and Paralympian
Scout Bassett and CEO
Danette Leighton, formerly the Pac-12’s CMO.
Bassett and Leighton shared their perspectives on the WSF’s work, which includes research efforts, government advocacy and program funding. But Leighton stressed how much more needs to be done. “There's a lot more research that we are really not able to do because we have to find funding for that,” Leighton said. “At the end of the day, we care about the entire women's sports ecosystem, from the elite side ... to the youth side. And we see this as a thriving business, as much as we see this as a necessity for women to thrive.”
Others in attendance on Wednesday included Women’s Sports Network President
Carol Stiff, Wasserman’s
Lindsay Kagawa Colas, Just Women’s Sports founder & CEO
Haley Rosen, Hextec CEO
Heather Brooks Karatz, Bryant Stibel managing partner
Peter Delgrosso, Angel City investor
Tim Fong and elite athletes in Olympic snowboarder
Chloe Kim, former UCLA gymnast
Katelyn Ohashi, two-time Paralympic medalist
Jaleen Roberts and decorated sailing skipper
Jimmy Spithill.
The evening was hosted at the Pacific Palisades home of Muse Capital founding partner
Assia Grazioli-Venier and her husband, MGMT. Entertainment CEO
David Schiff.
Billie Jean King founded the WSF in 1974 with $5,000, and it today has an annual operating budget of nearly $10M.
