Champions of Change: Shattering Ceilings in Sports

In a special episode of Champions of Change, host Mollie Cahillane joined Ally CMO Andrea Brimmer and the Ally team on the ground at the Ally 400 NASCAR race in Nashville.

Back in the first episode of the season, Cahillane asked Brimmer to explain the appeal of car racing, and Brimmer delivered. Hear why Ally partnered with NASCAR and how the company is working to make the sport more inclusive, plus details on the company’s spon...

The New York Liberty are a certified super team, and fans and brands are on board.

Keia Clarke, CEO of the WNBA team, joins this episode of Champions of Change to discuss how her background in marketing led her to a career in professional basketball. Learn how Clarke navigates media rights deals, her thoughts on the digital and streaming future of sports, the power of having a super team in Brooklyn, and why brands should be get...

Natalie White’s got game.

After seeing an ad three years ago featuring four WNBA players promoting men’s sneakers, the now-25-year-old CEO founded Moolah Kicks, the first basketball brand designed specifically for women.

After White cold emailed the CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods, the company’s first design launched in 140 retail stores. Now, they’re in over 450 with multiple models, and a new player-exclusive shoe with the WNB...

In honor of the upcoming FIFA Women's World Cup, we are going back to season 2 to our conversation with U.S. Soccer Federation president Cindy Parlow Cone.

During this episode, we’ll hear about Cone’s path to becoming the first female president of U.S. Soccer, how she’s combatted sexism and inequality in the game, equal pay and collective bargaining, and how she’s leading the federation through turbulent times.

Editor’s note:...

When soccer superstar Alex Morgan called Jessica Robertson in 2019, she instantly picked up the phone.

In 2021, co-founder and chief content officer Robertson, alongside Morgan, Simone Manuel, Chloe Kim and Sue Bird launched the media and lifestyle platform Togethxr, specifically targeting Gen Z and millennial women.

Only 5% of media coverage goes towards women’s sports, and Robertson joined Champions of Change to discuss how...

As NIL (name-image-likeness) deals and financial education become increasingly important in the world of college and professional sports, the team at Morgan Stanley has been on the ground since the beginning.

Sandra L. Richards, the global head of the company’s sports and entertainment division, is leading the way, particularly advocating for female and historically underrepresented athletes and entertainers with initiatives and...

Star Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale captured the nation’s attention with two electrifying buzzer-beaters in the 2018 NCAA Final Four—including one to win the championship.

On this episode of Champions of Change, Ogunbowale joins Adweek’s Mollie Cahillane to chat about the upcoming basketball season, a new-look Dallas team, and the star’s partnerships with brands like State Farm—and what it’s like to shoot a spot with Mark C...

With more women than ever before working in the NFL, Los Angeles Rams CMO Kathryn Kai-ling Frederick sees the opportunity to elevate her historic franchise even higher.

Coming off a Super Bowl win in her first year with the team, Frederick led the marketing efforts through a rough 2022 season and just debuted new creative with Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston ahead of a historic draft for the Rams.

Frederick joined Mollie Cahill...

Julie Haddon joined the National Women’s Soccer League from the NFL as the league experienced turmoil, investigations into systemic abuse and a rapid departure of executives.

Enter Haddon, the NWSL’s first chief marketer, who quickly got to work. She’s launched the group’s largest brand campaign to date, partnered with players and teams to as the league experiences rapid expansion and is showing the U.S. that the best players in...

When four-time national champion and World Cup winner Cheri Kempf played softball, a player-run league like Athletes Unlimited didn’t exist.

The former commissioner of National Pro Fastpitch taught herself how to pitch, and is now the director of softball and an svp at Athletes Unlimited, giving female professional athletes a chance to show the world what they’re capable of.

On this episode of Champions of Change, Kempf joins...

Arielle Chambers knows the WNBA—and women’s sports—is so important, and she’s making sure everyone else knows it too.

On this episode of Champions of Change, Adweek senior TV reporter Mollie Cahillane is joined by Arielle Chambers, founder of media platform HighlightHER.

Chambers founded media platform HighlightHER in 2019 with an all-female team of Black content creators. They tell the stories of women at all levels of sport...

On this episode of Champions of Change, Adweek senior TV reporter Mollie Cahillane is joined by Invest in Women founder Kelsey Trainor.

Trainor has been busy, launching her own brand as well as serving as the vice president of business and legal affairs at Gaming Society, a betting education company with an emphasis on women’s sports.

In this episode, we learn how Trainor created a brand that’s raised thousands of d...

On the first episode of Champions of Change, Adweek senior TV reporter Mollie Cahillane sits down with Ally Financial CMO Andrea Brimmer.

There are brands that talk the talk, and brands that walk the walk. During Brimmer’s tenure at Ally, the financial company has committed to a 50/50 media spend across men’s and women’s sports, a pledge greatly advanced by a first-of-its-kind deal with Disney earlier this year.

In this episo...

Welcome back to Champions of Change: Shattering Ceilings in Sports! Building off Adweek’s Most Powerful Women in Sports awards franchise, this weekly podcast series is back for Season 3 with a fresh identity.

Hosted by Adweek’s senior TV reporter Mollie Cahillane, Champions of Change spotlights the women and non-binary people making a difference in the sports world, both on and off the field. Each week, hear how athletes, market...

In today’s episode, senior TV reporter Mollie Cahillane is joined by Camber Clemence, founder of non-profit Cut Down The Net, and Meredith Cash, senior sports reporter at Insider.

The trio breaks down Adweek’s 2022 Most Powerful Women in Sports list, featuring cover stars and WNBA legends Sylvia Fowles and Sue Bird.

Listen to their thoughts on the 2022 winners, the importance of brands and NIL, the future of the spo...

On today’s episode, Adweek’s senior TV reporter Mollie Cahillane sits down with Ilana Kloss, former U.S. doubles champion, and current CEO of Billie Jean King Enterprises.

Since retiring from professional tennis, Ilana has served as commissioner of World Team Tennis from 2001 to 2021, was former Chair and current Board of Trustee member for the Women's Sports Foundation, and is part owner of the Los Angeles Dodger...

On today’s episode, Adweek’s senior TV reporter Mollie Cahillane sits down with Carolyn Kindle Betz, the first female president and CEO of a Major League Soccer club, St. Louis City SC. 

Carolyn is the face of the MLS’ newest expansion team, set to begin play in 2023. She led the majority-female-owned ownership group through the bid process after the MLS expansion team was awarded in 2019.

On this episode, hear from Caro...

On today’s episode of Most Powerful Women in Sports, senior TV reporter Mollie Cahillane is joined by Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman.

Ackerman has been at the helm of the conference since 2013 and oversaw its relaunch. As one of the first female beneficiaries of an athletic scholarship thanks to Title IX, she played basketball at the University of Virginia and became the first president of the WNBA, and is a past president o...