PRESS COVERAGE
Hundreds of Athletes Convene on Capitol Hill to use their Voice for Equity Ahead of National Girls & Women in Sports Day
The VOICEINSPORT Foundation and the VIS Advocates host the 2024 Capitol Hill Day Briefing to support the reintroduction of the Fair Play for Women Act in partnership with Senator Chris Murphy and Representative Alma Adams. Hundreds of VIS Advocates advocated for and contributed to the creation of the FPFW Act.
Women Student-Athletes from the VOICEINSPORT Foundation Assemble on Capitol Hill to Advocate for Equity in Sport.
Athletes from the VIS Advocate Program will join US Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC) to announce the reintroduction of the Fair Play for Women Act, a bill driven by the voices of young student-athletes that will help to fulfill the promise of Title IX by improving gender equality in college and highschool sports.
VOICEINSPORT Foundation Launches Side of Equity™ Fund to Help Close the Pay Gap for Women Athletes Globally.
The Side of Equity™ Fund, led by women athletes and women founded brands, kicks off their first initiative, closing the $330 Million Dollar Gap in Prize Money set by FIFA at this year's Women’s World Cup. This global grassroots initiative is calling on all brands and fans of women’s sport to not get caught offside this world cup - but instead join them and be on the right “Side of Equity™.”
All funds raised will be distributed to the women athletes that participate in this year's WWC and to the winners of the last 8 WWC, honoring the past and accelerating progress for the future.
June 20th, 2023 (Brooklyn, NY)
VOICEINSPORT Foundation (VISF) (501c3 non-profit) launches the Side of Equity™ Fund, a new Global Fund that will close the pay gap for women athletes and inspire the world to get involved during major sporting moments. The fund launches ahead of this year's Women’s World Cup—where the Prize Money set by FIFA is $330 Million LESS than what the men’s teams received last year at the 2022 Men’s World Cup in Qatar.
Read Full Press Release from VOICEINSPORT Foundation
Grassroots VIS Advocacy Program Led by Young Women Athletes Introduces National Legislation to Strengthen Title IX
.
In partnership with Senator Chris Murphy and Representatives Alma Adams, Lori Trahan and Suzanne Bonamici, the VOICEINSPORT Foundation and the VIS Advocates announce the formal introduction of the Fair Play for Women Act to the House and Senate today. Get involved today and sign the #moreVISforIX Pledge.
Read Full Press Release at VOICEINSPORT FOUNDATION
Olympic Gold Medalist Suni Lee Inks New NIL Partnership With Voice In Sport Foundation And CLIF
“I’m really just another Auburn student.”
That’s what Sunisa (Suni) Lee, 19, tells me when I ask how she’s managing the transition from becoming a surprise gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics to returning to Auburn University for her sophomore year.
To that end, Lee’s new partnership with CLIF, which includes the opportunity to work with nonprofit Voice in Sport Foundation to participate in Title IX trainings on college campuses across the United States, is the perfect next step.
With her work with Voice in Sport Foundation, Lee hopes to encourage more women—especially from minority populations—to pursue college athletics.
Read Full article at Forbes
Stef Strack Speaks at the espnW summit 2022.
VOICEINSPORT Foundation Founder and CEO Stef Strack attended the espnW Summit, where she spoke on the Tackling Title IX Compliance Panel and conducted a training on how to evaluate schools to all espnW summit attendees.
Tune in to the 2 hrs, 28 min mark in the video below to learn about the lack of Title IX Compliance and what we VOICEINSPORT is doing about it! Want to support the VIS Advocates and strengthen Title IX? Get involved today and sign the #moreVISforIX Pledge.
Watch the Panel at the espnW Summit on YouTube
VOICEINSPORT FOUNDATION announces partnership with CLIF BAR® and Champion Gymnast Sunisa Lee to elevate the VOICES of girls in sport
The partnership will accelerate the VIS Advocacy Program, launching 20 new VOICEINSPORT Foundation advocacy chapters and supporting Title IX trainings on campuses across the U.S.
read full press release here more
Taft girls’ basketball locker room will be refurbished through grant
Sophia Tchamkertenian is familiar with the frustration.
When Tchamkertenian was playing junior varsity basketball at Taft, she prepared for games in the school’s general PE room, because the 25-foot-by-30-foot locker room was reserved for varsity players. The JV program wasn’t assigned lockers, so Tchamkertenian and her teammates would stuff their clothes into their backpacks and haul them to games.
“When I moved up [to varsity], it was a huge privilege to even have a space to change,” Tchamkertenian said.
Even on varsity, the team was pushed back to the PE room at the beginning of its season until the girls’ volleyball team finished its season. Meanwhile, assistant principal Neezer McNab said, the football program was getting a new team room.
“My teammates and I, we’ve just gotten used to it — not having certain things that [the boys] do,” Tchamkertenian said.
But now they’ll have something that the boys have.
On July 29, Voice in Sport, an organization dedicated to elevating women’s voices, and its partners announced Taft would receive a Title IX Micro Grant of $40,000 to refurbish the girls’ basketball locker room. Those partners include Voice in Sport Foundation, Champs Sports and Puma.
The school isn’t just taking the money and running — the grant is contingent upon Taft working on a number of Title IX-related initiatives to improve equity at the school.
Read More at LA Times
VOICEINSPORT FOUNDATION announces Title IX Micro Grant Program to Support Girls in High School - Donating $40k to local LA High School.
VOICEINSPORT and VOICEINSPORT FOUNDATION have teamed up with Champs & Puma to launch the Title IX Micro Grant Program, focused on closing the equity gap between girls and boys sports programs in K-12 and collegiate programs across the nation.
July 29, 2022 (Los Angeles, CA) – VOICEINSPORT (VIS) and the VOICEINSPORT FOUNDATION teamed up with Champs Sports to launch the “Women Win” Campaign to promote gender equity within the sports industry. Since July 17th, VIS and VIS FOUNDATION Founder and CEO Stef Strack has been traveling around the country hosting conversations about equity, advocacy, and mental health with VIS Athletes, VIS Experts, and brand partners Adidas, UnderArmour, Reebok, and Puma.
Today marks the conclusion of “Women Win Week,” but the push towards gender equality is far from over as the VIS FOUNDATION announces its Title IX Micro Grant Program. The program will provide funding to K-12 and collegiate programs to close the gap for girls in sport while demanding schools to commit to more education around Title IX for students, administrators and coaches, and more
Read the full press release here at VOICEINSPORT FOUNDATION.
Five Trailblazing Young Women Named Recipients of the 2022 Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award
VOICEINSPORT Foundation VIS Advocate Sydney Moore is recognized as one of the five young women awarded the 2022 Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award at the ESPY’s.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of landmark Title IX legislation passage in the United States, the BJKLI partnered with ESPN to award five young women the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award at the ESPYS in Los Angeles. The honorees are using the power of sport to improve their communities by advancing gender equality, and will receive a one-time college scholarship or a direct grant to an eligible nonprofit aligned with their work.
read about ESPY Award
The Coaching That Helped This
Nike Exec Start Her Own Team
Stefanie Strack left behind prestigious jobs in the world of apparel to start VIS™ Holdings, a business that supports young female athletes. It might not have happened without encouragement from her key advisers.
May 29, 2020 9:00 am ET
Stefanie Strack is not afraid to embrace risky career moves. But she doesn’t do so on her own. Before leaving a high-profile job at Nike Inc., she consulted with A.K. Pradeep, an adviser whom Ms. Strack refers to as her “Jedi master” because of his wise entrepreneurial candor. He urged her to jump ship and never look back. So Ms. Strack quit to take charge of Rag & Bone, a small apparel company.Four months later, she made another dramatic turn and left Rag & Bone to become an entrepreneur. This time it was Genevieve Roth, another adviser, who encouraged her to change course. She said in an interview that she wanted to pursue her interest in “building something meaningful around women and sports.” The company announced at the time she had disagreed with her fellow directors over Rag & Bone’s strategic direction. Next month, her new path comes into sharper focus with the launch of VIS Holdings, a sports-advocacy business that will support female athletes aged 12 to 22. It launches during a time of crisis as a deadly virus exacts its toll on U.S. industries ranging from sports to manufacturing. Ms. Strack postponed her company’s May debut due to the pandemic-related uncertainty about sports at all levels. In late April, she and her husband temporarily relocated from New York to Alaska so local relatives could help care for their two children. VIS services will include a member-only website, advisory podcasts and a digital mentorship program. Professional women athletes will mentor competitive college players, for instance.Ms. Strack hopes that the firm can also heighten awareness about unequal treatment of female student athletes—such as their relatively few coaches, lower quality equipment and skimpy media coverage. Adolescent girls often drop out of sports “because the deck is stacked against them,’’ she said.
read the full article here at WSJ
Meet the New Team
Encouraging Female Athletes to
Raise Their Voice.
“Girls drop their sports because the deck is stacked against them. From the beginning, their experience in sport is full of societal inequalities, in contrast to what male athletes experience, and it simply has to change. ” Meet Stefanie Strack, the sports industry executive gearing up to bring that change.
Striding onto the field after 15 years building innovative businesses at Nike Inc. and as the CEO of Rag & Bone, Strack is launching Voice In Sport – a two-pronged advocacy platform designed to dramatically accelerate progress in women’s sports. “Voice In Sport (or VIS),” Strack says proudly, “will address the lack of visibility, advocacy and support available to female athletes, first by elevating their voices and then making sure strong mentorship exists for the next generation of girls in sports.”
Read More
VIS™ Platform Advocates
For Female Athletes.
Bloomberg
Stef Strack, Founder of VIS (Voice in Sport), discusses creating a community to mentor female athletes aged 12-22.
Hosts: Carol Massar and Jason Kelly. Producer: Paul Brennan.