USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences sophomore Grace Borrego, who wants to work for a professional basketball league after graduation, left USC’s National Girls and Women in Sports Day event on Feb. 2 feeling more motivated than ever.
She joined more than 150 other Trojans at a series of panels about women reshaping possibilities in athletics, in business, in media and in leadership.
“Just hearing about all these different journeys that these women have taken and how they were able to be successful has been really inspiring,” said Borrego, an international relations major. “I’m very passionate about sports, and this is a real cool opportunity as I explore what avenues I want to pursue.”
The event, organized by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, the USC Gould School of Law and USC Athletics, focused on women who are breaking barriers and inspiring the next generation to stand on their shoulders and build on their legacy.
An all-star lineup assembled for the occasion: Kelly Krauskopf, president of WNBA’s Indiana Fever; Vans executive Kristy Van Doren-Batson; wellness entrepreneur Nina Westbrook; professional and Olympic skateboarder Lizzie Armanto; and Olympic BMX silver medalist Perris Benegas.
USC Annenberg Dean Willow Bay, left, talks with Kelly Krauskopf, president of the Indiana Fever. (Photo/Areon Mobasher)
The conversations inside Wallis Annenberg Hall on USC’s University Park Campus highlighted topics such as the explosive growth of the WNBA, NCAA women’s basketball and the National Women’s Soccer League; increased professional athlete salaries; and lucrative brand partnerships and media deals.
“What we’re hearing from brands is they love partnering with women athletes because of the authenticity,” Krauskopf said during the kickoff Q&A with USC Annenberg Dean Willow Bay. “There’s a trust level there, and it’s so untapped.”
The ‘Caitlin Clark effect’
Krauskopf spoke about the transformative effect of WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark, the 2024 Rookie of the Year who has become a household name across the country. Clark’s popularity has resulted in huge attendance and viewership boosts for the league.
“Sometimes it just takes one,” Krauskopf said. “She has massive, mass-market appeal. The idea was that at some point, society is going to catch up with what’s happening with the sport and there will be value, there will be tickets sold. There will be this attention.”
Krauskopf and several speakers celebrated the opportunities female athletes have now to connect with fans and craft their own narratives through social media, digital marketing and podcasts.
“We grew up in a time where we were sort of at the mercy of the media,” said Westbrook, a former UCLA basketball player who is founder of Bene by Nina, a digital wellness community. “They got to set the narrative, got to decide who was going to be spoken about, who was going to be highlighted, and whose voices we’re going to be able to hear.”
Westbrook, an entrepreneur and activist who is married to NBA player Russell Westbrook, is happy “the landscape has changed completely.”
“We’re noticing more and more that people are starting to use their voices,” Westbrook said. “We have more control than ever before.”
Becoming a role model by necessity
Armanto realized how much more control she could have over her career once she began dominating her sport.
Early in her skateboarding career, she had been content just to be getting free shoes from Vans. She never dreamed that one day the company would be selling a pro model shoe named after her.
Lizzie Armanto discusses her career as a professional and Olympic skateboarder. (Photo/Areon Mobasher)
After placing first in the World Cup of Skateboarding points race for three years in a row then winning gold in 2013 at the first ever Women’s Skateboard Park event at X Games, Armanto realized her commercial value. In 2014, she hired her first manager — a move previously unheard of for a woman in her sport.
“I was able to go into Vans with my manager and say, ‘I have an Instagram following and I feel like there’s interest here,’” she said. “We were able to get a contract in place, which opened the door for not just me, but eventually other people.”
Van Doren-Batson helped pave the way for Armanto and other female action-sport athletes within the Vans universe. Once in her position as director of events and activations, Van Doren-Batson immediately launched a successful campaign for pay equity.
“I’m sorry that it took forever, but we made a statement that you will be paid equally in action sports,” said Van Doren-Batson, who is the granddaughter of the company’s co-founder.
Benegas, a silver medalist at the 2024 Summer Olympics and the 2018 Freestyle BMX world champion, said she would not have been able to have an athletic career and travel the world without advances in pay equity.
“When I was a little girl, there wasn’t a path,” Benegas said. “Now there are younger women who get to have a vision, a clear vision, and an opportunity. The sky is the limit.”
Students inspired by panelists
After the formal program, attendees had the opportunity to meet with sports-related companies that included the Los Angeles Rams, Fox Sports, AEG Worldwide, Women in Sports & Events (WISE) and Creative Artists Agency (CAA).
USC Annenberg graduate student Hadley Snyder, who plays on the USC women’s soccer team, visited some tables and asked a lot of questions.
Snyder said she now feels better about not having time for any internships during her collegiate career after hearing Westbrook share that she faced the same situation while playing basketball at UCLA.
A post-event reception provided networking opportunities. (Photo/Areon Mobasher)
“I feel like I related to her a lot and how she translated what she learned in college sports to her career,” Snyder said. “You’re learning the intangibles and things like communication and collaboration, and those things really do translate to the workforce.”
Several of the speakers stressed that if you work to the best of your ability, “someone higher up will see that.” This resonated with USC Annenberg sophomore Annika Rouse.
“You’ll be able to get to the point where they’re at now, but you’ve got to do the little stuff in order to get to the big stuff,” Rouse said. “It’s nice to see that people who are just like me are in these really big positions because it shows me that I can get there if I work just as hard.”