2018 Women in Sports Tech Fellowships Awarded
Students from Harvard Business School, Loyola Marymount University, University of North Carolina
Mill Valley, CA (April 24, 2018) – Women in Sports Tech (WiST) announces 2018 WiST Fellows, chosen from an array of outstanding applicants in the program’s inaugural year. WiST was founded in late 2017 with the mission to drive growth opportunities for women at all levels of their careers in all sports technology and sports innovation businesses globally. “We couldn’t be more impressed with the women that submitted fellowship applications in our first year. Knowing the impact these internships will have on these women and their future careers, we’re very grateful to corporate donors like IBM Sports and others for helping to fund them,” says Marilou McFarlane, co-founder of WiST.
Fiona McCormack, University of North Carolina (Junior), Majoring in Economics with Minors in Sport Administration and History. Fiona, a student-athlete at UNC, will work under the guidance of a successful Senior Experience Strategist at Doremus in San Francisco to develop influencer-based marketing strategies for sports tech startups. She will identify women and men leaders who not only excel in sports tech, but are also champions for diversity in the arena. She will then elevate these individuals in the sports tech business, speak to them on their own territory through informed messaging and mobilize them to also help raise awareness for WiST and its members. Using social media, she will cultivate relationships with the micro-influencers in the sports tech community as well as current student athletes. Fiona will offer helpful networking and career development resources, turning these individuals into authentic, lifelong brand/community advocates for WiST and our members. Her efforts will significantly expand WiST’s own influence and awareness, with the mission of changing the ratio in sports tech and innovation.
Anna Resman, Harvard Business School (MBA 1st Year). Anna discovered WiST through her relationships at the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) as well as by tracking the news on SportTechie. She completed her undergraduate business degree summa cum laude at the University of Minnesota. Anna has worked for the USOC, USA Boxing, and USA Weightlifting, and is an avid yoga instructor. This summer she will work with the team at N3XT Sports, a sports consulting firm based in Barcelona that aims to help organizations fulfill their technology and innovation needs globally. Her focus will be on developing their brand image and establishing thought leadership identities for the founders, who have a combined experience of over 70 years in sports tech and innovation. Anna’s previous Accenture consulting experience, her commitment to finding her own leadership role in sports tech and innovation along with the deep resources and support available at Harvard Business School position her perfectly to deliver impactful results for the illustrious team at N3XT Sports.
Tapiwa Karen Tafa, Loyola Marymount University(Junior), Majoring in Applied Information Management Systems. A native of Francistown, Botswana, Karen excelled academically and was captain of her numerous sports teams prior to coming to the United States for college. In addition, she pursued her passion as a singer and songwriter, which ultimately drew her to Los Angeles. Her social media prowess is evident from her own social media following on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Her WiST project will focus on a promising sports tech startup, KPerform, which offers the patent-pending Precision Form Training (PFT) technique to athletes and singers to dramatically enhance performance. While developing the company’s website and learning about mobile app development, Karen will also build influence and thought leadership for the company’s founder, an accomplished strength and conditioning coach, opera singer, and professor at LMU. She will apply data analytics at every step to assess impact through measurable outcomes. With the founder, she will attend sports and strength and conditioning events to learn more about PFT and see results in action.
Additional WiST initiatives will be launched this spring including a mobile app-based WiST Mentorship program in partnership with STEAMRole, and the WiST Job Postings portal in partnership with SportTechie. WiST will co-host a panel discussion with R/GA at Hashtag Sports in June in New York City.
About Women in Sports Tech, Inc.
WiST is a non-profit organization driving growth opportunities for women in sports tech and sports innovation, from interns to executive leadership roles, while providing a pathway for highly motivated college students to discover and explore opportunities within the field. To learn more, go to www.womeninsportstech.org.
Contact