Women in Sports Tech Awards a Record 24 Summer Fellowships to Female Students From Harvard, Texas Southern University, UNC-Chapel Hill, University of San Francisco, and More
Students will gain sports technology work experience at companies and institutions including Comcast Spectacor, Comcast Sports Tech, NIKE, DICK’S Game Changer,
Stanford Pediatric Orthopedic Research Program, Catapult Sports, and more
Mill Valley, CA – April 30, 2021 – Today, Women in Sports Tech, Inc. (WIST) announced it will award 24 summer fellowships to female undergraduate and graduate university students, representing an increase of 60% in the number of Fellows versus the 15 granted in 2020. The 2021 WiST Fellowship cohort is made up of diverse students from Dickinson College, Harvard, Mississippi Valley State University, Texas Southern University, University of Maryland, UNC-Chapel Hill, University of San Francisco, and more. Each Fellow will receive a $5,000 grant to pursue summer projects in their chosen area of sports technology – five of which are self-created projects and 19 of which are hosted by corporations and other partners.
WiST Fellowships, the nonprofit’s flagship program created in 2018, provide exceptional opportunities for women to gain real world experience through summer internships, an integral part of door-opening, resume-building, networking, while building job skills and confidence that helps propel them into exciting careers in sports technology. This year’s winning students will have a relevant WiST Mentor, participate in regular enriching work in a wide range of fields in the industry, from data science to product development and biomechanics at organizations including Comcast Spectator, Comcast Sports Tech, NIKE, Stanford Pediatric Orthopedic Research Program, DICK’S Game Changer, Catapult Sports, US Ski and Snowboard, and the Boston Bruins.
“We’re elated that WiST has grown to the level that we can inspire and positively impact the career aspirations for so many more ambitious students who may not have even been aware of the array of opportunities awaiting them in the exploding sports tech business,” said Marilou McFarlane, WiST CEO/Founder and former CMO of Mustard and President of STATSports North America . “Our corporate partners are excited to have access to our WiST Fellows as well as other specific initiatives that help them change the ratio of their workforces, such as our WiST NETWORK career hub.”
Of the 24 new WiST Fellows, nearly 60% are young women of color. WiST saw a 194% increase in applications for the prestigious Fellowships after significantly expanding its network into US universities and colleges, including a partnership with the Southwest Athletic Conference (SWAC), one of the premier HBCU conferences.
“As a leader in this space, I continue to be impressed with the specific programs WiST offers employers, as well as the high caliber of professionals and students in the WiST community, all eager to work in tech and innovation roles in the sports business,” said Jarvis Sam, Global VP Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Nike, a Forbes 30 under 30 in Sports 2021, and founding WiST board member. “Our internship program at Nike and talent pipelines are positively influenced by our continued partnership with WiST,”
Jenna Kurath, Vice President of Startup Partner Development and Head of Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech – a new WiST partner and corporate host of a 2021 WiST Fellow added: “WiST is an impressive organization that we are proud to support and we are excited to have a fellow join our SportsTech Accelerator team this summer. Our WiST Fellow will gain immediate experience working with our deal sourcing team to evaluate startup founders applying for our 2022 SportsTech accelerator class and we look forward to her unique perspective.”
About WiST
WiST is a nonprofit organization driving growth opportunities for women in sports tech and innovation, from interns to executive leadership roles. Its flagship initiative, the WiST Fellowship program, provides grants for highly motivated college and graduate school students to pursue summer projects in sports technology. In 2020, WiST awarded 15 fellowships, nearly quadrupling the number of grants over 2019. WiST is supported by 22 corporations and organizations – an increase of 214% since 2019 – including Comcast NBCU, Nike, IBM Sports, the NBA, Oracle, DICK’S Game Changer, Stats Perform, FEVO and Catapult Sports.
Additional WiST programs include the WiST NETWORK Career Hub, the first and only jobs platform in the sports tech industry dedicated to connecting qualified, diverse candidates with the employers eager to diversify their talent pipelines. In the last 12 months, WiST has also launched WiST Next Gen, which introduces middle and high school young women to the variety of career options in sports tech and encourages their continued participation in the sports they love, as well as Accelerator Alliances, to advance female entrepreneurship in sports tech through partnerships including Comcast NBCUniversal Sports Tech and Mass Challenge.
WiST also has provided an array of diverse panelists for events at Hashtag Sports, CES, MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, the Stanford Graduate School of Business Sports Innovation Conference, and more. For more information, please visit womeninsportstech.org.
WiST Media Contact
Glenna Patton – glenna@womeninsportstech.org