Women in Sports Tech Announces New Initiatives and Record Growth
WiST Celebrates its Fifth Year with Advances in Key Programs.
San Francisco, CA – March 29, 2022 – Women in Sports Tech (WiST) is pleased to announce the addition of two new initiatives and substantial enhancements to existing WiST programs. Combined, these developments will significantly advance WiST’s ability to drive transformative growth opportunities for women in the sports tech industry and to provide employers with tangible resources that allow them to find and retain diverse and qualified candidates.
“WiST has grown steadily since our inception five years ago as an all-volunteer organization, and 2022 is poised to be our strongest year by far,” said Marilou McFarlane, founder and Chief Executive Officer, WiST. “We’re so thankful to the many incredible organizations such as Comcast NBCU, IBM Sports, Oracle, Catapult Sports, the NBA, FEVO, and Nike, that make our work possible. Their support and shared vision of the importance of diversity and inclusion allows us to help more qualified women build meaningful careers in this booming industry.”
The global sports technology industry is projected to be worth more than $42 billion by 2026, up from an $18 billion valuation in 2021. Studies show businesses with diverse leadership make better decisions, are more innovative and drive higher profits, yet 80% of the leadership positions in sports tech are currently held by white men. The best leaders understand that 4 out of 5 young people today considering employment opportunities view commitment to DEI processes and initiatives to be a requirement, not a preference.
This year, WiST is offering broader content intended to expand the pipeline of diverse talent and also highlight the importance of building professional cultures that nurture high-performing employees at all levels.
NEW - Next Gen Resource Hub – WiST is thrilled to partner with Comcast NBCU to expand the Next Gen program to high school students in underserved communities across the country through the Next Gen Resource Hub. Next Gen is designed to encourage and inspire young women through their passion for sports and STEAM subjects. The Next Gen Resource Hub will provide various forms of content introducing students to the exciting technologies, innovators, and career opportunities shaping sports tech. The exclusive original content will be available at no cost to 200,000 students in 70 high schools through Comcast Lift Zones. The Next Gen Resource Hub is set to launch in Q3.
NEW - Diversity and Retention Tracking – WiST is in the planning stages of a long-term study that will gather qualitative and quantitative data in regard to workforce diversity and culture. WiST will work with its corporate partners to collect the information annually. The intent is for the data to become the foundation for a set of benchmarks tracking positive change in the sports tech industry.
Partnerships Surge – WiST is now supported by 28 corporate partners, more than double the number of corporate sponsors from 2021. Donations grew 250% over the same period allowing WiST to evolve and build out its leadership team as well as full-time staff to support its programs and initiatives, like the WiST NETWORK Career Hub. The WiST NETWORK is the only jobs platform designed to connect sports tech companies and qualified diverse candidates. The single source for diverse hiring in sports tech, the WiST NETWORK offers more than 600 diverse candidate profiles with more than 700 open roles posted in the first three months of 2022 alone.
WiST Fellowship Expansion – WiST again received a tremendous applicant pool of qualified undergraduate and graduate students eager to participate in the prestigious WiST Fellowship Program. To date, WiST has placed 48 Fellows into meaningful internships. This summer alone, WiST expects to place approximately 25 more talented women into strategically selected internships. This unique program thoughtfully pairs each Fellow with a host partner and experienced mentor to create purposeful value for all parties. WiST also offers professional development workshops over the summer, and new this year, will connect each student with a WiST Fellow alum (“WiST Sis”) to help her build a network in the industry.
The 2022 WiST Fellows will be announced in April.
For more information, please visit womeninsportstech.org
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Media Contact
Emma Henzes
Women in Sports Tech, Marketing Manager
emma@womeninsportstech.org
About WiST
Women in Sports Tech (WiST) is a nonprofit organization that drives transformative growth opportunities for women in sports tech and innovation, at all stages of their careers, from the classroom to the boardroom. WiST develops and delivers innovative programs, original content and a global community that provide tangible value for women and employers alike.
Its flagship initiative, the WiST Fellowship program, provides grants for highly motivated college and graduate school students to pursue summer internship projects in sports technology. Additional WiST programs include the WiST Next Gen Resource Hub for high school students, the original content series WiST Presents, and the WiST NETWORK Career Hub, the single source for diverse hiring in the sports tech industry.
WiST is supported by donations from numerous corporations and organizations and partners with accelerator programs such as Comcast Sports Tech, MassChallenge, and DivInc to provide mentorship and educational experiences for founders of sports tech startups.