Episode 131: Celebrating Female Playmakers in Football in partnership with the CFP

Women Leaders in Sports Podcast

Hello, and welcome to the Women Leaders podcast! I’m Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in College Sports.

A few weeks ago, we attended one of college sport’s biggest event: the college football national championship in Los Angeles! In partnership with the College Football Playoff, Women Leaders hosted a panel and reception at the Grammy Museum.

I sat down with four industry leaders including: Gloria Nevarez, Commissioner of the Mountain West Conference, Desiree Reed-Francois, Athletic Director at the University of Missouri, Diana Sabau, Deputy Commissioner & Chief Sports Officer at the Big Ten, and Mike Bohn, the Charles Griffin Cale Director of Athletics at the University of Southern California.

This panel did not disappoint...we discuss why football continues to take up so much of the conversation within college athletics, the obstacles and biases that have prevented women from leading athletic departments with prominent football programs (although that is slowly changing), and how we can leverage the power of football to help move us forward.

Let’s jump right into the conversation and remember, we are Women Leaders!