WINS Forum
‘More than just a day’
The fall 2023 Women Influencers in Sport (WINS) Forum featured an insightful panel discussion centered around the theme of “A PowHERful Era: Leading with Boldness.” The panel included, from left, moderator Karen Lindsey, Jennifer Strawley, Sherí Barros and Elizabeth Motta. Also pictured (far right) is Shaina Dabbs, who oversees the WINS initiative. Photo courtesy of Aidan Blake ’26.
The annual Women Influencers in Sport (WINS) Forum, held during the fall semester at Elon University, invites prominent sport industry professionals to campus to discuss trends, challenges, and career paths in the industry. The forum’s headlining event is an afternoon panel discussion with invited guests.
In fall 2023, panelists included Sherí Barros, vice president of sports partnerships at the American Cancer Society, Elizabeth Motta, vice president of insights and analytics at World Wrestling Entertainment, and Jennifer Strawley, director of athletics at Elon University.
“The WINS Forum is much more than just a day,” said Associate Professor Shaina Dabbs, who directs the WINS initiative. “Yes, it is a day filled with engagement, connection, conversation, empowerment, support, professional development, impact, and life-changing moments. But it is an experience that lasts much longer. It positively impacts students, guests, and program alumni in the present and in the future. It is not often you find a program and a day that joins together so many different people at various stages of their lives committed to empowering and inspiring the next generation of leaders on campus, in the workplace, and in our communities.”
In fact, 10 WINS alumni returned for the 2023 forum to speak, educate and network with WINS students.
For a deeper look into past WINS Forums, the school has archived previous event pages – see the left-hand navigation bar.