CCW Signature Event 2024

Columbia College Women

Women in Sports: Life Lessons for Tomorrow's Leaders

Faculty House, Columbia University

Join us as CCW shines a spotlight on this game-changing moment in women's sports. We'll dive into advancement, inclusion, and fair pay with a dynamic panel of Columbia alumnae leading the charge in various areas of sport. Hear about their journeys and how their athletic backgrounds have shaped their paths to make a lasting impact on their lives and industries. This engaging discussion will celebrate the power and resilience of women in sports.Speakers:<ul><li>Ishwara Glassman Chrein CC'02 IA'03, former President of Chicago Fire FC; Columbia Lecturer in Sports Management</li><li>Devon Martin CC'90, three-time TEAM USA distance coach; head coach at Central Park Track Club and Atalanta NYC</li><li>Katie Meili CC'13, two-time Olympic swimming medalist; USA Swimming board member; FINA World Swimming Champion</li><li>Nzingha Prescod CC'15, two-time Olympic fencer &amp; World Champion; Award-winning nonprofit founder &amp; CEO of The Prescod Institute for Sport, Teamwork, and Education; USA Fencing board member</li><li>Moderated by: Sam Marchiano CC'89, sports journalist; founding board member, Athlete Ally, a non-profit LGBTQ athletic advocacy group. *All attendees can enter into the live event day raffle for a chance to win a pair of tickets to a WNBA New York Liberty home game of your choice. Total of two lucky winners will each win a pair and must be present at the Signature Event.</li></ul>

Ishwara Glassman Chrein CC'02 IA'03 was most recently President of the Chicago Fire Football Club, where she led all business operations and revenue creation for the Major League Soccer club. Before joining the Fire, she was the head of sports partnerships and business development at Yahoo Sports/Verizon Media. She began her career at McKinsey &amp; Company and Lehman Brothers, before spending nine years at IMG Sports, most recently as SVP and Global Head of Sales Operations and Strategic Planning.She graduated magna cum laude from Columbia with a degree in economics and political science and received her Master in International Affairs (International Finance and Business) from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.Glassman Chrein earned Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 award in 2020.She lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her husband, two kids, and one enormous golden retriever.

Devon Martin CC’90 is Team USA Coach at World Indoors 2024, Executive Director, Atalanta NYC - Pro Female Running Team mentoring &amp; coaching High School girls in underserved communities. She’s also the Executive Director &amp; Head Coach for Central Park Track Club Tracksmith, and a Sports Agent. She worked for Cravath, Swaine &amp; Moore Attorney 1996-2006. She is a US Olympic Trials 1500m Qualifier 1992 and 1st Columbia Female to qualify for NCAA DI Nationals in Track &amp; Cross Country in 1989-1990.

Katie Meili CC’13 is currently an associate at the law firm Jones Day, where she practices business and tort litigation and represents clients in complex commercial litigation matters.  She also maintains an active pro bono practice and has assisted clients in seeking relief for violations of their constitutional rights.  Prior to becoming a lawyer, Katie was a professional swimmer and a member of the United States National Team for six years.  In addition to multiple World Championship and World Cup meets, Katie competed at the 2016 Olympic Games, where she won two medals—a gold and a bronze.  She currently serves as an athlete representative on USA Swimming’s Board of Directors.  Katie graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Columbia College in 2013 and with a J.D. magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2020.

Nzingha Prescod CC'15 is a Brooklyn native and one of the most decorated athletes in USA fencing history as a 2x Olympian, World Champion and 4x Senior World Medalist. She became the first Black woman to win an individual medal at the Senior World Championships when she claimed bronze in 2015. In July of 2018 she and her team captured Team USA’s first-ever World Championships gold medal for the USA Foil. She is the first American woman to win a foil Grand Prix and has ranked as high as fifth in the world. She will be inducted to the USA Fencing Hall of Fame Class of 2024.Nzingha is a graduate of New York City’s highly acclaimed Stuyvesant High School and Columbia University. Founder and CEO of The Prescod Institute for Sport, Teamwork and Education (PISTE), Nzingha has committed to expanding access to sport as a sports equity champion advocating for inclusive and high-quality sport education. She served as the thought leader for New York City Council legislation to create the Mayor’s Office of Sports, Wellness and Recreation.Nzingha has earned several awards for her advocacy including with the first inaugural Service and Hope Award by the US Olympic and Paralympic Foundation, the Yolanda Jackson Giveback Award given by Billy Jean King of the Women’s Sports Foundation, and the Everyday Hero Award presented by Toyota. She serves on the board of USA Fencing and is a member of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Council on Social and Racial Justice.

Sam Marchiano CC'09 is an award-winning sports journalist and seasoned adjunct professor at NYU’s Tisch Institute of Global, teaching Ethical Issues in Sport. Skilled in all forms of content creation, Marchiano’s MLB Network documentary exploring baseball’s origins, Base Ball Discovered, won at Cooperstown's annual Baseball Film Festival. Her first documentary, Vintage Baseball, merited one of her four Emmy nominations over the years. Before joining MLB as an anchor and senior producer, Marchiano was a national correspondent for Fox Sports Net, covering a wide range of news assignments from Super Bowls, World Series, and the NBA Finals to an in-depth look at baseball in the Dominican Republic. Marchiano also worked as a sideline reporter for Mets, Nets, Devils, and Islanders telecasts and was a producer for ESPN. She began her career as a New York Islanders beat reporter at the New York Daily News.Marchiano is also a longtime advocate for LGBTQ inclusion in sports. In 2011, she helped launch ground-breaking PSAs for New Yorkers for Marriage Equality by securing unlikely supporters like pro athletes Sean Avery and Michael Strahan. Recognizing allyship's crucial role in her ability to address gender issues in sports, Marchiano became a founding board member of Athlete Ally. This non-profit organization believes everyone should have equal access, opportunity, and experience in sports — regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. As Outreach Director, she oversaw communications, marketing, and league relationships in professional sports playing a central role in MLB’s embrace of LGBTQ inclusion. A steering committee member and research chair for NYU’s 2016 Social Responsibility of Sports conference, Marchiano is a frequent speaker and facilitator on various issues in sports, from sexual violence to gender equity to diversity and inclusion.

CCW Signature Event 2024

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CCW Signature Event 2024

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