Our Advisory Board
The Foundation’s Board of Advisors is responsible for the credible operation of the Public Non-Profit Foundation. The Board of Advisors consist of athletes, innovative sports executives, advocates for women in leadership and scientists. The Board of Advisors creates fiscal and social impact policy and oversees the roadmap of the Foundation’s goals and objectives.
Stef Strack
Founder & CEO
Current: Founder & CEO of VOICEINSPORT Foundation, Founder & CEO of VOICEINSPORT, Board Member, Consultant. Advocate;
Division 1 Athlete - Soccer
Stef is an Innovative Executive, Entrepreneur, Advisor and Advocate. She brings over 18 years of experience at the intersection of Sport, Lifestyle & Technology with a track record of building and scaling businesses from $0 to $3.5B. She started her career at Nike Italy in 2004 and successfully ascended to Vice President & General Manager of Nike’s game changing Direct to Consumer initiative on Speed to Market, called Express Lane. Stef’s passion to create new disruptive business models and build high performing teams led her to a new role as CEO and Board Member of the fashion house Rag & Bone based in NYC. Her extensive background across product creation, merchandising, sales, strategy, general management and supply chain is why today she is successfully building a new company from the ground up focused on her 3 passions, sport, women in leadership and equality. Stef is the Founder & CEO of VOICEINSPORT a global digital platform bringing more visibility to girls & women in sport and elevating their voices.
Genevieve Roth
Secretary
Current: Secretary, VOICEINSPORT Foundation, Founder & CEO - Invisible Hand, Harvard Fellow;
High School Skier and Soccer Player
Genevieve is a thought leader with 15+ years of social impact experience working on behalf of progressive social and political change. Her expertise lies at the intersection of social justice, media and women and girl’s empowerment, and she has personally convened the foremost luminaries on these topics in partnership with The Women's March on Washington, The White House and Let Girls Learn, the Caterpillar Foundation, the United Nations Global Goals project, and others. Previous to founding Invisible Hand, Genevieve was the Director of Creative Engagement for Hillary for America. Between 2011 to 2016, Genevieve served as the Executive Director of Special Projects at Glamour. There, she was responsible for programming the Magazine’s signature event, the Women of the Year Awards—a celebration of the world’s most remarkable female achievers, previously honoring such pioneers as First Lady Michelle Obama, Malala Yousafzai, etc. In 2014, she co-founded and served as Director of The Girl Project, Glamour's global philanthropic initiative that aims to unleash the vast economic and social power of girls. She is currently a Joan Shorenstein Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she is pioneering research on the impact of culture on social change.
Nicole Middaugh, ScD, MS
Treasurer
Current: Treasurer, VOICEINSPORT Foundation, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Clinical Research Manager, Corrona LLC;
Division 3 Athlete - Swimming
Nicole is a multifaceted epidemiologist, skilled in the principles, applications, and techniques of applied public health and epidemiologic research. Nicole has over 10 years of experience in public health, working as an epidemiologist with federal, state, tribal, local, private, and non-profit, organizations. Nicole received her doctorate in epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health with an emphasis in nutrition, obesity, and environmental health. Nicole’s graduate research focused on dietary intake and weight change in women. In 2015-2017 Nicole was a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer. There she performed communicable disease surveillance and outbreak investigations and used data driven interventions to address current public health issues. Nicole currently works as a Clinical Research Manager managing a wide portfolio of complex autoimmune disease research projects across multiple pharmaceutical teams to examine efficacy and safety of interventional therapies in the real world.
Our Leadership TEAM
The Foundation’s Leadership Team represents current and former women athletes that have lived the experience of being an athlete at the youth, collegiate and olympic level. Our goal is to create a diverse leadership team that is committed to taking ACTION in the women’s sports space.
LAUREN ESRIG
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
Current: Director of Development, VOICEINSPORT Foundation, Senior Manager of Business Development & Strategy, Ritual;
Division 1 Athlete - Water Polo
Lauren is a multi-faceted builder and leader, strategist and growth-driver. As Director of Development at the VOICEINSPORT Foundation, Lauren is responsible for leading strategy and launch of the Foundation's work across pillars. She also manages business strategy & new ventures at Ritual, leading new channel launches, internal expansion, and strategic partnerships (Angel City FC, etc.). She began her career at BlackRock, the $10+ trillion financial manager, where she consulted some of the world's largest & most influential institutions. There, fueled by her passion for equity for women in sport, Lauren launched the first-of-its-kind Play to WIN initiative, gaining funding to provide hundreds of female employees with free golf lessons to foster empowerment and career advancement through golf. Lauren brings experience working with the President & Board of Directors of Girls on the Run Los Angeles. Lauren is currently an elite triathlete, having competed at the 70.3 Ironman World Championships, and is a former D1 athlete member of the National-Championship-winning USC Women’s Water Polo team.
LOLITA LOPEZ
Title IX Education Program Lead
Current: Title IX Education Program Lead, VOICEINSPORT Foundation;
Division 1 Athlete- Volleyball and Track
Lolita Lopez is a multi-award-winning, bilingual broadcast journalist with more than 25 years of experience in news and sports reporting in the top U.S. broadcast markets of New York City and Los Angeles. Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Lolita’s career has taken her to the US/Mexico border while at KGBT-TV in Harlingen, Texas, courtrooms across the nation during her time at Court TV, and next, to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Lolita is currently an Investigative Reporter and Anchor with the NBC affiliate in LA, KNBC-TV. Throughout her career, Lolita has had opportunities to conduct in-depth profiles showcasing athletes and Olympians on and off the field of play. Her passion for sports stems from her athletic background as a two-sport athlete at Harvard University (women’s volleyball and track and field), where she served as a two-time captain for the volleyball team. Lolita is an assistant coach for the 17s Crown girl’s volleyball team and the Director of Recruiting at Crown City Sports Academy (C2) based in Pasadena, CA. Most importantly, Lolita is mother to Lulu. She is pursuing a Political Science and Art History degree from University of California Berkeley.
Jada Hart
Title IX Education Program Lead
Current: Title IX Education Program Lead, VOICEINSPORT Foundation;
Division 1 Athlete- Tennis
Jada is a former professional and collegiate tennis player. She is also a former college coach having served as the assistant coach for the Pomona-Pitzer Women's Tennis team, where she helped lead her team to two NCAA Quarterfinal appearances, produced five All Americans and one NCAA Singles Champion. She also served on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee at Pomona College with the purpose of promoting diversity and inclusion to Pomona and Pitzer Colleges. Prior to starting her professional and coaching career in 2021, Jada was an Arthur Ashe Sports and Digital Marketing Intern for Sportfive, where she researched potential entertainment projects, aided in brand partnerships for athletes and pitched sports-related documentary series to TV and streaming platforms. In the summer of 2020, she joined Voice in Sport as a VIS Creator, where she wrote and published content on the Voice in Sport on a variety of topics such as mental health, body image and advocacy. Jada was a member of the UCLA Women's Tennis team, where she was a five time All-American, 2x World Champion and US Open Junior Doubles Champion. She holds bachelor's and masters degrees from UCLA and continues to teach and encourage young girls to play sports, especially tennis.
Maya meschkuleit
Social media coordinator
Current: Social Media Coordinator, VOICEINSPORT Foundation;
Team Canada Rowing
Maya is a professional rower, with aspirations for the 2024 and ’28 Olympics. She is a D1 student-athlete attending Yale University and was on their NCAA team. During her sporting career, Maya has seen firsthand the opportunity gap between men and women in sports. She is committed to taking action to help every woman reach their full potential in the sports arena.
As the past Digital Marketing Intern at 2aDay Ratings, her mission was to connect with her community of sports enthusiasts. Through their social media platforms, she shared valuable insights and fostered a passionate discussion around sports. In Maya’s current role as the Social Media Coordinator for VISF, she takes pride in managing and curating our social media platforms to connect with our global community. Through compelling content and engaging storytelling, she strives to inspire, educate, and ignite conversations surrounding gender equality and female empowerment in the world of sports. Maya is dedicated to amplifying the voices of female athletes and advancing gender equality on and off the field.
Dr. Keaton
Title IX Education Program Lead
Current: Title IX Education Program Lead, VOICEINSPORT Foundation;
Mountain West Basketball
Dr. Ajhanai “AJ” Keaton is an Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville and studies how race and gender (in)equity shape organizational structures, norms, and experiences. Keaton’s scholarship is interdisciplinary, as her examination of sports phenomena intersects with management and sociological communities. As an interdisciplinary scholar, she has published in the following peer-reviewed academic outlets: Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, Journal of Sport Management, Sociology of Sport Journal, and several others. She draws upon and advances the theoretical prescriptions Black feminism, institutional theory, and critical theory to address the experiences of varying organizational actors, specifically women, girls, and historically marginalized racial groups in sport. She is an Executive Board member of DIECE (Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Council of Excellence), a collective of practitioners and college sport researchers who provide tangible solutions that drive intentional growth toward increased diversity and inclusive excellence within college athletics by supporting diversity leaders and designees. She is a member of the Wasserman Collective Think Tank, a collective of industry and sport management scholars who provide solutions for addressing inequities in women’s sport. Lastly, Dr. Keaton is a former two-time Mountain West women’s basketball athlete and these formative experiences in sport led to her passion for researching, teaching, and presenting on sport related phenomena.
Erin crownover
Research associate
Current: Research Associate, VOICEINSPORT Foundation;
Division 2 and 3 Athlete- Basketball
Erin is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Physical Culture and Sports Studies program at the University of Texas at Austin. She is currently working on her dissertation proposal, examining the intricate dynamics of racial and gender attitudes in the early stages of athletic training at UT Austin. Erin received a B.S. in Kinesiology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an M.S. in Exercise Physiology from UT Austin. Erin’s connection to sports runs deep, having been a former DII collegiate basketball player. She unfortunately endured multiple knee injuries, ending her athletic career short, and pivoted to coaching for a bit before pursuing her master’s degree. She remains passionate about mental health, injuries, and athlete identity. Both Erin’s education and firsthand athletic experiences fuel her commitment to the intersection of sports science, historical research, and social issues in athletics. She also actively contributes to several non-profit professional groups, collaborating with the Male and Female Athlete Triad Coalition, The North American Society for Sport History, and the American College of Sports Medicine Office of Museum, History and Archives.
Jill Moffatt
Director of Research & Policy
Current: Director of Research & Policy, VOICEINSPORT Foundation;
Team Canada Rowing
Jill is an Olympic athlete and freelance journalist, who believes in the personal and professional development that sport provides girls and women. As Director of Research & Policy, Jill is responsible for keeping her pulse on the newest and upcoming sport science research as it relates to girls and women. By understanding the landscape of current research, Jill works to identify gaps and create opportunities for new ground-breaking research. Jill completed her undergraduate and graduate degree at Western University in Canada. She holds a Master’s in Health Information Science, where she investigated how a women’s non-profit organization impacted social and health policy change through their use of narratives. She also works as a freelance journalist who reports on equity in sport, recently completing a Fellowship in Global Journalism at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Jill is currently training with Rowing Canada to compete at her second Olympics at the Paris Games in 2024.
KATRINA COOGAN
Associate Director of research
Current: Associate Director of Research, VOICEINSPORT Foundation;
Team New Balance Boston Runner
Katrina is a professional runner, who is motivated by the power of sport to instill strength, confidence, and independence for girls & women. As a part of the Research & Policy team, she works to help identify gaps in the current research and create opportunities for new and ground-breaking research. Katrina holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Science from Georgetown University. While at Georgetown she was a member of the NCAA Championship Women’s Cross Country Team and Distance Medley team. She is passionate about women’s health research and the necessity for women-centered research in general and in sport. She also strongly believes that the information needs to be made accessible to female athletes, to create actionable support for them. As a professional runner, Katrina currently trains and competes with Team New Balance Boston.
Traci Carson
Research associate
Current: Research Associate, VOICEINSPORT Foundation;
Professional cyclist
Traci is a researcher, scientist, educator and athlete. She earned a PhD and MPH from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. While she attended Michigan, she was also a D1 rower on their NCAA team. Her personal experience as an athlete led her to pursue research in sports science and public health. Her work has focused on female athlete health, specifically relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) and amenorrhea in female endurance athletes. She is incredibly passionate about helping active people fuel their bodies and optimize their menstrual cycles for health, performance, and fertility.
Carly Wetzel
Advocacy & Program Manager
Current: Advocacy & Program Manager, VOICEINSPORT Foundation;
Professional Soccer player
Carly is an athlete and an advocate with a background in political science and global social and political thought. An alumni of the University of North Carolina and the University of St Andrews in Scotland, she brings to VIS her passion for social justice and the empowerment of women and girls in sports and beyond. Carly has researched a wide range of topics in politics and sociology and most recently completed a Master’s thesis exploring the potential of community-based mental healthcare policy. Carly also worked on Nida Allam’s Congressional Campaign in NC-04 leading up to the 2022 Democratic Primary and interned for Delegate Jessica Feldmark of the Maryland House of Delegates. As the VIS Advocate Program Manager, Carly leads the Advocates and their advancement of Title IX reform, assists VIS’s policy work, and contributes to the VIS Editorial team. She is committed to building the Voice in Sport community and driving progressive social change.
VIS ADVOCATEs
The Foundation’s approach to leadership and progress is centered around the collective voice. The VIS Advocates are responsible for advocacy initiatives at their school. The VIS Advocacy team consists of outstanding girls & women in sport ages 13-23 yrs old that have a passion to stand up and use their voice to drive change.
Kiersten Thomassey
VIS Advocate
Kiersten Thomassey is a student athlete at the University Of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. As a member of the Field Hockey team, Kiersten has earned 2 consecutive ACC titles, and 1 National Championship. As an athlete she has seen firsthand the disparity that exists between men's and women's athletics including treatment and access to resources. Kiersten has been a VIS Advocate since 2021 and has participated in the planning and organization of VIS Capitol Hill Days and worked on several projects centered around Diversity & Inclusion. Kierstens passion for advocating for change will pave the way for a brighter future for generations to come.
Mia Philippe
VIS Advocate
Mia Philippi is a senior at Sunset High School in Portland, OR, where she is a member of the varsity basketball team. Growing up playing multiple sports, Mia has always appreciated the life lessons she has learned from competing in sports and because of this, she is passionate about supporting women in sports. This passion led to her involvement as an advocate for Title IX through the Voice in Sport Foundation. She is currently working with VISF to advocate for the Fair Play for Women Act, a bill that strengthens Title IX education, enforcement, and compliance at both the K-12 and collegiate levels. Mia also founded the first Voice in Sport Chapter where student-athletes advocate for gender equity in their school sports programs, spread awareness and education for Title IX, and volunteer with organizations where they can serve as role models for girls in sport in their community. This model for the Voice in Sport Chapter has been expanded to over 30 high schools and colleges nationwide. Currently, Mia is working with her Athletic Director to provide Title IX training for her high school. She is looking forward to continuing her work with VISF when she attends college next year.
GRACEANN BENNETT
VIS Advocate
Graceann Bennett is a Division 1 basketball player at Georgetown University. Raised in Lake George, NY, she grew up playing basketball with her parents and siblings before competing in AAU and high school. She is dedicated to empowering girls and women in sport to pursue growth relentlessly and without fear. Graceann is passionate about using her voice to advocate and create visibility for all, hoping to to uplift girls and women to compete unapologetically. Graceann has been part of the VIS Advocate Leadership team since 2021 and has been an integral part of the team as we continue to activate on the ground in Washington DC.
molly Dreher
VIS Advocate
Molly Dreher is a D1 Runner at Saint Mary‘s College of California. As a Biopsychology major and Women Gender Studies minor, she hopes to bring equity in medicine to the queer community as a Doctor. With a passion for gender activism, she led the creation and propagation of Title IX legislation with the VIS Advocate leadership team that has culminated in the Fair Play for Women Act of 2022. Molly’s own personal experience fighting for change at her school and now at a federal level makes her contribution to the VIS Advocacy Leadership team critical to the change we all hope to see. Molly is excited to pursue her passion for sport while fighting for justice in her community.
NYA HARRISON
VIS Advocate
Nya Harrison is a Division 1 soccer player at Stanford University playing defender and forward. She is from San Diego, CA and grew up playing competitively for San Diego Surf. She also played for the United States at the U-16, U-18, and U-20 levels. She is passionate about inspiring young girls in sports, especially those of minority backgrounds who play in predominantly white sports. With Voice in Sport, she helped organize and lead the 2022 Capitol Hill Day and also spoke in D.C to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Title IX and announce the Fair Play for Women Act.
Logan SMITH
VIS Advocate
Logan Smith is a Division 1 soccer player at Stanford University. She grew up in Boise, Idaho and played a variety of sports but ended up competitively running, cross-country skiing and playing soccer. Logan is passionate about uplifting girls and women in sport, especially in issues regarding Title IX, as well as injury prevention and recovery. Logan wants to help educate girls in sport so they are better equipped to advocate for themselves and their well-being.
AUDRA KOOpman
VIS Advocate
Audra Koopman is a former track and field athlete at Penn State and a dedicated activist and academic from Fort Collins, Colorado. She previously served as an executive board member of College Athlete Unity, and was the Vice President of the newly founded Black Student Athletes Association at Penn State. Currently, Audra is working on her Master’s degree in Prosthetics and Orthotics at the University of Washington. She continues to speak on discussion panels and at events focusing on racial and social injustice, athlete identity, and women’s rights.