Five distinguished women in the sports industry will be honored during Super Bowl week in New Orleans. The 6th annual Sports Power Brunch: Celebrating the Most Powerful Women In Sports, scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 5, is sold out, says creator LaTonya Story, a veteran sports communications executive.
It is an annual sports awards event that honors prominent women in the sports industry. Sports broadcaster Taylor Rooks will host the brunch for the third consecutive year.
The five honorees are:
Leadership Award — Alicia Tillman, Delta Air Lines chief marketing officer
Visionary Award — Dawn Aponte, NFL chief football administrative officer
Gamechanger Award — Ali Krieger, soccer champion and Olympian
Spotlight Award — Dr. Kiki Baker Barnes, HBCU Athletic Conference Commissioner
Impact Award — Swin Cash, senior vice-president of basketball operations & team development, New Orleans Pelicans (NBA)
“This recognition is especially meaningful because it’s given by Black women who are being inclusive to our Woman in Sports community,” said Cash in a statement to the MSR. “This award is less about me and more about the women who choose to grow, support and inspire one another in the world of sports.”
“The Future of Women Storytelling at ESPN” panel discussion was moderated by ESPN NFL reporter Kimberley A. Martin and included top ESPN execs Heather Anderson, Marsha Cooke, Chantre Camack and Kati Fernandez.
Speaking to the MSR, Story explained, “There have been some incredible women in sports [who] for whatever reason did not get that recognition. It’s about repetition. The more we repeat telling the story, the more that we raise our voices and become vocal, the more people can see how many amazing women are working behind the scenes in very powerful positions.
“I think that’s the beauty of my event,” she emphasized, “highlighting so many women who are in senior executive leadership.”
Story is among such women: She is CEO and founder of LPS Consulting PR, one of the leading minority and women-owned sports and lifestyle boutique agencies with over 24 years of experience working with and for high-profile sports and business personalities.
She made it by being tenacious and ambitious. Her first sports client was Basketball HOF Allen Iverson in a field in which, when she first started, she didn’t see very many Black women.
“I’ve always had a passion for women in sports,” saidStory. “Coming up in Norfolk, Va., I had never seen a [Black female] publicist, but I know that there was a planned purpose and destiny for my life.”
She stressed that she’s now retired but remains committed to putting on the Sports Power Brunch each year.
“It takes me a year to plan the event and execute it,” noted Story of her annual brunch. “I have an amazing event management team. I have an amazing chief of staff that helped me, and I have my son and daughter that helped as well.
“Even though I’m the creator and visionary, I do have some amazing people around me to help make this vision come to light,” she said. “I started this power brunch in 2019 when the Super Bowl came to Atlanta. This is our biggest one yet.”
Also, Story started the Sterling Legacy Fund, a nonprofit organization that she started and named after her late son Sterling, who died from cancer in 2019. Its mission is to empower individuals in underrepresented communities, and partial proceeds from the Power Brunch will benefit the fund.
The second of three planned basketball courts will be installed in New Orleans during Super Bowl week, something Story said she pledged to do in the Super Bowl host cities. The first of the “Sterling Courts” was built in Las Vegas in 2024.
“To be able to do this for 23 years is a blessing, and to now create another dream, that’s the faith, prayers and people believing in you,” said Story. “It’s just a joy to see and being able to mentor young women who are looking to aspire to work in this industry.
“I don’t take that for granted.”
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.