WISE — Women in Sports and Events

What WISE — Women in Sports and Events does

WISE — Women in Sports and Events is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional membership organization founded in 1993 by Sue Rodin, headquartered at 244 Fifth Avenue in New York City. It serves women working in the business of sports across North America, operating through a national office and 24 local chapters spanning major U.S. markets and Toronto. The organization reports 6,700+ members and is governed by a national board chaired by Tonya Cornileus (SVP, The Walt Disney Company), with Kathleen Francis serving as National President since 2011.

The core product is an annual membership ($100 professional, $40 student, with corporate bulk tiers at $80-$90 per person) that unlocks a multi-product engagement stack. This includes WISE Connect (private member community), WISE Within (one-on-one digital mentoring platform), the WISE Job Board (wisejobs.org), and a centralized learning portal hosting the Career Accelerator ($750), Emerging Leaders ($2,800), Executive Leadership Institute at Dartmouth Tuck ($8,000), and the tuition-free McCormack Graduate Scholars Award. Annual programming is anchored by marquee events — the Women of the Year Awards (since 1993, 30th annual in March 2026), WISE/R Symposium (since 2014), Multiplier Summit, and Speed Mentoring Roundtables — supported by partnerships with the NHL, NBA, MLB, NFL, MLS, AEG, Chicago Bulls, New York Yankees, and FanDuel.

Revenue is generated from individual and corporate membership dues, tiered program tuition, job board posting fees ($249+ per post), corporate sponsorships via the Deepening the Bench campaign and National Partners program, and tax-deductible charitable donations. The go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: peer referrals and employer reimbursement drive individual acquisition, while chapters, marquee events, and digital platforms drive retention. The organization has 51-100 employees nationally and does not disclose financial results.

Name

WISE — Women in Sports and Events

Legal name

Women in Sports and Events, Inc.

Website

https://wiseworks.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

WISE — Women in Sports and Events is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional membership organization serving 6,700+ women in the sports business across 24 North American chapters through memberships, mentoring, learning programs, a job board, and industry awards.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services

NAICS

Business Associations (813910), Professional Organizations (81392), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

Sports Fundraising & Development Services (Foundations, NIL Collectives Support) (MPAKAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Amateur & Grassroots Sport Associations (Community/Youth Governing Orgs) (MPAKAFAF)

Keywords

• Professional association services
• Women leadership development
• Sports industry networking
• Executive mentorship programs
• Career advancement programs

Headquarters

HQ city

New York, New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Professional Membership Dues: Annual individual membership at $100/year for professional members, providing access to all member benefits, events, programming, and community platforms.
2. Student Membership Dues: Reduced annual membership at $40/year for full-time college and graduate students with verified school email addresses.
3. Corporate Memberships: Bulk membership purchases at discounted rates: 5-10 members at $90/person (10% off), 11-20 members at $85/person (15% off), 21+ members at $80/person (20% off). Organizations pay on single invoice.
4. WELI Program Tuition: Five-day executive leadership program at Dartmouth Tuck School priced at $8,000 including materials and most meals. Executive-level program for VP and above members.
5. Career Accelerator Program: Four virtual sessions over eight weeks at $750 per person for early career professionals. Includes coaching and sustained learning tools.
6. Emerging Leaders Program: Hybrid program with one in-person day and four virtual sessions at $2,800 per person for mid-career professionals.
7. Job Board Postings: Employer job posting packages starting at $249 for single posts. Members get exclusive access to new posts within four days.
8. Charitable Donations: Tax-deductible donations to support WISE programs and initiatives. Organization is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3).
9. Corporate Sponsorships: Deepening the Bench campaign partners and National Partners provide financial support and brand association. Includes league partners (NHL, NBA, MLB, NFL, MLS) and corporate partners (FanDuel, AEG).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

WISE (Women in Sports and Events) is a 501(c)(3) professional membership association that delivers career development, networking, mentorship, and professional education services exclusively for women working in the business of sports. Its core offering centers on an annual membership that unlocks access to a 24-chapter regional network, a digital mentoring platform, a members-only community and job board, a portfolio of paid leadership programs, and marquee events including the Women of the Year Awards, WISE/R Symposium, and Multiplier Summit.

Product overview

WISE (Women in Sports and Events) is a professional membership organization offering a comprehensive suite of programs and services for women in the sports business. The core offering is the annual WISE Membership providing access to career resources, networking, and local chapter benefits. The product portfolio includes the WISE Job Board, WISE Within mentorship platform, WISE Connect member community, and four professional development programs: WISE Career Accelerator, WISE Emerging Leaders Program, WISE Executive Leadership Institute (WELI), and WISE/McCormack Graduate Scholars Award. Signature events include WISE Women of the Year Awards, WISE/R Symposium, Multiplier Summit, and Speed Mentoring Roundtables. 24 local chapters provide regional programming across North America.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WISE Women of the Year (WWOY): Annual awards program honoring extraordinary women who have broken barriers and made significant impact on the business of sports, established in 1993.
• WISE/R Symposium
• WISE Multiplier Summit
• WISE Within
• WISE Connect
• WISE Executive Leadership Institute (WELI)
• WISE Career Accelerator Program
• WISE Emerging Leaders Program
• WISE/McCormack Graduate Scholars Award Program
• Speed Mentoring Roundtables

Products and services

• WISE Professional Membership
• WISE Student Membership
• WISE Corporate Membership
• WISE Executive Leadership Institute (WELI)
• WISE Career Accelerator Program
• WISE Emerging Leaders Program
• WISE/McCormack Graduate Scholars Award Program
• WISE Job Board
• WISE Within Mentoring Platform
• WISE Women of the Year Awards
• WISE/R Symposium
• WISE Multiplier Summit
• Speed Mentoring Roundtables

Quantifiable outcome

• 300+ WELI alumnae from industry-leading organizations
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UMass Amherst Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport ManagementcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partnership for WISE/McCormack Graduate Scholars Award Program. World No. 1 ranked postgraduate sport management program by SportBusiness magazine. Provides two WISE members annually with tuition-free admission to MBA/MS or MS programs. Seven scholars have participated since 2019.
• National Hockey League (NHL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNHL is shown as a partner on the WISE website as part of the WISE Council supporting the organization's mission to advance women in sports business.
• National Basketball Association (NBA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNBA is shown as a partner on the WISE website as part of the WISE Council supporting the organization's mission to advance women in sports business.
• Chicago BullscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChicago Bulls are shown as a partner on the WISE website as part of the WISE Council supporting the organization's mission.
• AEGcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAEG is shown as a partner on the WISE website as part of the WISE Council supporting the organization's mission.
• Major League Baseball (MLB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMLB is shown as a partner on the WISE website as part of the WISE Council supporting the organization's mission.
• National Football League (NFL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNFL is shown as a partner on the WISE website as part of the WISE Council supporting the organization's mission.
• Major League Soccer (MLS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMLS is shown as a partner on the WISE website as part of the WISE Council supporting the organization's mission.
• New York YankeescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew York Yankees are shown as a partner on the WISE website as part of the WISE Council supporting the organization's mission.
• FanDuelminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFanDuel is shown as a partner on the WISE website supporting the organization's mission.
• Deepening the Bench Campaign PartnerscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerExpanded investment partners providing resources to broaden WISE reach, scale programs, and build infrastructure for long-term impact. WISE relies on support of everyone in professional sports.
• National PartnerscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerNational Partners alongside Deepening the Bench partners demonstrate commitment to investing in talent and building workplaces where employees can thrive.
• Dartmouth Tuck School of BusinesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Tuck School of Business for WISE Executive Leadership Institute (WELI). Combines academic rigor of Tuck's world-class faculty with real-lived experiences of peer executives. WELI held annually at Dartmouth campus.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• TeamWork Online: TeamWork Online is a sports industry recruiting platform providing job board and career services. Like Work in Sports, it is a for-profit adjacency in WISE's job board category, capturing some of the sports-employer recruitment spend WISE targets.
• Working in Sports (WorkingSports): Work in Sports is the largest sports industry job board network — comparable to WISE's job board revenue stream. Although it operates for-profit with broad sports industry audience (not exclusively women), it competes directly for sports job board dollars and is the closest substitute for WISE Job Board.

Broad incumbents

• Forte Foundation: Forte Foundation is a nonprofit consortium of leading companies and business schools advancing women in business through education and networking. Like WISE, Forte relies on employer/corporate partnerships and offers career-stage programming, but at a broader business scope.
• Catalyst: Catalyst is a leading global nonprofit advancing women in business through research, advisory, and recognition — broader industry than WISE, but with the same fundamental operating model (memberships, employer partners, events, awards). Comparable as an established incumbent in women's professional advancement.
• Ellevate Network: Ellevate Network is a membership-driven professional community for women in business, offering mentoring, events, and a job board. Highly comparable operating model to WISE (membership tiers, mentoring platform, employer-targeted job board), but not sports-specific.

Direct peers

• Women's Sports Foundation: Founded by Billie Jean King, Women's Sports Foundation is the most comparable peer — a nonprofit focused on advancing women in sports through research, advocacy, and programming. Like WISE, WSF operates professional development and recognition programs targeting women in sports, though its mission is broader (athletes and society-level advocacy) versus WISE's narrow focus on the business of sports.
• Women in Sports Law: Women in Sports Law is a professional organization supporting women in the legal side of the sports industry. It offers similar programming (networking events, recognition, mentoring) and addresses an adjacent — but distinct — profession within the sports business ecosystem that WISE also serves.
• Women In Sports Tech (WiST): WiST is a nonprofit driving women's participation and leadership in sports technology — directly comparable to WISE's mission of advancing women in the business of sports, with overlapping programming (mentorship, networking, awards, chapters) targeting the same population of sports industry professionals.

Emerging players

• Sports Innovation Lab: Sports Innovation Lab is a research and advisory firm focused on women's sports, fan data, and innovation. While commercial rather than nonprofit, it pursues a women's-sports-focused mission and serves many of the same sports business professionals in WISE's network.

Regional players

• Athletes for Care: Athletes for Care is a nonprofit community of professional athletes advocating for health and wellness. While its focus is athletes' post-career wellness rather than women-in-business, it provides an adjacent professional community model in the sports industry and operates with comparable nonprofit structure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/women-in-sports-and-events-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WISE — Women in Sports and Events