meet our mentors

Champion previously served as anchor and host at ESPN where she spent nearly a decade in roles that included co-hosting SportsCenter Coast to Coast, host of SportsNation, and moderator of ESPN’s popular debate talk show, First Take. She also hosted a popular ESPNw podcast, Be Honest with Cari Champion. Before joining ESPN,

Champion served as an anchor and courtside reporter for the Tennis Channel. She continues to break barriers, paving the way for younger

women of color who want to pursue a career in sports television and other areas within broadcasting.

She utilized her experience combining music with powerful international brands to further the Beats Music mission of delighting music fans and supporting a sustainable music business. Hand in hand with the Beats Music and Beats Electronics executive teams, she executed strategic marketing initiatives in order to earn and nurture true consumer brand recognition, loyalty, and equity that enable Beats Music to take its rightful place at the forefront of pop culture. For the last decade and a half, she has been blazing marketing and advertising trails across various industries including consumer packaged goods, digital music/entertainment, fashion, automotive, and sports. 

Prior to joining Beats Music, she served as the Head of the Music and Entertainment Marketing Group at Pepsi-Cola North America where she was responsible for leading breakthrough, integrated & sustained consumer engagement plans for brands across the soda giant’s beverages portfolio. She has spearheaded multiple 360º integrated programs that engaged tastemaker- consumers in the Pepsi brand through music, film, television, print, online, grassroots, events, and retail vehicles. During her tenure at Pepsi-Cola she managed brand integrations with media juggernauts like the Super Bowl, GRAMMY Awards, MTV VMAs, and CMA Awards. Her prior experience includes Vice President of Marketing for fashion brand Ashley Stewart and traditional advertising agency management at Arnold Worldwide and Spike Lee’s Spike DDB. 

Throughout her career, she has been recognized by some of the industry’s most influential media outlets including Billboard Magazine’s Top Women in Music and Top Executives 40 Under 40, Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People, Ebony Magazine’s 100 Top Executives and was featured on the cover of AdWeek as one of the most exciting personalities in Advertising. She also contributes her expertise to various groups including serving on the Leadership Council for the United Nation’s partnership with the PVBLIC Foundation and as a mentor for the Levo League. 

She is a graduate of Wesleyan University with a BA in English and African American Studies.

Carter has interviewed many of music’s and Hollywood’s elite, including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Jada Pinkett Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, Drew Barrymore, Jamie Foxx, Mark Wahlberg, Katie Holmes, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Tyler Perry, Taraji P. Henson, Ben Stiller, Bradley Cooper, Courteney Cox, Angela Bassett, Jennifer Aniston, Ryan Reynolds, Sandra Bullock, Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Mary J. Blige and Sean Combs. Carter currently is the Sr. Entertainment Reporter for ESPN’s The Undefeated.

Gordon advises on all legal issues involving both the football team and Levi's® Stadium. She is also the Secretary of the Bay Area Host Committee and has been involved with events such as Super Bowl 50, WrestleMania 31, Beyoncé's Formation World Tour, the Copa America Centenario, and the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship. Gordon is active in league-wide matters, has served on multiple intra-league working groups, and the NFL Player Tuition Assistance Plan and the NFL Severance Pay Plan.

Under her leadership, the 49ers launched the first fan engagement community for LGBTQ+ fans and allies in professional sports to national acclaim. Fan Engagement also relaunched WON, the official women's club of the Forty Niners, doubling membership and creating a monthly digital magazine.

Gordon joined the 49ers in 2011 as director of legal affairs, a role she held for four seasons, before becoming the vice president of legal and government affairs in 2015, then general counsel from 2016-17. Gordon came to the 49ers from the NFL Management Council where she worked on NFL player contracts, salary cap compliance, the 2011 NFL collective bargaining agreement, and labor issues, including the 2011 lockout. Prior to the NFL, Gordon practiced at Latham & Watkins LLP and earlier in her career worked for the athletic department at the University of California at Berkeley.

Gordon was named to the Sports Business Journal's Forty Under 40 list in 2021 and ICA Cristo Rey gave her its Leader in Mission Award. Gordon is a member of the 2020 Class of Presidential Leadership Scholars, co-selected by the Clinton Foundation and the George W. Bush Presidential Center. In 2020, she was also named to PureWow's "20 in '20 Up-and-Coming Leaders Working to Better Our World. In 2019, Gordon was named to the Silicon Valley Business Journal's 100 Women of Influence. In 2017, she received the Silicon Valley Business Journal and San Francisco Business Times' Corporate Counsel Diversity Champion of the Year award for the work she did along with 49ers ownership on restructuring the 49ers Denise DeBartolo York Fellowship and making the 49ers the first team in the NFL to implement a diverse slate interviewing policy. In 2015, Gordon was named to the Legal 500's GC Powerlist – U.S. Rising Stars.

Gordon has served on the boards of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation Board, San Jose State's Institute for the Study of Sport, Society, and Social Change, and the Santa Clara University Institute for Sports Law and Ethics.

A native of Oakland, California, Gordon earned her B.A. summa cum laude from UCLA where she was the first female football beat writer for The Daily Bruin. Gordon holds a J.D. from Stanford, where she previously served as a Lecturer In Law.

She’s an internationally recognized speaker who takes on dozens of stages every year around the globe and has spoken at some of the world’s most innovative companies and conferences, including Google, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, MAKERS, SXSW. Luvvie connects with her audience through her social network, LuvvNation, a space for elevated conversations. It serves as a safe space in a dumpster fire world and has over 14,000 members. She has received numerous accolades including being chosen by Oprah Winfrey as part of her inaugural SuperSoul100 list as someone who “elevates humanity.” Her alma mater, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, honored her with the Outstanding Young Alumni Award and the Council of Urban Professionals presented her with their Breakthrough Award.

Her work has been featured in outlets such as The New York Times, NPR, Forbes, Inc, Fortune, Essence, Chicago Tribune, and more. She hosts a podcast called Professional Troublemaker where she has amazing conversations with trailblazers who have committed to living life loudly, with courage and conviction. Born in Nigeria, bred in Chicago, and comfortable everywhere, Luvvie enjoys laying around in her plush robe, eating a warm bowl of jollof rice in her free time. Her love language is shoes.

Wilson currently serves as Senior Vice President of Brand and Consumer Marketing for SiriusXM + Pandora where she oversees brand marketing strategy for its portfolio of audio streaming brands. Prior to joining SiriusXM, Wilson spent 16 years at The Walt Disney Company in various marketing leadership roles. She was responsible for setting strategic direction for driving fan engagement, customer acquisition, retention and revenue for Disney’s content portfolio including ESPN, Disney Channel, FX, Nat Geo, Marvel, Pixar and ABC.

In 2003, Wilson served as Director of Marketing for Clear Channel Radio New Orleans (now iHeart Radio). She led the development and execution of all marketing, promotions, and community affairs efforts for seven diverse radio stations from Hip Hop to Gospel, Classic Rock and Country. She began her media career as Distribution Sales Manager for BET Networks Viacom where she was responsible for increasing distribution of BET’s suite of linear and digital networks.

Kimberly received her bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Columbia College Chicago and earned a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing from Roosevelt University. She is a proud and active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Her proudest accomplishment includes serving as co-founder and president of the Don D. Wilson Dream a Dream Foundation – an organization created to support and actualize the dreams of young people in the areas of music, sports and entrepreneurship. She is also an active board member of St. Joseph Center whose mission is to help eradicate homelessness in Los Angeles, CA.

In addition, her production and content development roots have contributed to a broad entrepreneurial portfolio — including Director of Development and Production for Lodge Freeway Media and Executive Producer of YOBE-Inc.

Previously Simmons finished her fifth season with the 3-time WNBA champion LA Sparks as President & COO and the fourth in her official capacity. In that role she led all aspects of the team’s business operations including ticket and sponsorship sales and service, marketing, game operations, communications, community relations and finance. Under her leadership the team saw a 66% increase in ticket sales, increased viewership on Spectrum SportsNet and impacted nearly 100,000 lives through community programs. and brought home a championship in 2016. She even led the design of the Sparks championship ring!

Prior to joining the Sparks, she was an Executive Vice President with Magic Johnson Enterprises where she evaluated investment opportunities and was responsible for business development. Simmons has over a decade of leadership experience in creating strategic alliances, leading business development and driving corporate initiatives. She has worked with many Fortune 500 corporations and multi-million-dollar companies and has been on the business side of entertainment for over two decades working for organizations such as Disney, NBCUniversal and others. Simmons creating the first entertainment industry matchmaking event for below the line businesses as well as the first diversity event at the NAB show.

A proud UCLA graduate, she just finished a 2-year term on the UC Board of Regents, where she served on the following committees: Finance and Capital Strategies, Public Engagement and Development, Investments & Basic Needs. She is immediate Past President, and Director on the Board of the UCLA Alumni Association. She also just finished her term as Treasurer of the Alumni Associations of the UC. She was just re-elected as a member of the UCLA Foundation Board of Directors.

She is on the Advisory Council for Next Play Capital, Shared Harvest Fund, MyCOVID MD, Committee for the LA 2020 Women on Boards as well as a delegate for the Hollywood Commission. She also volunteers for Better Futures for Thomazeau, a small, grassroots nonprofit that provides aide and is currently building a vocational school in Haiti. A huge advocate of mentoring, Christine formally mentors the next generation of Black women through Cari Champion’s foundation, Brown Girls Dream, and has informally mentored countless others. Simmons speaks nationally on topics of Business, Strategy, Leadership, Inclusion, and Women’s Empowerment.

Her dedication to excellence and passion for giving back has earned her a number of honors. Simmons was named as a 2020 CSQ Visionary, honored by the YMCA with its 2019 Brotherhood Award, and was named to the 2018 Ebony Power 100 list. Simmons was honored by WISE LA with their 2017 Woman of Inspiration Award and the University of California President’s list of 2017 Remarkable Women of UC, and the LA Business Journal’s 2016, 2017 & 2018 list of 500 most influential people in Los Angeles.

Finally, Christine’s proudest achievement is the amazing human she is raising in her 9-year-old son, Christian whom she fondly refers to as her “not so lil man.”

In June 2018, she joined Rydholm Projects as a Sr. Producer and launched  ‘High Noon’ on ESPN. Jasmine is currently a Coordinating Producer with Rydholm Project working to develop a new sports talk show. 

When she’s not watching or making TV,  Jasmine is an active member of the National Association of Black Journalists. She served as Vice President of Broadcast for the Sports Task Force, NABJ’s subgroup representing hundreds of sports journalists around the world. 

Jasmine is a proud graduate of the University of Southern California where she studied Broadcast Journalism and International Relations.

Her entertainment career began with Fox Television as a Trademark and Copyright Paralegal working on shows such as The Simpsons.

Faith’s affinity for girls began at a young age while serving as a youth counselor in Watts. She has her own non-profit organization, Faith’s Footprints dedicated to building self-esteem and confidence in teens and pre-teens. 

Faith received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Morris Brown College and a Paralegal Certificate specializing in Corporations and Litigation from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. 

Faith is a Los Angeles native, currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and three children.

That lasted three months. I think the breaking point for me was having to take care of her pet octopus. I also did some acting, sang hooks for struggling rappers and was temping at various companies…just trying to find my footing. To say my parents were nervous for me, during my early years, is an understatement.”

Eagerly seeking a more “behind the scenes role”, Dana landed a more permanent position as a casting assistant at VH1. After a year of hustling to learn the business, she shifted to Nickelodeon, where she quickly ascended from Assistant to Senior Talent Executive. In that role, Dana managed Nickelodeon’s on-air talent and secured celebrities for major events (i.e. The Kids’ Choice Awards, Halo Awards, etc). After a six-year stint at Nickelodeon, she moved to New York and jumped from television to music where she was named Director of Video Promotions for Island Def Jam. After the two record labels split, Dana then rose to become the head of the department overseeing the video promotions staff at the iconic Def Jam Recordings. In video promotions, Dana managed the visual media for the label and partnered with artists to create original content pieces, documentaries, music specials, award show performances and more…cultivating key relationships along the way. Dana then segued into the marketing department at Def Jam as a Lead Strategist, where she managed the projects of some of the most important artists in the business today.

While Def Jam was very much a part of her DNA, after two years on the marketing team, Dana could no longer ignore the fact that there was a fast growing and exciting tech industry that could allow her to learn a new business, while still being creative. Taking a leap of faith, she left her position at Def Jam and took a position at the micro-blogging platform, Tumblr, as Head of East Coast Entertainment Partnerships. While her stint at Tumblr only lasted a year, Dana received a fast and furious education on the ins and outs of the tech industry. “Tumblr is a passionate and engaged platform. My time there allowed me to not only learn about tech but also about how to marry tech with entertainment, build fandoms, manage and engage social communities and create in an entirely new space.” With tech being a very ‘hard to get in, but once you’re in, you’re in’ type environment…it wasn’t long before other tech and streaming behemoths started calling. Again, taking a leap of faith – Dana exited Tumblr and entered Netflix, where she is currently managing the streaming giant’s Global Creative Marketing campaigns for Netflix Original Films.

Turner began her journalism career in 1998 when she joined WEHT as a reporter and fill-in anchor in Evansville, Ind.  In 2000, Turner was a weekday reporter and weekend anchor for WVUE-TV FOX8 in New Orleans. After establishing a presence in news, Turner joined KTTV in Los Angeles in 2004 as a reporter on Good Day LA and anchor for Good Day LA Weekend.  Just a few months after leaving, she returned to New Orleans to cover Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Her coverage of the disaster won several journalism awards.

As an avid sports fan, Turner’s passion and knowledge came in handy when she joined FOX NFL Sunday as a sideline reporter for national football broadcasts in 2007. In addition to covering football, major league baseball, and basketball for FOX, Turner became a host for Extra on Essence in 2009, an online entertainment show focusing on Hollywood’s most elite stars. Turner also has served as a freelance reporter and host for KNBC.

In addition to appearing as an entertainment news expert for CNN and HLN’s Michaela, The Dr. Drew Show and The Daily Share, Turner was featured in a cameo role on The Young and the Restless.

Turner attended the University of Missouri where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and broadcast news.

I am always eager to learn and have taken courses in acupuncture, dry needling, manual therapy, Neurokinetic Therapy, pelvic health and vestibular rehabilitation. 

I am passionate about staying active and find it hard to sit still! In my spare time, I enjoy running, hiking, climbing, gymnastics, travel, baking, and, of course, the great outdoors.

Hussein also previously led production efforts on the Sports Emmy Award-winning NFL Sunday Countdown, where she managed a team of 10 on-air personalities as well as reporters in the field for Countdown.

Angi is an advocate for women/girl’s rights, equality, LGBT, and animal rescue/adoption.  Angi is a wife and mother to a teenage daughter and two rescue dogs. She’s a 5-time triathlete, marathon runner, and in her spare time loves to travel and spend time with family and friends!

Earlier in her career, Ms. Carter was a Senior Financial Analyst for the Disney/ABC Television Group. Kendra holds a bachelor of arts degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Overseeing music supervisors who work on individual shows places Rochelle in a position to coordinate marketing and digital efforts alongside linear TV music placement. It requires managing a soundtrack and all the ancillary music that goes into a comprehensive music campaign.

Rochelle also spearheads the A+R and marketing initiatives for the global ViacomCBS Production Music Library. As part of that responsibility, she has strived to increase representation for women and POC in the company’s library, focusing on finding, nurturing, and spotlighting the work of Black women producers and songwriters. Her commitment to diversity also extends to creating a more diverse network of music supervisors working on shows across brands.

Before her current role, she held the post of VP of Creative Strategy at Universal Music Publishing Group, a $7 billion earning licensing entity that operates worldwide. While there, Rochelle worked to shift internal culture across the company, encouraging teams to better understand the vision behind music by getting to know the artists they represented more intimately. She encouraged thinking beyond traditional placements in TV, films, and video games and into campaigns and moments that could define the artists.

For Rochelle, getting close to artists to understand their music better and amplify their voices is a driving passion. From seeing St. Vincent playing guitar to an audience of 30 in Malibu to crying when *NSYNC reunited at the MTV VMAs to nearly being crushed at a Wu-Tang Clan show, experiencing the presence of artists has informed and influenced her worldview.

Her passion has been noticed. Rochelle was named an emerging Powerful + Influential Latino in Entertainment by the Imagen Foundation in 2015. She is on the advisory board for Women In Music and the NVAK Foundation, as well as a member of both the Recording Academy and Television Academy. Rochelle is a proud alumnus of UCLA.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Le An earned her B.A. in Political Science at UCLA and proudly roots for the LA Lakers, Dodgers and Bruins.

Prior to Los Angeles, she worked as Principal Weeknight Anchor of CBS 3 Philadelphia’s Eyewitness News at 4, 6 and 11 pm from 2003-2008. There, she earned multiple Emmys and received her first ‘Edward R. Murrow’ Award in 2007 for Overall Excellence in Large Market News. At CBS 3 Lane also hosted a weekly series, “A Woman’s View,” which took a look at issues unique to women. During football season, anchoring live from Jacksonville, Florida during Super Bowl XXXIX, Lane could also be seen in Home Field Advantage, a news series that profiled Eagles players at home.

Lane’s career spanned many major TV markets. Before coming to Philadelphia, Lane served as weekend anchor and reporter for WTVJ-TV, the NBC station in Miami, Florida. She joined that station in 2001, quickly distinguishing herself with her coverage of the impact of September 11th on the region, from the hunt for suspected terrorists to her in-depth reports on the backlash felt by Florida’s Muslim community. Her major assignments there also included Hurricanes Michelle and Isadore and the investigation into the anthrax attack on the National Enquirer tabloid publisher American Media. Previously, Lane was a reporter and fill-in anchor for WSVN, the FOX affiliate in Miami where she covered the Elian Gonzalez story.

Lane was also a “one-man band” anchor/reporter for cable news station News 12 in New York – where she shot, wrote, produced and edited her own stories. Here, she covered the shooting death of Amadou Diallo by New York City police, among other stories. As a result of one of her investigative pieces there, she is credited with helping to free a wrongly accused man from prison. Lane began her career as a Washington-based reporter for KSNT-TV in Topeka, Kansas while completing her master’s degree.

Lane, who is fluent in Spanish and of Puerto Rican heritage, received her undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Albany in Spanish Language and Literature, graduating with honors. Later she received her Master Degree in Broadcast Journalism from the Medill School of Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

A native of Long Island, New York, she now resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two young children. She’s an avid yogi, specialty cake baker, and home designer. She is currently working on real estate projects in the LA area.

Previously, Hill co-hosted SC6 on ESPN and ESPN2’s His & Hers, both alongside Michael Smith. His & Hers debuted in 2014 following the success of Hill and Smith’s podcast of the same name. In 2018,  Hill also served as Senior Correspondent & Columnist for The Undefeated.

In July 2016, Hill participated in The President and the People: A National Conversation, a town-hall event with President Barack Obama concerning race relations, justice, policing and equality.

Hill joined ESPN in November 2006 as a national columnist for ESPN.com, and she gradually began making appearances on television, including SportsCenter, First Take, Around the Horn, The Sports Reporters and Outside the Lines.

Before joining ESPN, Hill worked as a sports columnist for the Orlando Sentinel from 2005 – 2006. From 1999 – 2005, she served as a sports writer with the Detroit Free Press covering Michigan State football and basketball. Hill began her career in 1997 as a general assignment sports writer for the Raleigh News & Observer.

In 2007, Hill won the first annual McKenzie Cup, which is given at the annual Poynter Media Summit in tribute to groundbreaking sports editor Van McKenzie. She also received an honorable mention in the 2007 edition of Best American Sports Writing. In 1998, Hill won first place in sports feature writing at the North Carolina Press Association. Hill is also a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

A native of Detroit, Hill graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Spanish.