Alicia Ontiveros (far right corner) moderates a roundtable discussion at Power Up Conference.

“Intention is a pipe dream unless you put action to it,” Gloria Feldt, co-founder and president of Take The Lead, told the enthusiastic live and virtual participants at the fourth annual Take The Lead Power Up Conference & Concert on Women’s Equality Day in Los Angeles at the UCLA Luskin Conference Center.

Delivering the 2023 Leading Company Award to Angel City Football Club and its CEO and co-founder Julie Uhrman, Feldt says, “I believe Angel City is literally changing the world for women in sports and the business of sports.”

“There’s always a narrative around people not watching women’s sports. It happens every day and every year. But we are packing stadiums,” says Uhrman, who notes the Angel City sponsorship revenue has topped $50 million.

““Intention is a pipe dream unless you put action to it,” says @GloriaFeldt, co-founder and president of @Takeleadwomen. #careersuccess #genderparity”

In 2023, 2 billion people watched the World Cup. According to the BBC, Women's Sport Trust has found “that 36.1 million people watched women's sports on TV between January-July this year, compared to 17.5 million in the equivalent period in 2021. Football was responsible 72% of the women's sport audiences between the specified period.”

Angel City is Los Angeles' professional women's soccer team that debuted in 2022 in the National Women's Soccer League. Uhrman co-founded ACFC with Academy Award-winning actress and activist Natalie Portman, and technology venture capitalist Kara Nortman. In May of 2023, Angel City Football Club was named Sports Team of the Year by Sports Business Journal and was the first women's team ever to win the category.

“We are intentional about how we invest in our team and our players,” says Uhrman, speaking at the conference with the theme, Lead Your Intention. “We built an organization that can drive true gender equity. We believe the diversity of women’s voices in the C suite makes a difference.”

Uhrman adds, “Sports bring people together. Our goal is to be a global brand and drive revenue that drives impact.”

““We built an organization that can drive true #genderequity. We believe the #diversity of women’s voices in the C suite makes a difference.” - @Juhrman, co-founder of @weareangelcity. ”

On the panel, “50 Women Can & Do in Media & Entertainment,” sponsored by Nancy D. O’Reilly, Take The Lead board member and founder of Women Connect4Good, moderator Alicia Ontiveros, filmmaker, was key to summarizing the successes of the 2018 cohort of 50 Women Can in Media & Entertainment.

“One of the first things we did was to line up and rank ourselves according to our perceived power,” says Ontiveros. “Vulnerability builds trust.”

““One of the first things we did was to line up and rank ourselves according to our perceived power,” says Ontiveros. “Vulnerability builds trust.” #leadership #growth”

“I think the intimacy and vulnerability of that exercise was about accepting the support and being authentic,” says Rosser Goodman, film and TV director. “I also learned I can help others,” Goodman says.

Keisha McKinnor, an ambassador for Take the Lead, is President of the Board of Directors for Arizona Autism Charter Schools, President of the East Valley MLK Committee, Board Member for Mesa United Way, and President of the Board of Directors for Arizona Autism Charter Schools. She tells the audience, “Part of your superpower is learning how to say you need help. It’s about accepting the support and being authentic.”

McKinnor is also a lead organizer of the upcoming 50 Women Can Change The World in Entrepreneurship, that is a double cohort of 100 participants in person and virtual beginning Sept. 27 and running until December 1 at Mesa Community College, Red Mountain Campus.

“We are looking for entrepreneurs looking to scale their businesses and grow,” says McKinnor. “It’s about equity in funding and it starts with intentioning.”

According to O’Reilly, “When one person supports you, anything is possible.”

“According to @DrNancyOReilly, “When one person supports you, anything is possible.” #support #community ”

Ontiveros closed the session with an encouraging send off. “Instead of saying good luck, I say bon courage. Go with courage.”

In a tribute to Ms. Magazine for its 50-year legacy, and executive Kathy Spillar for her leadership, Feldt says, “I credit Ms. Magazine with shaping the person I became. Media forms us and informs us. We learn from it and we also form our own belief systems from it. “

She adds, “For any media entity to survive 50 years is quite a feat. They not only tell women’s stories, but their choice of story, and how that story is framed” is important.

“@GloriaFeldt says, “I credit @MsMagazine with shaping the person I became. Media forms us and informs us. We learn from it and we also form our own belief systems from it.””

At the helm of the magazine and The Feminist Majority for the last 20 years, Spillar says, “We wanted to establish a magazine with a feminist lens. When it hit newsstands in 1972, it sold out in three weeks. It became a source of ideas, inspiration and connection and it plugged into a revolution.”

Spillar adds, “We were the first magazine to put anything out about abortion. We put sexual harassment on the cover of the magazine 40 years before #MeToo.” She adds, “This could not be a more critical time in the ongoing backlash against women’s equality.”

In a fitting closing, Spillar says, ”What you do with your lives is a critical part of that unity. We share power and have access to real power.”

“@Kathyspillar of @MsMagazine says, ”What you do with your lives is a critical part of that unity. We share power and have access to real power..” #womensrights”

Take The Lead Leadership Takeaway:

“Part of your superpower is learning how to say you need help. It’s about accepting the support and being authentic.”

Keisha McKinnor, Ambassador For Take The Lead

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About the Author

Michele Weldon is editorial director of Take The Lead, an award-winning author, journalist, emerita faculty in journalism at Northwestern University and a senior leader with The OpEd Project. @micheleweldon www.micheleweldon.com