By Barbara Frankel
Donna de Varona was an Olympic gold medalist in swimming who “retired” at the ripe old age of 17. After a successful—and barrier-breaking career—as a broadcast journalist, she became a strong advocate for women’s equality in sports, founding The Women’s Sports Foundation with Billie Jean King. De Varona was a major player in the battle to pass and retain Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on gender in any educational institution receiving federal funding.
“In my day, we were told that women should just play, not compete. Title IX changed all that. We live in a competitive world and business is competitive,” she says.
Beth Brooke was in the first class of women allowed to play college sports because of Title IX. An athlete who excelled in four sports in high school—golf, tennis, basketball and softball—she was a basketball star at Purdue University. Brooke is now the Global Vice Chair – Public Policy of EY, No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity.