The PCC EWD 2024 Future Of Work Conference – Part 3: The Panel Discussion

Pam Sornson, JD on November 19, 2024

The nexus of sports, media, and entertainment was at the heart of the conversation during the 6th Annual Future of Work Conference (FOW) hosted by Pasadena City College on October 29th. Three notable public figures (Assemblyman Mike Fong, PCC President/Superintendent Jose Gomez, and LAEDC President Stephen Cheung) and two thrilling keynote speakers (Julie Urhman of the Angel City Football Club and Jasmine Star, business strategist) shared their insights on how sports have impacted their lives and careers.

The real convo, however, was among the four panelists, each of whom presented a unique and fresh perspective from their own personal and professional journeys. As a collection of individual commentaries, the discussion was fascinating. As a panel as a whole, the symposium was comprehensive in its scope.

 

The Topic:

Championing Careers: Workforce Development at the Intersection of Sports and Entertainment

A sport is not just a game; it’s many games, and how they’re being played is changing. Today’s professional and amateur sports environment hosts billions of fans across hundreds of thousands of sports, leagues, and players. All that sweat adds up to big business, and each of the panelists is invested in that business in one way or another:

Ms. Reaves has spent her life in the sports and entertainment industries. As a member of the LA Tourism & Convention Board and the Women in Sports and Events Inc. organization, she’s experienced first-hand how sports impact communities and how women impact sports.

Ms. Perez-Palacios spent years in Southern California’s political system, managing protocols, communications, and outreach for several administrations. The Los Angeles Chargers are the beneficiary of her expertise; in her Cultural Affairs Director role, she acts as the nexus between the team and LA’s diverse and sports-mad populations.

As a trade association, the LA Sports Council focuses on sports and sporting inclusion and innovation to positively impact the community. In his role as President, Cacciato brings his years of academic excellence in sports administration to drive the agency’s strategies and practices.

Every sports team also is a business or does business with its community. Dr. Cummo’s workforce development focus ensures that LA-based sporting companies and industries have the staff they need to meet fan demands and excel in their market.

 

The Questions:

Individually, the perspectives of this quad of industry, culture, business, and academic experts were informative and insightful. Together, their responses to questions from moderator Stephen Cheung (President – LA Economic Development Corporation) expanded the conversation into a genuinely all-encompassing treatise on how entertainment, sports, and media function as a whole sector in and of itself.

How do we create a triple-value bottom line – profit, community, environment – by building a sports-focused workforce?

The uniform answer from all was, “Bring your best game, whatever that might be.”

  • Perez-Palacios noted that ‘diversity’ is an industry driver. Every person offers unique skills and talents as a workforce member, regardless of their color, ethnicity, etc. Agencies that embrace the diversity of their staff – and fandom! – will grow more quickly and broadly than those that limit their potential candidates.
  • Reaves noted that women are becoming more involved with organized sports at all levels. Women’s sports teams are emerging in many communities, and as many as 75% of all women identify as sports fans. Harnessing that energy can only benefit the triad of sporting industries as a group.
  • Cacciato clarified how ‘sports,’ as a trade industry, opens doors to many non-game opportunities. The presentation of LA’s 2028 Summer Olympics, for example, is a collaboration of many sectors: entertainment (of course), but also transportation, hospitality, venue management, etc. Every element that supports game playing but isn’t specifically involved with the game or sport itself will need staffing and oversight by non-athletes.
  • Cummo discussed the physical impact of sports and sporting events on their environment, noting that sports organizers are addressing sustainability and green energy initiatives as well as athletics. Building these green standards into LA’s sporting sector will generate thousands of jobs needing thousands of well-trained and skilled workers.

How does your organization connect with potential sports industry workforce candidates?

Across the board, the answer was, “Go find them!”

  • Cacciato reported that every game, regardless of its type or caliber, typically has spectators, even if it’s just people stopping to watch during their nightly stroll. There can be job opportunities available for those folks if they are informed about them.
  • Reaves shared that companies that have already hired for sports-based events will almost certainly be hiring again for future events. People looking to enter the sector can start as a parking attendant or in crowd control to get a flavor of the work and a foot in the door.
  • Perez-Palacios suggests that social media channels can be helpful for potential candidates. Folks who respond to or engage with team-related email blasts and Facebook posts are often open to exploring a more significant role with their favorite team or player.
  • Cummo encouraged the panelists and audience to engage directly with the schools teaching relevant courses. California’s Community College Career Centers are conduits between employers and employees; those resources always benefit from industry professionals contributing to educational processes.

Other workforce-related suggestions were made:

  • Volunteer opportunities at many levels of a sporting operation often provide the open door through which paid employment becomes possible.
  • There are jobs beyond the foundational ‘sporting event’ occupations that require specialization, too. Finance, media, healthcare, and even mental health professionals can all contribute to an athletic team’s success.
  • The panelists also noted LA’s high profile in the sporting world. With Orange County teams included, the region is home to 13 professional sports teams, all of which have both resources and needs. Connect with all of them to expand opportunities for workers and the enterprise.

The panel discussion was an invaluable resource for Conference attendees to clarify how ‘sports,’ as an individual industry, can influence and drive growth in several ancillary sectors. Those who can’t play on the actual field can still have a personal and lucrative role in the game.

 

The PCC EWD 2024 Future Of Work Conference – Part 4: Key Takeaways

Pam Sornson, JD on November 19, 2024

While the 2024 Pasadena City College Future of Work Conference focused on sports, media, and entertainment, many of the messages shared there translate into other industries and workforce sectors. These insights are of value to any business owner, industrialist, employee, or entrepreneur, and sharing them here extends the value of the Conference to any entity looking to find a qualified workforce, public recognition and growth, and greater success within its sector.

 

Leader Insights

The well-informed insights of the FOW Conference speakers and hosts were honed over decades of career and life experiences. Each participant freely shared how they built their skillset and then how they applied those skills to their roles within their organizations. Reviewing their individual contributions as a whole, their opinions and successes appear to converge around a few themes and theories that have proven successful for them all. Of further value to readers: a very convenient ‘sports’ analogy is available to explain how their effort propels their enterprise into the future.

All conference participants noted their intentional involvement with their local community, whether that’s a neighborhood high school softball team or a regionally dominant professional league franchise. The examples of significant outreach were instructional and inspiring:

Make the Connection

Every business must identify and unite with its target market; sports teams are no different. In these cases, the game, team, or player is often the draw. In non-sports businesses, the product or service may be the attraction for new buyers. Companies looking to connect better with a potential market must find ways that resonate with the consumers they’re trying to find. Using every available form of outreach – email, social media, television, flyers, etc. – offers the best opportunity to see and secure this new customer base.

Publicize Outside the Box

The Angel City Football Club (ACFC) prioritized community outreach before it even launched its team in the LA area. Recognizing that securing and maintaining public attention on a women’s sports team posed unusual hurdles (especially in LA’s already busy professional sports environment), ACFC’s female leaders began developing its public persona first, connecting with major soccer organizations and supporters to get the word out early and often. Soccer is a global sport, so many international people and communities were eager to hear their message and watch their team emerge.

Their outreach proved to be extraordinarily successful: just two years after its formation, the market valuation of the ACFC was set at $250 million when it sold in July 2024. Further, the new LA representative of the National Women’s Soccer League scored the most lucrative contract in the history of women’s sports at the end of its 2023 season. The $240 million contract will televise games on major streaming services and broadcast networks.

These organizations show up off the field, too. They participate with or volunteer for charities; their athletes make public appearances regularly, and school and hospital visits provide excellent public relations fodder for the company newsletter or email blast.

Reduce Barriers to Participation

Many people struggle to make ends meet, which impedes their opportunity to find better resources in their community. Corporations looking to build both a fan base and a workforce can assist promising future human assets by helping them with basics so they can focus on their future. Internships, apprenticeships, and training opportunities that maximize available timeframes provide options for course attendance and on-the-job training.

As an example, the ACFC focuses on women, girls, and the non-binary community, and its mission is to improve equity through sports. Achieving that goal means looking for ways to increase its target population’s participation in and enjoyment of team sports while also addressing the inequities that have prevented earlier participation.

The Club is running several strategies designed to help its target market get out of the house and onto the field:

  • They streamline sponsors to maximize the impact of their core outreach channels. Their inaugural sponsor, DoorDash, partnered with the team in 2021, inking a deal committed to delivering 250,000 meals through its Project DASH initiative to those in need in the LA region. In exchange, the mobile food delivery service gets a mid/center placement on the team jersey and other merchandise. The international poverty-fighting non-profit agency CARE has also joined this effort to identify the organizations most likely to benefit from the service.
  • The ACFC also recognized the challenges many women faced when it comes to financial management. In too many cases, women aren’t exposed to or don’t have access to financial literacy materials, so they are unable to access resources that are easily accessible to their male counterparts. The ACFC now offers classes to its female soccer fans to narrow the financial acumen gender divide.

Utilize All Available Tools

All these sports administrators recognize the value of incorporating available assets into every club project or outreach. The ‘Game Day Experience’ reference offers a unique case study:

  • Each fan is an individual who experiences each game day in a particularly unique way.
  • Data gathered throughout the consumer/entity engagement can flag organizations to populations that require novel or different types of support to be fully engaged with their team.
  • Tailoring game day activities to meet these fan demands helps the team connect better with their audience, regardless of the score of the game.

Social media technology, traditional media outlets, schools, fairs, and other community events and gatherings all offer appropriate venues for sports-based businesses to find both fans and a workforce.

 

Final Messages:

As the Conference closed, the panelists were asked how they would advise a person or company seeking to work with a sports team (or any organization that matches their business parameters):

  • The LA Chargers’ Lilianna Perez-Palacios advised job and career seekers to be themselves. “There is no one like you; there is only you.” The individual’s innate skills and talents will determine the best fit for their next employer.
  • The Rose Bowl’s Monique Reaves urged persistence in the pursuit of a career in any element of the ‘sports’ industrial sector. As the industry grows, more jobs are becoming available and need a workforce to fill them.
  • The LA Sports Council’s Matt Cacciato suggests that presenting oneself with confidence and self-esteem is essential, too. Every applicant for every job has a skill set that may offer tremendous value, but the organization can’t know what that is unless they receive that data directly.
  • PCC’s VP – Economic and Workforce Development division, Dr. Salvatrice Cummo, advised that applicants prepare for the interview by familiarizing themselves with the entity. Asking questions about the job, the team (or product/service), and the enterprise demonstrates strategic thinking and advanced planning skills.

 

Once again, Pasadena City College demonstrated its unique presence in LA’s EWD sector by hosting an informative, entertaining, and enlightening Future of Work conference. Thank you to all participants, attendees, and supporters, whether they’re sports fans or not.

 

The PCC EWD 2024 Future Of Work Conference – Part 1: Hosts and Moderator

Pam Sornson, JD on November 5, 2024

The house was full for Tuesday’s Future of Work Conference (FOW), hosted by the Economic and Workforce Development division of Pasadena City College (PCC EWD). The theme of the event was “Championing a Transformative Future,” with the primary focus being on ‘Sports,’ as those activities – both professional and amateur – impact Los Angeles and its constituents. Panelists, speakers, and audience members expanded the scope of the conversation to include equity, opportunity, and emerging workforce demands in the city and region. Not least, the status and accomplishments of the 2024 Los Angeles ChangeMaker of the Year recipient, Dr. Jim Lancaster of the Los Angeles Community College District, reminded everyone that anyone can improve their lot in life and their neighborhood, one car engine at a time.

 

Sports – Always Drawing a Crowd

It may have been the Sports theme that attracted 240 in-person guests to PCC’s Westerbeck Hall (with an unknown number attending online), or it may have been the excellence of the speakers and panelists who graced the stage. The PCC EWD FOW Conference team had gathered a notable roster of ‘who’s who’ in their sporting field, and everyone brought their best game (pun intended). No matter the personal reasons for attending, all guests were entertained and enlightened by the conversation and were given much to think about as they headed back to their world.

Speakers and Hosts

Host Dr. Salvatrice Cummo, Vice President, PCC EWD division, opened the day, welcoming guests and introducing participants.

Dr. Jose Gomez

The first to speak was the new President/Superintendent of PCC, Dr. Jose Gomez. Dr. Gomez arrived at PCC in early 2024, bringing with him decades of educational leadership excellence. In his most recent position as COO at Cal State University – LA (among many, many significant accomplishments), he championed higher education in prisons, promoted inclusion in the biosciences sector, and helped to found Achieve LA, a partnership with the YMCA to support youth in under-resourced, communities.  

Dr. Gomez also pointed out Pasadena’s notable presence in the region:

  • The Rose Bowl hosted its first football game in 1922.
  • The New York Yankees stayed at the Langham Hotel while in town for their first World Series game.
  • Even Albert Einstein spent time in Pasadena!  

He is very enthusiastic about his new role at PCC and about the prospects of PCC students pursuing careers in the sports industry.

Assemblyman Mike Fong

Assemblyman Mike Fong also took the stage. As the Representative for District 49, Mr. Fong has pursued initiatives to reduce homelessness, add jobs, and expand access to education. From his perspective, the sports industry provides a broad scope of career opportunities unrelated to games or playing. Logistics, hospitality, and marketing are just three industry sectors that play an immense role in the success of any sports team.

Stephen Cheung, CEO LAEDC & WTCLA

Acting as host and moderator of the panel discussion was Stephen Cheung, the President and CEO of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), as well as the President of the World Trade Center of LA. Mr. Cheung’s involvement in and influence on economic development has been exceptional:

  • Currently, he oversees eight LAEDC departments, including Industry Cluster Development and Applied Economics. The work done by the LAEDC and WTCLA touches virtually every industrial sector in the LA region and the State of California.  
  • Earlier, he was Managing Director of International Trade and Foreign Affairs for two LA mayors, developing programs for LA’s port systems (including LAX and the Port of Los Angeles, which includes both LA and Long Beach ports and is the largest port system in America), green technologies, and international trade.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Cheung proved to be an excellent moderator of the Panel discussion, which is covered in this edition’s second article.

The 2024 Change Maker Award – Dr. Jim Lancaster

The Economic and Workforce Development division of Pasadena City College (PCC EWD) is honored to announce Dr. Jim Lancaster as the recipient of its 2024 Change Maker Award. Dr. Lancaster is the Vice Chancellor for Workforce Development for the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCCD). The announcement was made on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, at the 6th Annual PCC EWD Future of Work Conference.

Dr. Lancaster’s dedication to his industry and his students led to his selection as the recipient of this year’s award, which highlights the activities of notable participants in LA County’s EWD sector. Dr. Lancaster’s Associate in Science (AS) degree in Automotive Technology from Cerritos College launched his automotive mechanic career, and he used his experience as a Master Chevrolet Technician to pursue higher education in the automotive field. He began teaching automotives at Cerritos as he worked through his academic goals, achieving a Bachelor’s degree in Vocational Education from CSU Long Beach, an MA in Industrial and Technical Studies from CSU Los Angeles, and an Ed.D in Educational Leadership: Community College Specialization from CSU Fullerton. Time spent at Citrus College as a faculty member (and President of the faculty association) and at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College as Vice President of Instruction facilitated his eventual appointment as Vice President of Academic Affairs at Los Angeles City College. That role was quickly followed by his current assignment as Vice Chancellor, Workforce and Economic Development for the LACCD.     

Throughout his career, Dr. Lancaster continuously forged partnerships between academia and industry.

  • He recognized the value of hands-on learning and developed pathways to career success based on individual student goals and the industrial demands of the evolving automotive sector.
  • He’s also been very effective at ensuring learners gain insights into equity principles in the workplace, so their participation includes both excellent work skills and civic responsibility.
  • His contributions added substantial value to the Advantage LA Plan, which helps older students and workers find the unique support they need.

Across his years in the industry, Dr. Lancaster has fostered relationships between businesses, educators, and industry leaders, connecting market demands to student career objectives. His efforts have secured the success of both student success and workforce development initiatives, empowering learners to engage more closely with their careers while facilitating innovation and evolution within industrial sectors.

Congratulations, Dr. Lancaster!

The PCC EWD 2024 Future Of Work Conference – Part 2: Keynote Speakers

Pam Sornson, JD on November 5, 2024

Every conference highlights the notable accomplishments of its Keynote speakers, who are invited to participate based on their exceptional contributions to their industry. The two keynote speakers at the 6th Annual Future of Work Conference hosted by the Economic and Workforce Development division of Pasadena City College are no exceptions to this practice. In fact, the perspectives of both Julie Urhman, President and Co-Founder of the Angel City Football Club (ACFC), and Jasmine Star, a highly regarded business strategist, melded nicely with the conference topic: “Championing a Transformative Future.” Each shared her personal and professional story and how those led her to her current role. Both overcame significant hurdles to attain the high levels of success they’ve achieved. Together, they epitomize the meaning of ‘transformation.’

 

Julie Urhman – Angel City Football Club

If you thought the co-founder of a professional sports team began as a player of that sport, you’d be wrong if you’re talking about Entrepreneur Julie Urhman. She came to the ACFC through her work as a PR leader. She joined her friend and fellow founder, actor Natalie Portman (along with venture capitalist Kara Nortman), to build a female-focused sports franchise around the mission of ‘improving equity through sports.’ None of the three women were affiliated with any kind of sport before the ACFC came into being. They were all focused on their ‘real’ jobs in public relations, media, and venture capitalism.

However, the three came together around the drive to ‘change the business of women’s sports‘ by developing a professional women’s soccer team that would rival the popularity and success of a men’s team.

By all accounts, they are achieving that goal within their first two years in business as the ACFC. Urhman credits several influences that have bolstered the team’s upward trajectory:

  • Social Media – Today’s sports fans connect not just with their team but also with their favorite players, and social media channels offer that direct interaction. The player’s opportunity to commune with and support their fans where the fans are is unmatched, and the ACFC uses carefully curated data and AI resources to ensure their messaging responds directly to their fans’ preferences.
  • Advancing Equity Initiatives – The past few years have revealed the deep and wide economic rifts between men’s and women’s sports, and the ACFC intends to reduce that gap. That effort began with the original pitch to potential club sponsors, who, according to Urhman, “are not transactional entities.” Rather than simply placing a logo on a cup, the ACFC strategy embraces investors who already share their equitable outlook. Further, because of the nature of the team leadership triad, international sponsorship was available. Because soccer is a global sport, the PR outreach effort to establish and popularize the ‘ACFC brand’ predated the launch of the actual team. Consequently, investors and fans were ready, willing, and waiting for games to start as the ACFC took to the field for its first game.
  • Knowing Who to Approach – An early lesson came from attending meetings with funding entities that weren’t interested in sports, soccer, or women’s athletics. ‘Traditional’ investors asked traditional questions, many of which weren’t relevant to ACFC’s quest. Instead, the trio turned their attention to investors who were already open to new ideas. Some came on board because of the entrepreneurial aspect of the club; others were simply great soccer fans, and fans of women’s soccer.

The team’s insights have paid off well. Urhman notes that today’s ‘fandom’ spreads far beyond the bleachers; while 1% attend games, 99% access ACFC assets from a distance. Despite its LA base, the club now sells its merchandise in all 50 states and 50 different countries.

Looking forward, Urhman and the ACFC leadership team have several initiatives in action or in mind to better serve the community:

  • They’ve already allocated 10% of all sponsorship dollars for community use.
  • Their Player 22 Program connects current and past players with financial and entrepreneurial resources so they can pursue a future in sports once their game days are over.
  • The college student demographic is one of their primary target markets and an excellent resource for fans, employees, and future investors. And their investment in college women is especially welcome: apparently, the lack of a sports bra is the single biggest reason why more girls and women don’t play sports. The Angel City Football Club is working to address that concern, too.

Urhman’s commentary was informative and inspiring, and so also completely worth watching again. Click here to watch a replay of the event and hear Julie Urhman’s invaluable contribution.

 

Jasmine Star – Inspired Corporate Strategist

The closing Keynote Speaker’s job is to send attendees off, inspired to do more in their sector with the information gleaned from the conference. Jasmine Star, the closing speaker at the FOW conference, did precisely that by sharing her back story and the methods and mindsets she used to build her multimillion-dollar brand.

A first-generation college student herself, Star recognizes the struggles many people endure as they strive to attain their early goals. Home-schooled by enlightened and engaged parents, she vigorously pursued her passions, even when she couldn’t adequately articulate them. She focused on education enough to earn a bachelor’s degree from Whittier College and entry into UCLA’s Law School. She was self-aware enough to know that law wasn’t her future. Instead, she withdrew from that school, purchased her first camera, and became a noted and highly skilled photographer.

That educational evolution illuminated for her her foundational mantra: “Possibility is Impossibility in Disguise.” The message helped her see that the barriers she perceived often suggested their own solutions if one is willing to look for them. She embraced that notion and set aside her hesitation in favor of her confidence that she could achieve anything she prioritized.

The consequence of her mindset turnaround? In addition to her internationally acclaimed photography business, she added titles to her resume:

  • ‘Business Strategist’ by helping hundreds of companies and corporate leaders overcome industry and personal challenges to achieve greater success;
  • ‘Tech Company Founder’ by launching Social Curator, a software program that customizes online content for customers and
  • ‘Podcaster and Motivational Speaker’ by sharing her story, her unique and varied paths to success, and her uninhibited enthusiasm for growth and development.

As a leader, she also developed mindset strategies to help companies of all sizes excel:

  • ‘Candor’ is more productive than ‘critique.’ Employees do better when their effort is appreciated, even if it isn’t optimal for the project.
  • Stay humble. Leaders work FOR their team, not the other way around.
  • Be empathetic. Acknowledging that people are doing their best alleviates their stress.

Star closed with her ‘Three P’s’:

Perseverance – stick to your strategy through till its end.

Patience – things rarely go as planned – be ready for that.

Promise – not to quit on yourself.

Following these concepts allows leaders to ‘live in the gain, not in the gap,’ and Jasmine Star is certainly a role model for that business leader mindset.

 

Talkin’ Sports, Media, and Entertainment: The 2024 FOW Conference Panelists

Pam Sornson, JD on October 15, 2024

Obviously, the LA region didn’t land its third Olympic Games without a well-thought-out plan to accommodate them. That plan was laid out in 2017 in the documentation submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and, after its acceptance, extended by the organizations tapped for its execution. Leaders from some of those organizations are joining the discussion hosted by the Economic and Workforce Development division of Pasadena City College during its 6th annual Future of Work Conference, which begins at 9 AM (breakfast at 8) on Thursday, October 29th, on the school campus (register here to attend – it’s free).

 

Many Facets – One Olympic Games Event

This year’s panel of speakers and participants spans the panoply of sporting influences: games, culture, economics, and education.

Our Host and Panelist

Dr. Salvatrice Cummo – Vice President and CEO of the school’s division of Economic and Workforce Development (PCC EWD).

PCC’s EWD is a critical player in the LA region’s economic and workforce development efforts, connecting together the students and schools with the businesses and industries looking for workers. As its leader, Dr. Cummo oversees its many initiatives, each designed to approach and engage with an element (or elements) of a particular effort in the EWD sector. Notable aspects of PCC’s EWD division reflect the many and various avenues that contribute to economic and workforce success, including (but not limited to):

The whole of Dr. Cummo’s EWD division provides invaluable support and guidance for all local and regional entities seeking to improve their economic capacities and status.

Our Moderator

Stephen Cheung – President & CEO of the LA Economic Development and the Corporation (LAEDC) and the World Trade Center LA.

Mr. Cheung enthusiastically pursues the LAEDC mission – Reinventing our economy to collaboratively advance growth and prosperity for all – through skillful management of its many teams, including Applied Economics (the research branch), Industry Cluster Development, Strategic Relations, Communications & Marketing, and Public Policy, among them. As a trusted resource for both data and expertise, Cheung’s LAEDC has been instrumental in economic and workforce growth in the region and around the world. He also sits on the boards of the Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA, the UCLA Extension, and the LA Workforce Development Board, among others.

 

Keynote Speakers

Thoughts to Start the Day          Julie Uhrman – Angel City Football Club President

Launching the day is the keynote commentator Julie Uhrman, President and Co-Founder of LA’s Angel City Football Club. When they founded the club in 2020, Ulrman and her business partners (actor and activist Natalie Portman and venture capitalist Kara Nortman) used lessons from the entertainment and tech industries to establish a new business model for women’s sports. Rather than launch and then build its brand, the group generated an impressive international presence for the club throughout its first three years. The effort paid off: while definitely moving the needle in its quest for pay equity in sports, the Club was valued at $250M when it sold in the summer of 2024, making it the world’s most valuable women’s sports team. The new controlling owners? Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, and Willow Bay, Dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Uhrman will talk about how the team has evolved, the business model that’s supported its rise, and the importance of the emerging generation of female athletes and women’s sports.

Thoughts to Take Away               Jasmine Star – Entrepreneur, Corporate Strategist, Tech Innovator

Jasmine Star built her agency from wedding photographer to social media technology guru to internationally recognized speaker and motivator. Along the way, she honed her creative capacities to meet every demand and request by designing out-of-the-box marketing strategies, building system-driven teams, and helping others to generate world-class businesses and enterprises. Her comments will inspire live and virtual attendees to raise their standards and follow their most ambitious goals.

 

Panel Discussion

Sports and the business of sports comprise the theme of the day: “Championing Careers: Workforce Development at the Intersection of Sports and Entertainment.”  As a business, every team or sports organization has its  typical corporate activities to maintain, including hiring and managing an effective workforce. Economically, the enterprise generates revenues, engages with community partners, and stimulates tax contributions to local cities and communities. All these activities happen far from the playing field, yet they play a critical role in the sports team’s success. Panelists will discuss insights and lessons learned from their roles within the administration of LA’s most popular sports franchises and venues.

Dominick Correy – Rose Bowl Stadium Director of Community Relations

Pasadena’s Rose Bowl is a world-renowned sporting facility, hosting the annual college football Tournament of Roses Rose Bowl game every New Year’s Day, as well as many other sporting and community events throughout the year, including five Super Bowls. As a former District Representative in California’s State Senate, Correy knows the significance of the Bowl’s prestige around the world – and around the corner. His job is to ensure the stadium maximizes all of its resources for supporting its community and attracting top-of-the-line events. His efforts are effective: the venue was chosen as one of 12 sites for the 2026 FIFA World Cup games.

Liliana T. Perez-Palacios – Sr. Director of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles Chargers

As her bio reveals, Ms. Perez-Palacios works to align the various social, economic, and cultural sectors in the LA region with commonly sought benefits for both companies and fans. In her five-year term (so far) with the Chargers, she’s already been blazing trails:

  • She’s the team’s first Latina and the inaugural Senior Director for Cultural Affairs
  • She’s a Mexican-born American who grew up in the Pico-Union community of West LA, and
  • In the 1980s, as an intern for Assembly Majority Leader Mike Roos, she played an integral communications role in his quest for immigration reform, being both bilingual and involved in the immigration process herself.

She’ll share her perspective on how her intention to ‘be of service’ was also her superpower, motivating her to become a fearless problem solver for those in need.

Matt Cacciato – President & CEO, Los Angeles Sports Council

Mr. Cacciato has had a colorful career in sports, spending time at ESPN (Sales Director, East & West regions) and Fox Cable Networks (VP Sales, West region) before launching his own education-focused enterprise, AmericanEDtv, in 2011. Over the next decade, his comprehension of sports as an economic driver grew through his work teaching (Department of Sports Administration, Ohio University College of Business) and leading (Director, Masters of Sports Administration – Ohio University; Executive Director, AECOM Center for Sports Administration) the conversations among athletes, sports enterprises, and sports-related businesses across the full spectrum of sporting industries. In January 2024, he was installed as the President and CEO of the LA Sports Council, where he remains focused on its mission:

  • to ‘innovate’ new ways of presenting and consuming sports,
  • to ‘include’ all community members in its work and outreach, and
  • to ‘impact’ the LA region socially, equitably, and economically through expanded engagement in its sports resources.

Dr. Cummo also joins this panel.

The 2028 Olympics will be here soon, and the social, infrastructural, and economic developments in preparation for them will enhance the city’s prestige and livability for decades to come. The panelists at PCC’s Future of Work Conference will help attendees understand better how investments in sports can be the drivers of a thrilling and thriving economy.

 

 

Sports, Media, and Entertainment: Welcome to the PCC EWD 2024 Conference!

Pam Sornson, JD on October 15, 2024

The 2028 Olympics are fast approaching, bringing the world’s biggest international sports extravaganza back to Los Angeles. However, as big an event as those games will be, LA is not suffering from a shortage of local, regional, and national sporting opportunities. Both professional and amateur athletics enjoy immense popularity with the general public, so much so that new occupations and careers are emerging as individual leagues, sports, teams, and players attract more attention and money.

In fact, the constellation of sports, entertainment, and media in the region are so prominent in today’s news that they’ve become the theme of Pasadena City College’s 2024 Future of Work Conference, happening on campus and live-streamed on Tuesday, October 29th (register here). As was the case in our last five conferences, this event gathers regional industry experts and luminaries to share their insights and opinions about sports as a form of entertainment and the workforce development opportunities that arise from that metric.

 

LA Sports from All Sides

The ever-burgeoning sports industry continues to boom, both in popularity and economically. In fact, ‘sports’ now are more than just ‘games.’ ‘Sports,’ as a thing in and of itself, is also big business – and getting bigger as contributory companies and industries emerge to better serve the teams, the fans, and the general public.

LA is a notable mecca for sports fans, being one of the two largest and nationally recognized major markets for both professional and collegiate sports. It boasts nine major venues that each entertain more than 20,000 spectators and 11 professional sports teams across five primary sporting sectors: the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball, and the National Hockey League. Those big leagues, combined with smaller leagues and teams, pump almost $9 billion into the community each year through ticket sales and merchandising at each venue, as well as the vast volume of related sales occurring in the hospitality, transportation, and other associated industries. While the events themselves thrill viewers and participants, the economic value of these sporting activities provides critical financial assets to their local cities and towns.

As an example, in 2022, just four world-class signature events generated over $1 billion: the 123rd US Open Golf Championship ($187M), WrestleMania 38 ($215M), the College Football National Championship game ($225M), and Super Bowl LVI ($477M). Countless other smaller events were also on the calendar that year, and the revenues generated by both pro and college sports contributed a total of $365 million in state and local taxes.

 

LA Sports From Within

But money spent isn’t the only metric that reflects the high value of sports in the LA region. There are several other elements related to sports that are also enhancing LA’s reputation as THE place to play, watch, or engage in sports:

Infrastructure Inputs

Hosting a crowd of any size requires a sound infrastructure, from the roads, rails, and planes that transport fans and teams, to the hotels and restaurants that feed them and offer respite, to the publicly available facilities and sanitation services that keep things clean and hygienic. The LA region enjoys a globally vaunted reputation as a media and entertainment capital, not least because its infrastructure is designed to manage the logistics involved in major sporting events. As an added resource, the City has received $900M from the federal and State governments to enhance its infrastructure even more for the 2028 Olympics. Work repairing bridge, roads, and streets has begun, and more transportation and related assets will be added as the Games get nearer.

Financial Inputs

Since the COVID-19 pandemic ended, the LA region has experienced an explosion in investments specifically to build its sporting infrastructure. According to the Los Angeles Sports Council, a non-profit sports trade association dedicated to creating a stronger and more resilient LA community around its sports and sporting industries, growth in all aspects of the sports industry surged through 2023, grossing almost three-quarters of a billion ($717M) more than was received in 2022. Both college and pro sports continue to gain fans ($340M and $377, respectively), while more than 83,000 new jobs were created. The total value of labor income generated through sporting activities in 2023 was almost seven billion ($6.9), compared to $4B in 2021 and $3.6B in 2018. The figures indicate that LA’s sports industry is also an independent economic engine for the City and region.

Equity Inputs

Growth isn’t measured just by financial statistics, either. From an equity perspective, LA’s sports industries also lead the way by including athletes of all genders, ethnicities, and backgrounds. The Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission (LASEC) manages the LASEC Business Connect, a supplier diversity program that identifies companies owned and managed by local, diverse individuals and connects them with the sporting agencies and organizations that can use their goods and services. Added mentoring and professional development support ensure that enterprises that are frequently overlooked in the bidding and contract procurement processes are included in both the conversations and the subsequent agreements.

Launched in 2022 in time for Super Bowl LVI, LASEC Business Connect has since been facilitating the expansion of companies chosen to provide services to major regional sporting events. Qualifying LA County-based organizations must be direct suppliers of goods or services, in business locally for at least three years, and be at least 51% owned by a woman, a minority person, those who identify within the LGBTQIA+ strata, a person with a disability, or a veteran individual.

 

With much of the foundation already in place for the ’28 Games, the LA County region is on its way to hosting perhaps the most successful Olympics ever. The fact that it’s also layering in an improved infrastructure for its communities and building in new and exciting equitable assets in the process indicates that, as an Olympic host, the LA basin will be the biggest winner of all.

LA28 Olympics: Equity in the Mix

Pam Sornson, JD on October 1, 2024

California has been a world leader since its statehood was established in 1850. In the intervening 174 years, the state has contributed innumerable assets and values to local, regional, national, and international cultures, enhancing the lives of billions of people and providing an almost unlimited array of avenues to personal and professional success for its residents. The forthcoming Olympics, set to take place in Los Angeles (LA) from July 14 through 30, 2028, offer yet another opportunity for the Golden State to demonstrate its capacities for innovation, rejuvenation, and leadership.

However, having the facilities for such a grandiose event is not the only benefit that California offers these Olympics. The state is also focused on utilizing those assets to improve and maximize its unique constellation of equity initiatives as well, to ensure that all attendees – athletes, support staff, visitors, and spectators – receive the best Olympic experience possible. By concentrating development and implementation efforts on both the sport and the human elements of these Games, California as a state – and LA as the host city – intends to embrace the whole of humanity within this unique and truly global experience.

 

The Golden State Delivering

On many fronts, California is already prepared for the upcoming sporting extravaganza. As a political entity, the state leads not just the U.S. but also the world in its foresight for and nurturing of equitable growth:

  • It boasts an unparalleled healthcare system that provides care for all lower-income residents, regardless of their age, condition, or immigration status.
  • It expands the federal SUN Bucks program to ensure that all children receive food assistance through the summer months when schools – and their publicly supported lunchrooms – are closed.
  • It recently enacted a constitutional amendment that expanded family planning protections to guarantee reproductive freedom for all residents and healthcare clinic safety for the medical professionals providing those services.

Not least, and of significant financial importance, California also hosts the home bases for the most Fortune 500 companies in the country (and 35 of the world’s 50 top AI enterprises, among many others), which gives it an unmatched and exceedingly advantageous economic foundation.

The state is also deeply invested in enriching its core infrastructure and is using the Games as an inspiration and impetus to move those improvement efforts forward. In May 2024, the state’s Transportation Agency (CalSTA) reported progress toward its $40 billion (state and federal funds) investment in state-wide transportation improvements, including bridgework overhauls, public transport systems, and electric vehicle industry expansions. In its announcement, CalSTA reiterated California’s ‘people-first’ mission and its four core priorities of safety, climate action, economic prosperity, and equity, all of which are foundational to its decisions and the actions it takes to accomplish those goals.

Even before its selection as Olympic host site and as an independent state boasting the world’s fifth-largest economy, California led the world in its commitment to improving the fundamental situations of its communities and residents.

 

LA’s Athletic and Urban Infrastructure

Despite the challenges it’s currently managing (an aging water system, significant traffic congestion, and swelling energy demands, to name just three), LA remains an exceptionally well-developed Olympic Games venue. Facilities created for the 1932 Summer Olympics and the 1984 Summer Olympics continue to host sporting and entertainment events, providing the community with unparalleled resources for both fun and financial gain.

Further, as the 2028 Games’ host city, LA is already ahead on its development curve and is busy retrofitting its previous Olympic venues to meet the demands of today’s sporting specifications. Existing and available sporting facilities designed for local and regional use will be co-opted for the Olympic purpose, expanding the scope of the city’s effort and maximizing its current asset values. Utilizing existing resources has eliminated the need to build more, so, for the first time ever, the Olympic host city will not be adding any new permanent venues to its roster of event sites. By embracing and enhancing existing assets, the city is saving the millions of dollars typically used for new asset development while also aligning itself with the sustainability goals of the International Olympic Committee.

In all, when the Games finally launch, more than 80 individual venues across the LA basin will be featured as Olympic sites, showcasing more than 50 sports, more than 800 events, and over 3,000 hours of live sporting action.

 

LA28: A Study in Olympic Equity

Equally important to the LA Olympic developers is the embrace and advancement of equitable principles and activities within all of their efforts. To further these discussions and ensure that all progress is equitably fruitful, organizers are working with experts from RAND, a research-based non-profit dedicated to improving policymaking through research and analysis. The RAND group prepared numerous studies for prior Olympic games, including those in London and Paris (each of which is a three-time Olympic host), and has shared those reports with the LA Olympic group.

Using the RAND evidence-based strategy, the LA Olympic committee is pursuing stakeholder conversations that provide relevant information and data upon which to ground their policy and financial decisions. The RAND Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy partnered with professionals from the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles and the Urban Land Institute Los Angeles to finetune their questions related to equity, sport, and community, believing that the Games themselves are more successful when the host community also benefits from them in the long term. These discussions were comprehensive, highlighting the diversity of LA’s many unique neighborhoods and populations, acknowledging the challenges posed to its marginalized communities, and exploring the impact the Games would have on local and regional industries.

 

Consequently, at this moment in time with the Games just four years away, LA and California are well on their way to hosting yet another unique and innovative sporting extravaganza that embraces the best of its assets – geographical, recreational, and human.

 

LA28: Alert to Adversities – and Opportunities

Pam Sornson, JD on October 1, 2024

The greater Los Angeles region has turned its attention to its 2028 Olympic venue and development as those Games inch nearer on the calendar. Fortunately, the City is maximizing the lessons learned through the experience of other triple-time Olympic host cities, including London (1908, 1948, and 2012) and Paris (1900, 1924, and 2024). Data and strategies developed and captured during those more recent mega-events are informing the planning and decisions of the LA Olympic committee, making their job both easier, because they can avoid known problems, and more challenging, because they still face concerns unique to the LA area.

One area in which they are determined to get things right is developing an affordable, efficient infrastructure that both supports the Games as well as provides valuable assets to the region for years to come.

 

Big Party. Big Mess?

The LA28 Olympics promise up to 15,000 athletes and more than a million visitors arriving for the games, all of whom will need lodging, food, and transportation during their stay in LA. The upcoming demand for those services is exponentially bigger than LA’s current metrics indicate, so the bulk of the LA28 infrastructure investment will develop those specific resources.

One thing LA does not want to do is repeat the mistakes of past Olympic organizers. From massive overspending to criminally caused tragedies, previous Olympic Games provide many lessons on how not to host a globally significant sporting extravaganza.

Underplanning and Overspending

Many Olympic host cities seriously underbudgeted their Games, primarily because construction of new Olympic-purposed facilities almost always ballooned far beyond their predictions. As examples:

  • In 1994, Lillehammer Norway’s $3.4 billion expenditure was 277% more than it had budgeted for the event.
  • Sochi Russia’s $28.9 billion (the most ever spent on one Olympic Games) was 289% over budget, while
  • In 2016, Rio de Janeiro’s $23.6 billion was 352% more than it had intended to spend.

Adding more angst to the situation, almost all of those new facilities fell into disuse very quickly after the games concluded.

  • The 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada, left the City with a $1.5 billion debt that took decades to pay off. The stadium built for those events remains in action, although it’s not used often, and its maintenance costs millions of dollars per year.
  • Athens, Greece, also struggles with the dilapidated event sites that were developed for the 2004 Summer Olympics. With no need for the specialized nature of those Olympic-centered facilities, the arenas, fields, and fan locations now stand abandoned and are uniformly identified as ‘white elephants.’
  • Rio de Janeiro’s 2016 Games also left a legacy of unused, unwanted sports facilities; its iconic Maracanã soccer stadium has been vandalized, and its power shut off due to non-payment.

In many cases, maintaining these urban eyesores continues to cost the host city millions each year; in some cases, they’ve been removed altogether. LA intends to avoid overspending by not constructing any new facilities. Instead, it will refurbish and restore existing assets for the Olympic purpose.

Avoiding Inadequate Transportation Systems

Transportation is a particularly sticky challenge. No matter how new passage capacities are designed and built, they will certainly disrupt existing systems and locations. Previous Olympic Games offer several lessons on what not to do while squiring millions of people across thousands of miles of roads and rails to widely dispersed event sites:

  • The 1996 Atlanta Games revealed the challenges that arise when transport systems aren’t clearly thought through. In some cases, there was no available transport to get athletes to their competition. In other cases, the City’s public rail system was in danger of collapsing as it strained to move up to 500,000 people per day, triple its typical usage.
  • In Sochi, Russia, a 31-mile rail line connected the airport in the City of Adler, on the Black Sea coast, to Krasnaya Polyana, the ski resort town hosting several of the winter sports, to shuttle visitors back and forth to those venues. The rail line was the highest-priced asset developed for those games at $8.7 billion (almost the entire cost of Canada’s 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C.). However, with little or no demand for its use after the Games concluded, the route quickly went dormant, and within a year, the government suspended train travel from the airport, leaving the system almost unusable.
  • More recently, at the Paris 2024 Summer Games, arsonists attacked that City’s high-speed rail system just hours before the commencement of the opening ceremonies. Explosive-triggered fires closed several rail lines outside the City, effectively leaving 800,000+ sports fans without access to the events of their choice.

With these lessons front and center, LA intends to avoid the challenges other Hosts experienced because of poor planning and insufficient safety precautions. Most notably, in March 2024, the City of LA announced its receipt of almost $900 million specifically to expand its Metro Rail system in preparation for the Games, including adding support for the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project and sections two and three of the D Line (Purple) Subway Extension Project.

Avoiding Security Lapses

Perhaps the biggest concern for any Olympic development group is maintaining adequate security for attendees, and those concerns are legitimate.

While those acts of physical violence are still concerning, the bigger threat these days at any major event, including the Olympics, is driven by technology. True to its nature, LA is positioning its Olympics as “a new Games for a new era” and is already in an advanced stage of development of its technical infrastructure. Early on, the City partnered with Deloitte, precisely because of that company’s long history with the Olympics and other mega events.

Since 2017, when LA was officially tapped as the 2024 Summer Games host city, the data and analysis agency has been involved in designing both inquiry outreach – connecting and communicating with stakeholders – and transformative strategies to capture and act on consensus agreements. Together with the LA Olympic development team, they’ve developed a technology vision that encompasses both existing and emerging tech resources to coordinate the many platforms that will be the infrastructure of the games. A consequent ‘roadmap’ that includes data governance, integration, digital engagement, enterprise functions, and more provides LA28 team members with the parameters they need to achieve their next steps, their intermediate accomplishments, and their ultimate goal of a safe, efficient, financially successful 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

LA28 – the 2028 Summer Olympics hosted by the City of Los Angeles – will be a trendsetter in many ways. Learning from past experiences and embracing the possibilities of the future, the Games’ leadership is intent on creating a sporting extravaganza that will delight Olympics attendees while also providing LA with a plethora of upgraded public transport and hospitality assets for use years in the future.

 

Women in Business: Investing in Achievement

Pam Sornson, JD on September 17, 2024

In California, the Governor and the state legislature have pulled out all the stops to ensure that the State maximizes the funding it’s receiving from the federal Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA). The State’s $180 billion allotment of federal money is directed at firming up the State’s infrastructure, yes, but it’s also adding innovations to ensure its entire corporate population can compete in current and future national and international markets.

While much of the IIJA money is focused on repairing roads and bridges, providing internet service to all Californians, and innovating new energy systems, the State is also focused on raising the profile of women-owned businesses. Legislation enacted on October 8, 2023, now mandates that venture capitalists and private equity funders report on the diversity of their investments in California’s economic sectors, including those that impact women-owned businesses. Senate Bill 54, Investing in Equity (S.B. 54), passed easily in both state chambers (60-15 in the Assembly and 32-8 in the Senate) and, when signed by Governor Newsome, became the first such law in the country to require investors to report the diverse character of the organizations receiving their funding. It goes into effect March 1, 2025.

 

Exposing Hidden Discrimination

According to the Bill’s sponsor, Senator Nancy Skinner, SD 09, S.B. 54 seeks clarity on a continuing issue in the State – the inability of women- and people of color-owned (POC) businesses to access the funding they need to sustain their enterprise. The challenge to be addressed is not just that male-owned organizations receive over 95% of all V.C. investments but also that the companies receiving those funds are often also managers of large pension funds, such as CalPERS and CalSTRS. A sizeable percentage of the members of those pension funds are women and POC. The Senator believes that many of them would be dismayed that their hard-earned retirement dollars are inaccessible as investment capital to companies owned by their ethnic, racial, and gendered cohorts.

The data backs her up: in 2021 and 2022, while women launched 49% of all U.S. startups, they received only 2.1% of the total venture capital awarded.

Further, not only does this hidden discrimination negatively impact women and POC entrepreneurs, but it also harms the California economy. Studies show that female-driven enterprises deliver higher revenues and outperform male-dominated organizations despite receiving less initial funding. Data also reveals why that is the case:

  • Women experience more pushback from investors during initial presentations. In preliminary meetings, women were more likely to have their technical knowledge challenged, whereas men were just assumed to have that knowledge and, when presenting with a woman, were the persons typically asked to share it.
  • Women are also less likely to respond to criticism, and instead simply take it as legitimate feedback. Male presenters, on the other hand, will face the commentary directly and are more likely to argue their point.
  • Male investors are also often unfamiliar with the goods and services women are touting, many of which were designed to address challenges women face more often than men. Additionally, in these conversations, the investors are typically wealthier than the target market and don’t understand how the innovation can be helpful to them.

The consequence of these realities is that there remains a wide divide between the gender-based economic and social classes involved in the entrepreneurial and investment spheres of influence.

 

Investing in Women: A National Focus on Females

Investing in women-owned businesses is more than just the pursuit of an equity principle; it’s also an excellent business strategy. Across the country:

  • Between 2019 and 2023, the growth rates of women-owned organizations outpaced those of male-owned companies by more than 94% while also adding 282% more jobs than male-owned organizations and generating 82% higher revenues.
  • Also during the pandemic era, female business leaders added 1.4 million jobs, and over $550 billion in revenues to the economy.

Analysts assert that this progress was achieved because of women’s resiliency as well as because of “…  the breadth and depth of support they’ve received from government entities, banks, corporations, and philanthropic organizations … .”

Across the country, that deep support has been growing as more entities seek out women leaders who are building a more robust economic foundation within their communities. In its inaugural ‘2024 Impact of Women-Owned Businesses’ report, the American bank Wells Fargo chronicles how females have leveraged the chaos caused by COVID into a new and friendlier enterprise environment. Just some of the data emerging from this demographic:

  • More than 14 million women-owned businesses now employ more than 12 million workers.
  • Almost 40,000 of those companies employ more than 50 people.
  • These organizations generate more than $2.7 trillion annually, which represents almost 6% of the nation’s GDP.

The Invest in Women Entrepreneurs (IWE) initiative, a national organization designed to connect women-owned businesses with the needed capital, dispurses a coalition of advocates, entrepreneurs, and policymakers to ensure that emerging female-led enterprises can find the funds to launch and grow their organizations.

 

Investing in Women: The California Perspective

The State of California is also invested in this population of female entrepreneurs, and many of its resources provide guidance, connections, and strategies for thousands of its female business owners. According to the 2023 Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California, more than 1.5 million California businesses with paid workers are co- or wholly owned by women, which account for 36% of the State’s privately owned companies.

California’s Women’s Business Centers (WBC) are another iteration of a national push to enhance the power and capacity of women-owned companies. In addition to providing training, mentors, and other resources to new and growing women-owned businesses, these WBCs also focus on resolving the issues that typically plague women in general, most notably child care.

In 2022, the WBCs saw tremendous growth across several metrics, indicating its success at moving women forward to a more equitable economic environment. In comparison to 2021:

  • the number of businesses started and sustained grew by 17%;
  • the number of women clients served grew by 9% (to 77% overall), and
  • there was a 20% increase in the number of businesses launched by women of color.

Further, in just that one year, the companies supported by the WBC were able to:

  • leverage more than $43 million in investment capital,
  • grossed more than $405 million (an increase of 11% over 2021), and
  • create 17,000 jobs, which accounted for a 6% increase year-over-year.

 

Despite decades of inequities and with the support of both state and federal resources, women are now emerging as the business leaders they are, adding significant benefits to their communities. As further and more investment money becomes available, there’s no reason to think that this progress and this momentum won’t continue, considering the impact these women-owned businesses are having – and will continue to have – on the State’s economy.

Women In Business: Paving Entrepreneurial Paths

Pam Sornson, JD on September 17, 2024

A unique and growing population of workers, business owners, and community leaders is rising from the catharsis of COVID-19 and its consequent upheavals. They’re reinventing old strategies to accomplish new goals, using innovative and improved methods to reduce waste and enhance value. As additional members join and widen this circle, its influence on neighborhoods, cities, and states will grow even more substantial, triggering changes in how society works and thrives. The really cool point about the people in this crowd? They’re all women.

 

Crisis Drives Change

The COVID-19 pandemic may prove to be a pivot point for working women. The health crisis forced millions of them out of their jobs while also adding additional demands on those whose work continued on. In many sector economies, where most of the low-paying jobs are typically held by females (caregiving, healthcare, and hospitality, as examples), women suffered significant losses. As hotels, schools, and childcare centers closed, more women than men were suddenly out of work, while at home, women were disproportionately more likely to pick up the added burden of caring for kids and family even while they remained fully employed. By February 2021, just nine months after the pandemic declaration, the number of women in the labor force was as low as it had been in 1988; an entire generation of growth gains had disappeared.

Since then, however, women have stepped up more often and in more significant ways than men, frequently seeking not just ‘work’ but also ‘career.’

  • As they re-entered the job market, many were more vocal about higher pay and better working conditions, compelling employers to not just promise more but also provide more.
  • They’ve also expanded their opportunity to attain more flexibility in their occupations. The emergence of remote work facilitates more options for and avenues to success at both work and in the home.

Consequently, as of mid-2023, 77.6% of women aged 25-54 years were actively engaged in the workforce, up from 77% in February 2020. Women now make up a full half of the labor force, and have become a force in that environment in and of themselves.

 

Change Drives Progress

In many cases in America and around the world, the newly envisioned future for the woman worker includes owning a business, not just working at one. The number of female entrepreneurs is rising:

  • Women in countries with traditionally low incomes have a higher rate of entrepreneurial pursuits, according to data from the World Economic Forum (WEF). In those regions, more than one in four females (28.2%) espouses being an entrepreneur, while only 11% of women in higher-income countries indicated their drive to be their own boss.
  • Younger women are also stepping outside the ‘find-a-job’ mentality. In the United States, people (men and women) between 18 and 34 years old are almost twice as likely to start their own company (27.5%) as those in the 35-64 age range (14.5%).
  • Women owners are also more likely to go ‘solo’ in that role, starting and then keeping their small business small. Between 50 and 55% of all global woman-owned companies have five employees or fewer.

Women now represent a quarter of high-growth entrepreneurs around the world. In America, 42% of all companies are woman-owned, and those organizations employ over nine million workers and generate over $1.9 trillion in annual revenues. As a population, women business owners are striding into the future armed with better information, a more receptive environment, and a confidence borne of experience and necessity. They’re still facing barriers, however.

 

Progress Pursues Goals

The two most glaring obstacles that women face – as entrepreneurs or simply employees seeking to advance – are:

  1. The rules, mores, and regulations in place that reduce their visibility and restrict their access to needed resources, and
  2. The lack of access to capital financing.

Social and Corporate Customs Impeding Women’s Progress:

  • Despite their significant presence in most occupations, many female voices are still unheard by their male business counterparts. In many sectors, their observations and competency are still overlooked or disregarded even when they’re pointing out unexpected market opportunities.
  • Males also don’t engage as often with women entrepreneurs as they do with male-owned companies. Gender-based networks, both business-wise and socially, often leave women on the wrong side of a closed door.
  • Women are still burdened by an unbalanced demand for child- and caregiving activities. During the pandemic, when children were home instead of at school, less than half (42%) of the female lawyer+mother respondents to a National Woman’s Law Center survey could maintain their workload while working from home, compared to 58% of men+dads. That disparity was more pronounced for parents of children under five years: 28% to 54%.
  • Also, because they still perform the majority of unpaid jobs (child care, parental care, housekeeping, etc.), women are too often unable to earn more money outside those roles through part-time work or because they miss opportunities to advance.

Lack of Access to Financing

Women continue to:

  • be paid less than men for doing the same work;
  • perform much, if not most, of the unpaid labor in the community, from caring for family members to doing all the cleaning, cooking, and managing of domestic activities and
  • advance more slowly than men up corporate ranks. From 1991 to 2019, the percentage of women in upper management roles grew by only ~8%, from ~32% in 1991 to 39.4% in 2019.

Their reduced financial position also limits women’s capacity to gain the funding they need to launch, build, and grow their enterprises. Research by the WEF reveals that only ~5% of the $344 billion in venture capital (VC) invested in startups in 2023 went to woman-owned companies, a rise of only ~2.5% since 2008. That gap in financial support between male- and female-owned businesses accounts for a loss of as much as $1.7 trillion annually, simply because women business owners don’t have the resources they need to accomplish all the promise their enterprise offers.

 

Despite the lack of financial backing, women in business continue to add resources, capital, and innovation to the post-COVID economy. As that trend continues, their influence and impact on society can’t help but improve their status as equal and valuable economic partners to their community.

 

Women at Work: Progress Prevented

Pam Sornson, JD on September 3, 2024

Females comprise almost half (49.7%) of the global population, yet they hold just a tiny percentage of control over community assets. In the 30 years since Beijing’s Fourth World Conference on Women, which sought to embed more equitable practices and strategies in national policies across the globe, achieving true progress for females has been challenging. In many cases, it’s moved slowly and incrementally. In other communities, it’s moved backward as newly installed governments intentionally limit women’s access to the resources they need to control their own destinies.

 

Equity is a Long Time Coming

For 60+ years, America (and the rest of the world) has grappled with ways to intentionally ‘level’ the business and corporate playing fields for underrepresented people, including those of color, the LGBTQ+ community, those who are differently abled, and females. Yet, despite spending billions of dollars in pursuit of thousands of policies, initiatives, and regulations, incoming data show that, in most cases, the shift toward equity for most target groups was minimal at best and, in some cases, non-existent.

Women as a class are a good population to use as a representative population when noting the delays in equity gains. They make up the largest ‘minority’ group on the planet, so what happens to them is often repeated in other disenfranchised groups and communities with fewer numbers. For example, women continue to be treated as ‘less valuable than’ their male counterparts despite demonstrative evidence that they are as intelligent, competent, and capable as men. Yet their earning power remains at only 82% of their male colleagues and has remained at that level for 20+ years.

Assessing the circumstances for women as leaders reveals how difficult it’s been for the gender to advance into higher levels of social policy determination and control:

  • At the time of the 1995 Beijing conference, 11% of all elected officials were women. Thirty years later, that number has risen to just 26%.
  • The number of female national leaders rose, too, (although not by much). Back then, only four countries had women at their helm; in 2024, that number had increased to 17. Those 17 countries represent less than 9% of the total 195 nations that exist today.
  • Also, over these past 30 years, the accomplishments of women leaders have been limited to very specific economic sectors. Gains were minimal at best in the globe’s most influential arenas: finance, energy, and technology. As of 2024, women held just 1% of leadership positions in IPO entities, 2% in the energy realm, and less than 10% each in the finance, equities, climate, and health sectors.
  • Making matters worse, in segments where the number of women is frequently higher than men, such as healthcare and education, women leaders are also suffering from a significant pay gap even though they have the same qualifications and offer the same benefits and values.

The small number of females holding significant leadership roles in global industries is startlingly slim, considering they comprise ~50% of the entire global population.

 

Advancing Women’s Equity Elevates the Economy, Too

Current data also reveals how biased and repressive policies damage the economy. Communities that intentionally limit the full expression of their human resource also deliberately shut off the countless new and innovative revenue streams that those unseen groups and individuals would generate. The policies also escalate community reliance on publicly funded social services because those who access them have no other options. Research shows that, in countries where these limitations are typical, they erode both the community’s and the nation’s economic futures.

In Pakistan, for example, women are at the mercy of the men who control virtually all public resources, from banks to business agencies to educational institutions. Those females who hope to gain more independence, economically and otherwise, are forced to seek support from entities that are not designed or interested in helping them – many of the barriers they face were intentionally injected into governing law and policy. Consequently, the would-be entrepreneurs often cannot access the capital, training, and networks they need to launch and grow their businesses.

Fortunately, there are organizations that are working to reverse both the rules that limit women and the policies that keep those rules in place. For example, the Center for Inclusive Growth (CARE) launched its Ignite Program (using funds from the Mastercard Impact Fund initiative) by providing critical capital resources to micro, small, and medium-sized businesses, most of which are owned by women. By doing so, the entity is building a solid foundation for small companies to thrive in communities where they would not have previously been allowed to exist. With a focus specifically on economic growth, the emerging strategy underscores how the whole community – men included – benefits when new woman-owned businesses are accepted and celebrated.

Further, it’s that access to capital that is having the most significant impact. Research by the Gates Foundation indicates that lack of access to capital is a significant obstacle for most women-owned companies, regardless of location. The Gates research suggests that the financial gap between these hyper-local enterprises and their male-run, larger corporations is as much as USD 5 trillion. Imagine the state of the global economy if these small but compelling companies were allowed to achieve their full potential.

 

Women make up half the population, yet too many existing rules and regulations were designed and remain in place with the specific intent of limiting their progress financially, economically, and socially. True equity for women won’t become the norm until the long-entrenched culture suppressing this critically important resource is dismantled.

Women at Work: Progress Obstructed

Pam Sornson, JD on September 3, 2024

For eons, women toiled as equal partners alongside men, providing comparably valuable assets to the community. Slowly, over time, however, the term ‘woman’s work’ took a dark turn and began to be used to denigrate women’s efforts as less significant than those of men. That bias continues to cost countless women millions of dollars in lost earnings and related economic opportunities.

The ironic reality is that the whole community—including its men—suffers when women and their contributions aren’t respected as equals. As the world works to assimilate the changes driven by COVID-19, disrupted industries, and rising technologies, more women are embracing new roles that were previously denied them and demonstrating clearly that their economic clout can match—or beat—that of their male colleagues or competitors.

 

Biases are Barriers to Economic Growth

Today’s women continue to face innumerable and often invisible challenges that impede their opportunities to pursue their dreams, both at work and in their lives. Across the global population:

  • Women are typically the foundation for their household and family, assuming the vast majority of domestic and caregiving duties, usually with no pay or other employment-related perks.
  • Even in areas where schools are available, girls are often less educated than boys, and adult women aren’t as literate as men.
  • In many cultures, girls are more valued for their reproductive capacity than their talents or skills. Female children as young as nine can be married with the expectation of becoming mothers as early as possible.
  • Women are also less likely to join the workforce in any capacity, being tied to home-related activities or unable to qualify for outside work that might be available near them. Even when they find work outside the home, they are often expected to maintain household standards despite their added obligations to their employer.

The consequence of these cultural norms is that women remain significantly behind men in terms of earning capacity, forward or upward mobility, and self-actualization. In fact, in 2023, the United Nations Development Programme released the results of a 10-year study for its Gender Social Norms Index that showed that nine in ten men around the world (90%) continue to harbor inherent biases against women and that the activities and behaviors that perpetuate inequality haven’t improved since 2010. Another globally respected entity, the WorldBank, estimates that economic losses caused by gender inequality total as much as $160 trillion annually.

Unless these biased and damaging norms are addressed, the women affected by them – and their daughters after them – will remain ever-dependent on the men who keep them contained within these small cultural parameters.

 

America’s Women Face Obstacles, Too, Especially in Business

Despite America’s layers of rules and regulations designed to reduce or eliminate gender biases, those remain decidedly entrenched in U.S. society, especially when business is involved. Data suggests that women entrepreneurs are at a disadvantage on many fronts compared to male business owners:

  • They receive only 4% of commercial loan funds, so banks and other lending institutions are perpetuating the discrimination.
  • When they do receive loans, often the terms of those agreements differ from similar contract with men. Women holding those loan notes usually pay higher interest rates than men and are given a shorter repayment term than men.
  • Finding venture capital (VC) funding is also not an option for most new female business owners. A 2023 review by Forbes revealed that only 1.9% of all VC investments went to female-founded start-ups in 2023, even though additional research suggests that women-owned businesses generate higher returns than those launched by men. That 1.9% accounts for only $3.4 billion of the total $170 billion in VC investments in all of 2023.

Other research shows how underinvesting in women-owned enterprises often results in poorer returns for investors. That data revealed that organizations run by women perform 63% better than entities founded by all-male teams and that internal rates of return on investment (ROIs) for women-led companies averaged 112% versus only 48% for male-led enterprises. The studies underscore the reality that the bias against women in business is not just unfair; it’s also not good business.

 

Doing Better Business Means Doing More With and For Women

Improving the welfare of women at work can only enhance the status and productivity of the entity, in the opinion of Forbes columnist Paolo Gaudiano, an Adjunct Associate Professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and the founder of DEI tech start-up aleria.tech. He measures the economic impact of gender bias on corporations’ activities and financial fortunes. His work focuses on women in particular because they form the most extensive “historically underappreciated group” (HUG) in most companies.

Gaudiano’s research indicates companies that fail to include/enrich/embrace women in their workforce can and often do suffer significant financial losses as a result. Put another way, companies are likely to lose money through lost productivity, lower levels of morale, and higher rates of turnover and attrition when they treat their female employees worse than they treat their male workers. Examples he gives of ‘poor treatment’ include instances where:

  • Colleagues overlook the female subject matter expert and look to a less-qualified male coworker for answers.
  • Bosses give credit to male workers for female-generated ideas and efforts.
  • Substantive work discussions are held without including relevant women workers, who are left with no opportunity to contribute their perspective to the conversation.

Gaudiano notes, too, that these disparaging events occur more often in other underrepresented groups, too – the BOPOC and differently-abled communities as examples. Even white, cisgender, heterosexual males with no disabilities can suffer these slights.

 

Gaudiano isn’t the only expert espousing escalated investments in women-owned entities. Data from the Gates Foundation suggests that increasing the economic capacity of women in business could boost the global economy by as much as $10 trillion by 2030. The possibility of achieving that kind of payoff would indicate that investing more resources – money, time, support – into woman-owned companies would be a boon to them and their entire community.

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