WISE/R Symposium West 2024 Speakers

WISE/R offers the opportunity to learn from top industry leaders, improve your communication skills, connect with peers and so much more! Meet our confirmed speakers below.

Agenda, timing, sessions and speakers are subject to change.

Summit with the WNBA Presidents

Panelist

Alisha Valavanis
CEO and Team President, Seattle Storm

In her first six seasons with the Seattle Storm as the CEO and General Manager, Alisha Valavanis led a rebuild that culminated with a championship in 2018 and most recently, the second championship in 2020. She has landed major Storm partnerships including a marquee-jersey, a marquee-badge and expanding the long-standing Subaru partnership to include court-naming rights. Valavanis also leads Force 10 Sports Management, LLC., a sports management firm that is growing opportunities for women in professional sports.

Valavanis played at Cal-State, Chico and went on to coach for the Wildcats as an assistant. She then spent time as an associate head coach at the Univerity of the Pacific, in the front office with the Golden State Warriors, and as an associate athletics director for UC Berkeley. Valavanis has been recognized three times on the Puget Sound Business Journal's Power 100 List, as an SBJ Game Changer, a Rising Brand Star in Seattle, and one of The 30 Most Powerful Women in Sports. She received a B.A. and masters from Chico.

Panelist

Alycen McAuley
Chief Business Officer, Washington Mystics,
Monumental Sports & Entertainment

A purpose-driven leader, Alycen McAuley leads the business operations for the WNBA Washington Mystics with a keen eye towards expansive growth and transformation. She leverages her deep experience — having led corporate sponsorships for the Fortune 100 firm Charles Schwab & Co.; founding and serving as managing partner for one of the leading Olympic marketing agencies in the U.S.; guiding global marketing efforts for an emerging sporting goods company; and being one of the early pioneers in the digital sports marketing space. Under her leadership, the Mystics have experienced exponential growth in revenue. Off the court, the Mystics' District of Change platform captures the organization's commitment to "doing well and doing good," leveraging the power of sports to create change in our communities, empower women and girls and celebrate female leadership.

A former Fulbright Scholar and published author in sports marketing, McAuley earned a B.A. from Fairfield University and a master's in sport management from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Panelist

Carley Knox
President of Business Operations, Minnesota Lynx

Entering her 15th season with the Minnesota Lynx and 20th in the WNBA, Carley Knox's purview includes ticket sales, logistics, business development, budget management, DEI efforts, season scheduling and acting as the liaison with the WNBA. Her commitment to women's sports is fueled by her desire to use sport as a vehicle of change, to support gender equality and social justice, and to celebrate diversity. Knox created one of the most innovative programs in sports, the Minnesota Lynx President's Circle, which offers members access to the team and a unique opportunity to give back to the community.

Prior to coming to Minnesota, she spent five years with the WNBA's Detroit Shock where she was the director of sales and marketing. She was recently named the Grand Marshal for Twin Cities PRIDE 2024, an honor bestowed upon an individual who has shown a tireless commitment to amplifying the voices and elevating the lives of members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Knox attended Ohio University and obtained her master's in sports administration and women's studies from Bowling Green State University.

Moderator

Holly Rowe
Sports Journalist, ESPN

Holly Rowe is one of ESPN's most versatile commentators, serving as a reporter on the WNBA, the NCAA Women's Final Four, the NCAA Women's College World Series, ABC Saturday Night Football, Big Monday men's college basketball and more. She also provides play-by-play commentary for women's college basketball, softball, volleyball and gymnastics, as well as covering the Little League World Series of baseball and softball for ESPN. A more than 20-year veteran of the network, Rowe won the 2022 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Personality/Reporter and was the 2022 recipient of the Mel Greenberg National Media Award from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). A soon-to-be minted hall of famer, Rowe was recently named the 2023 Curt Gowdy Electronic Media Award Winner for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2021, Rowe made Utah Jazz history as the team's first female color commentator in a game against the Sacramento Kings.

Making Your Plan to Thrive

Speaker

Sharon Malone MD
Author of Grown Women Talk

Sharon Malone is a board-certified OB/GYN and a Certified Menopause Practitioner on a mission to empower women to take charge of their health. She is the Chief Medical Advisor at Alloy Women's Health, a telehealth company that focuses on women over 40. Before joining Alloy, Dr. Malone was a partner at one of the oldest and most successful OB/GYN medical practices in Washington, D.C. Throughout her professional career, she has been active in advocating for reproductive rights, reducing teen pregnancy, and eliminating health care disparities.

Caroline Clarke

Moderator

Caroline Clarke
Author and Journalist

Award-winning journalist and author Caroline Clarke’s media experience spans print, digital and television outlets. At the media company Black Enterprise, she has served in a number of key roles — including senior editor, editor at large, editorial director and general manager — across the various assets of the franchise. In 2006, she launched Women of Power, a professional development and executive leadership brand that has become Black Enterprise’s leading asset. A graduate of Smith College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Clarke hosts the Women of Power television show and is the author of Take a Lesson: Today’s Black Achievers on How They Made It & What They Learned Along the Way and Postcards from Cookie: A Memoir of Motherhood, Miracles, and a Whole Lot of Mail.

Executive Presence:
The Physical Art of Great Communication

Presenter

Chiara Motley
Lead Executive Coach, GK Training

With roots as a personal coach, Chiara Motley now primarily consults with GK clients in the fields of law and finance, specializing in professional presence, vocal production, poise, composition and movement training. She helps her clients determine what they want to present, how to organize the presentation, and how to communicate that content effectively, with poise, confidence, physical grace and clarity. Motley holds a Master of Fine Arts from The National Theatre Conservatory in Denver, CO, and a bachelor's degree from Stanford University, where she was awarded the Evelyn M. Draper Prize for Performance, and graduated with distinction. Her approach to teaching is informed by her own career in the arts, as both a performer and voiceover artist.


Speaking Up for Success

Presenter

Lisa Dicker
Consultant, Triad Consulting Group

Recognized negotiation expert Lisa Dicker provides workshops, training, coaching and consulting services to a diverse range of clients and participants, including the WISE Executive Leadership Institute. A Harvard Law School law lecturer and a clinical instructor in the Harvard Negotiation & Mediation Clinical Program, she has taught at the Harvard Negotiation Institute and advised on conflict prevention, peace negotiations, transitional justice, and post-conflict democratic transitions in Libya, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, and Yemen. Dicker's consulting clients include INSEAD, the New Hampshire Superior Court, Olympus, and the United States Institute of Peace. Her work on the subject of negotiation and dispute resolution has been published in the Harvard Negotiation Law Review, University of Memphis Law Review and ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law.

Finding Simplicity in a Sea of Data

Speaker

Shelley Pisarra
EVP Global Insights, Wasserman

Drawing from more than 25 years' experience, Shelley Pisarra shapes the future of how Wasserman delivers unmatched value to partners across sports, media and entertainment through data and technology. She leads a team of data scientists, marketing planners, creative thinkers and others, guiding the development of best-in-class tools and methodologies that reveal untapped revenue opportunities for some of the world's most iconic brands and properties. Since joining Wasserman in 2016, Pisarra has revolutionized the company's audience intelligence and performance analytics capabilities, which include strategy-informing services such as consumer profile development, fan segmentation, partner and talent identification, social tracking and analysis, partnership valuation, brand health studies, comprehensive cross-channel measurement and more.