ORDINARY PEOPLE LIVING

“I think the greatest thing I ever got from sports is understanding that I had the ability to be stronger, to do more and go further

GROWING BOLDER / JULY DIGITAL DIGEST 21 than I ever thought I could.”

Bill Shafer

Donna Orender

FROM STAR TO SAGE

Growing up, Donna Orender loved sports. But she was not the fastest, not the tallest and she couldn’t jump the highest. So, how did she become a five-sport athlete in high school, earn All-American honors as a college basketball star, and become an all-star in the Womens Pro Basketball League?

“I had this incredible determination that no matter what, no one was going to outwork me,” she said. “And that led me to a pretty promising career.”

The defining moment in Orender’s life came at the age of 14 when she was denied the right to play high school tennis because there was no team for girls.

“So, I asked to play against the boys,” she said. “They gave me a tryout. I won my match and became the first female to play on a boys’ team at my school.”

The experience ignited in her a sense of social justice that only grew stronger as she grew older. When the Women’s Professional Basketball League shut down, bringing her playing career to an end, Orender moved into television production and sports marketing. She spent 17 years as an executive with the PGA Tour and became President of the WNBA. Fox Sports named her one of the Top 10 Most Powerful Women in Sports. Yet, she felt there was more that she wanted to do. She wanted to help encourage women to fight for their right to opportunity, as she did when she was 14.

So, Orender created Generation W, a nonprofit organization that brings women together to educate, inspire and connect through mentoring.

“When you get older, you have this wonderful gift of perspective and experience,” said Orender, 64. “And a lot of us women have this desire to pass it along.”

Orender said there are some things women need to hear from other women, which is what Generation W is set up to do.

“I think we’ve grown up thinking if we work hard and do the right thing, someone’s going to tap us on the shoulder and say, ‘Guess what? You get to go ahead.’ And we learn the hard way that that’s not necessarily true,” she said.

Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Generation W empowers individuals from across the country to help create a level playing field, by offering advice, support, ideas and direction.

“I believe in planting seeds,” Orender said. “We know that women really want to give back, but our time is the most precious asset we have and how we choose to spend it is important. We created a mentoring program that says you don’t have to spend every day or week mentoring. You just connect a couple times a year. So, it’s never overwhelming for anyone.”

Just as Orender fought back time and again to create new pathways in life, she believes her work now with Generation W may be the most important fight of all.

“I think the greatest thing I ever got from sports is understanding that I had the ability to be stronger, to do more and go further than I ever thought I could,” she said. “If we can pass that message along to those who have been denied, this world will be a much greater place for us all.”