Donna Orender

Donna Orender is a sports executive, entrepreneur, and advocate with a career spanning professional athletics, major league administration, and women's leadership. Orender played college basketball for Queens College in New York and later competed professionally in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL), the first women's pro league in the United States, for three seasons. She and her Queens College teammates were the first college women's basketball team to play at Madison Square Garden. Under the name Donna Geils, Orender was an All-Star and one of only 20 women to play in all three WBL seasons. Her WBL career is featured in the book "Mad Seasons: The Story of the First Women's Basketball League, 1978–1981."

Following her playing career, Orender transitioned into sports business and media. She worked in network television sports at ABC and later at SportsChannel before founding her own production company, where she served as producer, director, and writer, developing and selling programming internationally. Orender spent more than 17 years with the PGA Tour, serving as senior vice president of strategic development in the Office of the Commissioner. She managed strategic direction for the PGA, including new media, internet, advertising, and brand management. Orender led negotiations that transformed how PGA Tour golf was packaged and sold for television, contributing to significant growth for the Tour. She also produced the "Inside the PGA Tour" television series and helped negotiate television contracts that promoted the rise of Tiger Woods.

Orender served as president of the WNBA for six years, during which she strengthened the league's foundation and led double-digit growth in key business metrics. Her experiences confronting bias, racism, sexism, and homophobia in the sports industry shaped her commitment to advancing opportunities for women. This commitment led to the founding of Generation W, an organization focused on motivating and inspiring women through education, confidence, and thought leadership, addressing relevant issues and promoting actionable change.

Orender has been recognized as one of the top 10 most powerful women in sports and was named one of Newsweek's 100 Most Influential People in the Business of Sports. She is the author of "Wowsdom! The Girl's Guide to the Positive and the Possible" and "Connecting with Her," a guidebook on the women's market. Orender launched Generation W as a platform for education, inspiration, and connection for women and girls, fostering community and mentorship through programs such as Generation WOW. As CEO of Orender Unlimited and a keynote speaker, Orender draws on her experience as a professional athlete, league president, and nonprofit founder to address topics in sports leadership, women's empowerment, and business strategy.