2 weeks ago
12
By Solomon Crenshaw Jr. | For the Birmingham Times
Keonna Farmer has long been involved in sports. Only recently has she thought about being a leader in sports. Now she wants to open the eyes of others to their potential in this arena.
On Saturday, October 24, she will host Beyond the Panel: Women in Sports, Fashion & Technology. The event, a kickoff for the Magic City Classic weekend, will be a conversation focused on what happens beyond the game — the careers, businesses, technology, branding and opportunities that can be built around sports.
The event, at The Avondale Gallery and Loft, brings together an impressive group of athletes, HBCU athletic leaders, entrepreneurs and industry professionals, including:
- Coach Dawn “The Diva Coach” Thornton, head women’s basketball coach at Alabama A&M University
- Dr. Paul A. Bryant, vice president and director of athletics at Alabama A&M University
- Kevin Elliott, NFL and Canadian Football veteran and director of player development
- Jennifer George, a four-year University of Florida women’s basketball player who was named an SEC Legend in 2018.
- Kobi Wu, founder and CEO of Cache AI
- Kyla Carr, entrepreneur and community philanthropist
- LaDonna Hardy Allen, fashion and film-set stylist
- Adriane Coates, cybersecurity and technology leader
The event will also feature BUILD THE PLAY: Women’s Sports Innovation Workshop. This will connect attendees with professionals working in name, image, and likeness (NIL), athlete development, sponsorships and fundraising, sports technology, media, fashion, branding, and career advancement.
Farmer is a native of metro Birmingham who helped Erwin High School win a state girls basketball championship and helped Center Point High reach the Final Four. Beyond high school, she played collegiately at Auburn, UAB and at the University of North Florida, where she was inducted into the Wall of Fame.
“I always wanted to do something in sports but I never saw myself in sports leadership,” the event organizer said. “I always saw myself as being an entrepreneur, a business owner, doing different things such as helping athletes with their nonprofits, owning businesses.”
Farmer was interviewed to be the athletic director at I3 Academy and was surprised when she got the job.
“Once I got into it, I fell in love with it,” she said. “It was exactly what I had been needing. It stretched me. (I was) thinking about just being an academic advisor, but you have all these different things to offer where you can actually lead a full athletic department. I fell in love with it then.”
Farmer has stepped away from I3 Academy to focus on sports business consulting and NIL strategy. She said social media and the rise of sports stars like the WNBA’s Angel Reese have opened doors for countless athletes.
“The doors were there already,” she said. “There are more doors open. The doors weren’t completely shut, but now that women’s sports has been put on the map the way it has, it has opened way more doors for these people. Even for people who’ve been in it, there still weren’t enough doors for them. There still weren’t enough platforms for them. Now there are bigger platforms for them.
“Whether it’s through social media, whether it’s through visibility, whether it’s through media, whether it’s through ownership, whether it’s through decision-making seats, all those different things, you have them now,” Farmer said. “There are more opportunities for women to work in sports.”
Farmer wants people attending Saturday’s event to understand and appreciate the importance of branding in the sports world.
“I know a lot of people talking about your brand, your brand, your brand,” she said. “But actually equating it to opportunities, actually equating it to brand equity, equating it to making money now and later because of your brand.”
The event organizer cited Dawn Thornton, the Alabama A&M women’s coach, as an example.
“Their (game) attendance doubled since she has gotten there, and it’s not because they’re just winning,” Farmer said. “It’s because of her. People buy into you, your brand, and she has built the culture and the brand for fashion, for excellence, for winning. That is what she built. Brand equity has (gone) up as a women’s sports team. That’s what I want them to understand.”
Doors open at 1:30 p.m. Register at BeyondThePanel.org.
