On June 16, 2021, Hashtag Sports hosted Alysha Clark, Meghan Duggan, and Ben Orbach, the CEO of The Ascendant Athlete, for a panel on Athletes’ Activism. Meghan and Alysha are stand-out leaders who have led their respective teams to championships at the Olympics and in the WNBA. Their leadership has transcended the field of play (short bios below), and they each have advocated successfully for equity and social justice. This panel explored their perspectives and experiences when it comes to leadership, resiliency, and the movement for equity and social justice.
Here are short clips of Meghan explaining what she felt was her responsibility to speak up for gender equity, MD at Hashtag; as well as Alysha speaking about the responsibility WNBA players feel to step forward and to advocate for social justice, AC on WNBA activism.
Short Bios:
Over a 14-year career with team USA, Meghan Duggan won three Olympic medals, including the first Olympic Gold in 20 years when she captained the U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory. Off the ice, Meghan is a keynote speaker on topics such as gender equality/women’s empowerment, leadership and managing teams, LGBTQ+ advocacy, teamwork, resilience, the importance of allyship, goal setting, performance under pressure and confidence from the board room to the playing field. Meghan is a member of the NHL’s Player Inclusion Committee, the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, and was voted onto the Women’s Sports Foundation Board of Trustees. Meghan helped to lead the 2017 efforts for the USA women’s hockey team to receive pay equity from USA Hockey.
Alysha Clark is a 2-time WNBA Champion, 2-time WNBA All-Defensive Team selection and has won league championships in Israel, Poland and France. Not only is Alysha a champion on the court, but she is also a champion in the community. Since 2013, Alysha has been an avid supporter and volunteer of Seattle Children’s Hospital. Some of her biggest efforts have been; starting an annual toy drive that is now in its 6th year and has donated more than 10,000 toys. In addition to her philanthropy, Alysha is an advocate for change. This past 2020 WNBA season, she used her voice and platform to advocate for social justice causes by speaking out against racial injustice and assisting people in different communities to register to vote. In 2021, Alysha signed a free agent contract to play with the Washington Mystics.