This year’s UNMATCHED Gender Equity in Sports Conference will make its debut at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Toronto on August 5. For the occasion, legendary basketball coach Dawn Staley, one of the most prolific figures in women’s sports, will be in conversation with Tamika Nurse.
Staley will be the first person outside the tennis ecosystem to headline the conference, following in the footsteps of Billie Jean King (2022), Maria Sharapova (2023), and Venus Williams (2024). She embodies everything that the conference represents, especially this year under the theme “Stronger Together”.
Staley is a powerful force, advocating for gender and racial equity in sports and she isn’t afraid to speak up even when the spotlight shines brightest, especially for her players. She uses her platform to champion what is most important for her and to inspire meaningful change. As the head coach of the University of South Carolina Women’s Basketball Team, Staley became the first black woman to capture three NCAA National Championships. In addition to building a winning program, she recently helped the Gamecocks land an equity-based NIL deal with Rewind, a clinical program to combat Type-2 diabetes. In 2021, Staley called out the NCAA for discrepancies in resources and amenities between the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. After she and the Gamecocks won their third national championship in 2024, she offered her support to transgender women in sports, then in her ESPYs acceptance speech that same year, she won the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance for her advocacy work in cancer research, Staley took a stand about pay equality and pushed for women’s basketball to have its own TV deal.
Staley’s influence extends beyond athlete advocacy as well. She’s helped elevate the profile of women college coaches, especially black woman coaches, while pushing for fair pay. In January of this year, she raised the bar and set the new standard for women in profession by signing a landmark contract extension with South Carolina that made her the highest paid college women’s basketball coach in the history of the sport.
Without a doubt, Dawn Staley is a game-changer on the court, on the bench, and in the fight for equity. Her keynote conversation at UNMATCHED promises to inspire, influence, and empower us to use our voice to lift others.
Limited tickets are available. Click here to secure your spot at the 2025 UNMATCHED Conference in Toronto.
