On Tuesday, March 8th, the Play Like a Girl Women’s Leadership Summit returned to Ozari Nashville for a spirited celebration. Women and girls, both virtually and in person, joined an impressive event all about spotlighting and celebrating women role models. 

This year, the summit featured three interactive panel discussions including a hands-on science and engineering demonstration “Hack with Hadley” named for one of our favorite girls Hadley Hall who recently helped to create the 2022 Women’s History Patch as part of Nashville Soccer Club’s ongoing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The special edition patch depicts the unity of womanhood for a common goal in both sport and life. The design shows diversity in each individual woman and player, simultaneously uniting as members of a team with the traditional team huddle before going into a game to play as one. All proceeds from the purchase of the patch throughout Women’s History Month will benefit Play Like a Girl.

We also debuted Ready for Any Field, a five-part speaker series elevating the next generation of rising stars in STEM+. Ready for Any Field is a year-round platform conceptualized by pro bono professionals from the talent management agency Wasserman and its advertising agency, Laundry Service, to highlight the journey of accomplished women in STEM+ and sports careers. Throughout the spring and summer, we will talk to talented women from diverse backgrounds about what drives them to succeed and how they continue to push themselves to new heights, challenges they face in a male-dominated industry and other women who inspire them along the way.

Over 60 virtual attendees joined throughout the afternoon including middle school students being mentored by college students from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Twelve VCU students and staff ran Play Like a Girl’s inaugural spring break camp for girls in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Each year, VCU Alternative Break (Alt Breaks) organizes service trips during school breaks that send more than one hundred VCU students to various sites around the country and beyond, amounting to more than 5,000 community service hours each year. Students began coordinating their Play Like a Girl service trip back in November 2021. Several student mentors battled COVID-19 before being cleared to mentor, leaving the trip coordinator behind as she took the virus on just days before the trip.

Masked up but excited to celebrate together, local guests were treated to a free copy of keynote speaker Emily Pilliton-Lam’s book, informal mentoring opportunities with summit speakers, professional headshot photographs and 360-degree photo booth, a happy hour style reception, and the opportunity to purchase Play Like a Girl branded merchandise.

Most importantly, a portion of event proceeds went to benefit the Play Like a Girl Scholarship Fund, making this year’s celebration of International Women’s Day a worthy cause. Scholarship applications are due May 15, and will be presented to 2022 scholars at the On the Green Charity Golf Scramble at Brentwood Country Club on June 27.

Credits for this event:

See photos from the event below.