WISE/R Symposium 2025 Speakers

Jenny Wood
Author

Jenny Wood, a former Google operations executive whose team drove billions of dollars in revenue for the tech giant each year, is the author of the upcoming book, WILD COURAGE: Go After What You Want and Get It. Wood is also the founder of Own Your Career, one of the largest career development programs in Google’s history, with tens of thousands of people benefitting worldwide. Her writing has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Entrepreneur, Inc., and Forbes. An FAA-licensed private pilot, a daily hiker, an improv student, a tap dancer, and a zucchini bread connoisseur, Wood lives in Boulder, Colorado, with her two young children and her husband Jon. She met Jon by chasing him off the NYC Subway, and theNew York Times featured their story.

Li Li Leung
President & Chief Executive Officer, USA Gymnastics

Since 2019, Li Li Leung has led USA Gymnastics through a cultural transformation, introducing a new board of directors, new mission statement, 70% new staff, and establishing new organizational values prioritizing athlete safety. Headlined by a new Athlete Bill of Rights, USAG under Leung now provides comprehensive health and wellness resources for its members. During Leung’s tenure, USA Gymnastics has entered multiple new commercial partnerships and its teams have experienced record-setting performances, with the women’s artistic team winning gold in Paris, and the men’s team winning bronze, their first medal since 2008. Leung was named a Sports Business Journal “Power Player” in 2020, recognized by the A100 list of the most impactful athletes Asian Pacific Leaders in 2023, and is a member of the 2024 Game Changers class. Prior to joining USAG, Leung was a vice president at the NBA. A gymnast herself, Leung was a member of the U.S. junior national training team.

Patty Power
EVP Operations and Engineering, CBS Sports Network

In her role since 2016, Patty Power is responsible for day-to-day production management, technical management, network operations, commercial operations, post production and media services for all CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network’s broadcast and cable network. She also is responsible for the technical production of all CBS Sports remotes including Super Bowl LVIII, LV and LIII, the AFC Championship Game, NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship and Final Four, the Masters, UEFA, PGA Championship, college football and thousands of hours of studio and original programming. Under Power's leadership, CBS Sports continues to drive groundbreaking workflows and technical innovations across the industry. A six-time Emmy winner, Power was previously SVP of operations and administration for CBS Sports Network, the first 24-hour college sports network, and VP of operations ar Major League Baseball Productions.

Sandra L. Richards
Managing Director, Head of Global Sports & Entertainment and Segment Sales & Engagement Group, Morgan Stanley

Under Sandra L. Richards’s leadership over the past six years, Morgan Stanley’s Global Sports & Entertainment business has grown to over 300 Financial Advisors with the Global Sports and Entertainment Director/Associate Director designation, as well as the NFLPA Registered Institutional Player FA designation, dedicated to serving the unique and complex needs of professional athletes, entertainers, creators, industry executives and emerging talent. In 2015, Richards was named a MAKER @ Morgan Stanley, and has also been recognized with numerous other awards, including Crain’s New York Business’ Notable Women in Sports in 2022, Variety’s Women of Impact List in 2019, the New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce Women of Excellence Award in 2018, and the Seton Hall Black Alumni Association’s Vanguard Award in 2018. She was also one of AdWeek’s Champions of Change and a member of Sports Business Journal’s Game Changers class in 2023.

Amy Scheer
Senior Vice President, PWHL

Amy Scheer’s current role as the PWHL’s senior vice president, business operations, builds on an award-winning four-decade career that spans all areas of sports management. Scheer’s career began with the New Jersey Nets, where she spent more than 15 years, before joining the WNBA’s New York Liberty for a decade as vice president of marketing and communications, where she orchestrated league-leading numbers in attendance, ticket sales and marketing partnerships. Her success continued with the launch of MLS’s New York City Football Club, drawing record-breaking crowds to Yankee Stadium, followed by a role as chief commercial officer for the New York Red Bulls. Following a successful consulting role, Scheer joined the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun as vice president, business operations, prior to joining the NFL’s club business development team where she oversaw the NFL Ticket Network and championed fan engagement initiatives. Scheer moved back into the women’s sports space with the launch of the PWHL, which was honored after its inaugural season as “2024 Sports Breakthrough of the Year” by the Sports Business Journal.

Jayne Bussman-Wise
Vice President, Growth, Strategy & New Venture, PWHL

For more than 20 years, Jayne Bussman-Wise has worked at the intersection of sports, technology, media and entertainment. In her current role, she leads growth, strategy and new ventures for the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), having joined prior to the league’s launch and spent the inaugural season helping to launch and oversee business operations for all six teams. Before joining the PWHL, Bussman-Wise led sports strategy for Amazon’s live audio streaming service, Amp, as part of the company’s creator growth and acquisition team. Before Amazon, Jayne led content and communications for the New York Red Bulls and Red Bull Arena, and earlier in her career helped launch cross-town rival New York City FC, Major League Soccer’s 20th franchise. She was the first-ever digital director for Barclays Center and the Brooklyn Nets, and also helped open the first-ever all sports museum in New York City, and managed social media and marketing for the NHL’s New York Rangers. Bussman-Wise serves on the National Board of Directors for the Alliance for Women in Media. She was a 2019 Cynopsis Top Women in Media Honoree and part of the Fast Company Most Creative People 1000 in 2014. Jayne has been a WISE mentor, a judge for the Sports Technology Awards, and a Stonewall Day Ambassador with Pride Live, and speaks at industry events including NAB, SXSW, AdWeek and the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

Mandy Gutmann
Vice President, Communications/External Affairs, PWHL

As the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s vice president of communications and external affairs, Gutmann leads all aspects of the PWHL’s communications work, along with the league’s social responsibility and government affairs efforts. Prior to this role, Gutmann ran her own consulting firm, providing services in marketing communications, brand reputation, thought leadership, social media, gameday media operations, and more for clients including the PWHL, NY/NJ Gotham FC, Fund for Public Schools and Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center. Previously, Gutmann was executive vice president of communications and community relations at BSE Global properties, including Barclays Center, the Brooklyn Nets and their NBA G League team, the Long Island Nets, and their NBA 2K League affiliate, NetsGC. In this capacity, she oversaw all aspects of corporate communications, playing a pivotal role in launching the Brooklyn Nets brand after the team’s move from New Jersey, the grand opening of Barclays Center, the reopening of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island, and the reopening of the iconic music venue, Webster Hall. Crain’s New York Business recognized Gutmann in 2019 and 2022 as a Notable Woman in Sports. Additionally, she proudly serves as a Stonewall Ambassador for the charitable giving organization associated with the historic Stonewall Inn, the site of the 1969 riots that sparked the gay rights movement.