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September 11, 2018
New York, NY

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Micky Lawler

President, WTA

With nearly 30 years of sport entertainment experience under her belt, Micky Lawler was appointed President of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in the fall of 2014 and is responsible for driving the WTA's international growth strategy, business development, marketing, new fan engagement programs, and member & industry relations. The WTA is the global leader in women’s professional sport with more than 2,500 players representing 92 nations competing for a record $130 million in prize money at the WTA’s 57 events and four Grand Slams in 33 countries.

During her nearly three decades in sport entertainment, Lawler has played an important role in expanding the geographic footprint of women's tennis, including the development of important initiatives in China. She has driven growth in several aspects of the tennis business including athletes, events, sponsorship sales and consultancy. In addition, she has provided strong strategic leadership during her 11 years as a WTA Board member, a role to which she dedicated an enormous amount of time in recent years.

She is known for her big-thinking, innovative initiatives and ground-breaking business development skills and was on the WTA Board when equal prize money as well as record breaking sponsorship and television partnerships were secured. Lawler began her career in sports in 1986 as a Communications Liaison for the Men’s Tennis Council, the predecessor to the ATP World Tour. She joined Advantage International (now Octagon) in 1988 as one of the first female agents in the industry and quickly made her mark in the representation business with her work for Alberto Mancini, Richard Krajicek, Paul Haarhuis, Amelie Mauresmo and several other top athletes.

Born in The Netherlands, Lawler is a certified simultaneous and consecutive language interpreter. She earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science from The American College in Paris and has a Masters in Applied Linguistics from the University of Delaware. She was named a "Game Changer: Women in Sports Business" by the Sports Business Journal in 2012, recognized by the Washington Business Journal as one of their "Women Who Mean Business" honorees in 2009 and recipient of the Warsaw-Thurston Award by the University of Oregon’s College of Business in 2012. Having lived in nine different countries across South America, Central America, Europe, Africa and the United States, Lawler is fluent in Dutch, Spanish, French, German and English.

She is the mother of three children, Charlotte, Trevor and Juliette.

Wednesday, September 12

ONE YEAR LATER: EXAMINING THE STATE OF WOMEN'S SPORTS

Micky Lawler, President, WTA
Jon Podany, Chief Commercial Officer, LPGA
Ann Rodriguez, COO, WNBA
Dani Rylan, Founder & Commissioner, NWHL
Carol Stiff, VP, Programming & Acquisitions, ESPN
Guest Moderator: Shira Springer, Sports and Society Reporter, WBUR and NPR