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Ep188: Danette Leighton, CEO Women’s Sports Foundation

April 16, 2025
Danette Leighton is a 30-year sports industry and corporate executive with experience serving both men’s and women’s professional and collegiate sports leagues and teams.

Since March of 2022, Leighton has led the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) as CEO, joining the 51-year-old organization, founded by Billie Jean King in 1974. She brings a wealth of knowledge and industry experience to WSF, using her array of operational, data and analytics, sponsorship, fan engagement, marketing and sales expertise to bolster WSF’s mission to expand access and opportunities for girls and women in sport.

Leighton was most recently chief marketing officer at the Pac-12 Conference, where she oversaw all external units, marketing, branding and strategy, and execution for all major championships, including football, men’s and women’s basketball and the Pac-12 China Game, to name a few. She also led the creation of the only conference-wide fan data and analytics program, as well as the establishment of a first-of-its kind outbound ticket sales and sponsorship arm for the members in Pac-12 Sales and Pac-12 MMR. In addition, she led a complete rebranding of the Pac-12 Conference and helped launch the Pac-12 Networks, while facilitating best practices amongst Pac-12 member institutions in all areas of external relations and operations.

Prior to her nearly 12 years with the Pac-12, Leighton was with Maloof Sports & Entertainment’s NBA Sacramento Kings as vice president of marketing and brand development, as well as vice president of business operations for the WNBA Monarchs, where she led the business of the World Championship-winning WNBA franchise. She also previously worked for Sony and managed their sponsorship of the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in Hawaii and was Stanford University’s executive director of the 1999 NCAA Women’s Final Four.

A graduate of the University of Arizona, she was named a Game Changer by Sports Business Journal and recognized for her innovation and excellence by Media Inc. She currently serves as a member of Women Leaders in College Sports Board of Directors. She resides in California with her husband and is the mother of one daughter. She credits her love for sport, especially women’s sports, to her youth softball experience and the numerous years she spent working in both men’s and women’s sports.

Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF)
Women’s Sports Foundation store
Follow WSF on Instagram
WSF’s Play to Lead Toolkit
WSF’s Thriving Through Sport
WSF’s We Play Interactive
WSF’s Title IX Guide
Women’s Sports Fundation panel at Hawken during the Final Four weekend in Cleveland.
Positive Coaching Alliance
Andrea Brimmer, Ally CMO supports women’s sports