Jackie Heinricher, the Heinricher Racing team, and WNBA Dallas Wings Player Imani McGee-Stafford join SheIS to help further drive fan engagement with professional women in sport
New York, NY (May 28, 2020) || SheIS announced today Imani McGee-Stafford, a 2016 tenth overall pick in the WNBA Draft and Dallas Wings player, and accomplished racer and entrepreneur Jackie Heinricher and her Heinricher racing team will join an illustrious group of business leaders and athletes as part of its SheIS Collective.
SheIS, which launched to the public in May 2018, made history by becoming the first organization to bring together leagues, organizations, athletes, and business leaders from across the men’s and women’s sports world in support of one mission - to connect with and mobilize fans to grow women’s sports. The SheIS Collective includes organizations such as the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), WWE, US Tennis Association, Canadian Football League, and National Women’s Soccer League, as well as more than 150 athletes and business leaders.
With the addition of these two incredible women, SheIS expands its work into the sport of racing while also extending its work with athletes of existing SheIS Collective members, the WNBA and WNBPA. Heinricher joins as a SheIS Leader on the SheIS Collective Advisory Committee and McGee-Stafford joins as a SheIS Ambassador.
Heinricher Racing was founded in 2013 by Jackie Heinricher, a race driver, successful entrepreneur and businesswoman. A native of Seattle, Washington, Heinricher served as a medic in the U.S. Air Force for four years and earned her MS from Tennessee Tech University. After a decade working in fishery science and management, she returned to the Pacific Northwest to launch Booshoot Technology in her garage. Today, this successful biotechnology firm is developing unique, patent-pending technologies to shift how bamboo is grown and harvested worldwide. Heinricher began racing in 2010 and has participated in multiple competitions across the globe. In 2019, she and her partners brought the first full-season all-female team of drivers to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Before being drafted into the WNBA in 2016, Imani McGee-Stafford played for the University of Texas Longhorns where she was a standout player and multi-award recipient, including the Big 12 Female Sportsperson of the Year (2015), Honda Inspiration Award (2015), and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year (2016). After four seasons with the WNBA and the Dallas Wings, McGee-Stafford was accepted into Southwestern Law School’s accelerated J.D. program, where she will start classes this fall. A long-time and outspoken advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, McGee-Stafford hopes to use this education and her platform in the WNBA to help other survivors of abuse.
SheIS Founder and President, Brenda Andress said, "We are thrilled to welcome Jackie and Imani to our SheIS Collective. Each bring unique and valuable perspectives and insights to our diverse community of those committed to growing women’s sport. Jackie’s push for diversity in the sport of motor racing and her wealth of knowledge as an entrepreneur is an exciting addition to our Advisory Committee, and Imani’s incredible background as a professional athlete and now future lawyer brings a wonderful new layer to our Ambassador group that we know fans in our SheIS Nation will be eager to connect with.”
About SheIS:
Founded in 2017 and launched to the public on May 1, 2018, SheIS was established with a vision to use the power of sports to create a future of, by, and for strong women. It’s mission is to connect with and mobilize fans to grow women’s sports. This is achieved through driving attendance and viewership of women’s sports at all levels, connecting through storytelling to inspire fans to take action, and centralizing resources to create sustainable growth of women’s sports. The SheIS Collective includes leaders from every major sport, and represents the first time in history that all of these sports leagues and organizations have stood together in support of one cause. To learn more, visit www.sheissport.com or follow the team on social media @teamsheis.