— Popcorn, fashion and basketball entrepreneurs featured at second Women’s Final Four networking session. —
INDIANAPOLIS (February 15, 2016) – A basketball team executive, gourmet popcorn company founders and basketball star turned fashion stylist will tell their stories at the second Beyond the Baseline networking session, a series of events leading to the 2016 NCAA Division I Women’s Final Four in Indianapolis April 3-5.
Featured at the February 25 Risking It All event at IUPUI will be:
- Kelly Krauskopf, president and chief operating officer of the Indiana Fever. She joined the team as general manager when it was founded in 1999
- Carly Swift and Mandy Selke, twin sisters and co-founders of Just Pop In, a gourmet popcorn company
- Shyra Ely-Gash, an Indianapolis native who is a former Ms. Indiana Basketball and University of Tennessee and WNBA star turned fashion stylist and wardrobe consultant. She is also serving as a brand ambassador for the 2016 NCAA Women’s Final Four
NCAA Vice President of Women’s Basketball Anucha Browne will moderate a discussion about taking risks and the entrepreneurial spirit that has formed the basis for the careers of these Indianapolis leaders.
The event will take place at the IUPUI Campus Center, 420 University Blvd., Room 450C, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Feb. 25. Following the program, all participants are invited to attend the IUPUI women’s basketball game versus South Dakota State University. The Beyond the Baseline series is designed to provide networking, mentoring and professional development opportunities for women and to build support for women’s college basketball leading to the ultimate celebration of the game in April.
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The March Beyond the Baseline networking session will be on Selection Monday, March 14, when the field for the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship will be named. The event will be 5-7 p.m. at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and will feature Kelley Gay, vice president of branding and corporate marketing for OneAmerica and a member of the 1995 national championship University of Connecticut women’s basketball team, and Brad Walker, member of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Sport Committee. Participants will watch a live broadcast of the selection show, with discussion throughout.
The series will conclude in April with the first Advancing Women Summit featuring daily professional development events in downtown Indianapolis. Among planned activities are a fashion show showcasing Eli-Gash, a marketing symposium featuring coaches and business leaders on the topic of leadership in sports and business, and a personal branding center to help women create their personal brand.
The Women’s Final Four is celebrating its 35th year in 2016. Indianapolis will host the event for the third time (2005, 2011, 2016). For the first time, all three NCAA divisions of women’s basketball will play their championship games in the same city on the same weekend. Division I will play its semifinal games on April 3 and championship game on April 5; Divisions II and III will play their championship games on April 4. All games will be at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.