WNBA Changemaker Day a key tipoff to All-Star Weekend

PHOENIX – Kicking off WNBA All-Star Weekend, the WNBA launched its inaugural Changemaker Day in Phoenix on July 19. This day is dedicated to emphasizing the league’s commitment to using sports to empower underrepresented groups, and its dedication to fostering leadership and skills among young girls. The event was in collaboration with Arizona Cactus-Pine Girl Scouts Council, which includes Girl Scouts from grades 4-8 from across the state of Arizona.

The event theme was “If you can see it, you can be it.” Phoenix Mercury guards Sophie Cunningham and Charisma Osborne, Washington Mystics center Shakira Austin, volunteers, and partnering companies like AT&T, CarMax, Deloitte, Google, Nike and U.S. Bank assembled program boxes that consisted of life skills, STEM subjects, and outdoor pursuits to be distributed to approximately 5,000 youth throughout Arizona.

Teaching since the age of 12 in Sunday school and the eldest of her siblings, LaVisa Johnson knew from an early age that her career would be in teaching. But after leaving education, Johnson wanted to use the transferable skills from teaching and take them to program managing for Girl Scouts.

“It was really cool to be able to share with the changemakers making these equitable boxes to go out to people who might not have all the supplies to do our badges. And so, it means a lot to be able to give people who might not have the things that they need to complete their badges,” Johnson said.

The Girl Scouts involved in this volunteer initiative were actively seeking to serve their community and an immersive learning experience. They took part in expo workshops aimed at earning the inaugural WNBA Changemaker patch and attended panel discussions where ESPN analyst Andraya Carter, former NBA player Adrian Williams-Strong, and Phoenix Mercury guard Charisma Osborne spoke on themes of empowerment both within and beyond sports.

Addison Cowan has been a Girl Scout for nine years and became a Cadette, earning over 20 Cadette badges and 30-plus badges from various community services and learning experiences. She aims always to uphold the Girl Scout Law, “promise to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible.”

“I think it’s all these people here together specifically for the WNBA and watching people like the players come down. One of the players came down and started helping us pack the boxes. I think it was really fun to see that,” Cowan said.

As the event came to an end, Girls Scouts had the opportunity to listen to a message from WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who announced that after a successful day of packing 1,000 program boxes, 5,000 youth across Arizona would benefit from them.

“In this room, I see the next CEOs, head of C-Suites, government officials, presidents, and owners of sports teams,” Engelbert said.

In a day full of service and community, Johnson still recognizes that women’s sports are something not talked about enough and believes this first-ever WNBA Changemaker Day with the Arizona Cactus-Pine Girl Scouts can be the start of young girls becoming more fluent in sports.

“It’s definitely something that we would like to tap into,” Johnson said. “But seeing it, being able to have you guys here and really soak up all of the energy and the vibes, I think it’s something that we can definitely break into after this event.”