The inaugural Women and Girls Summit will take place September 24 at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia, bringing a diverse group of players, coaches, leaders and parents together from around the country. The afternoon learning session will feature a panel of experts moderated by MSNBC’s Erin O’Hearn, and will include Drexel University Athletic Director Maisha Kelly, Free People Movement’s Erin Malone and Goldman Sachs’ Christina Minnis.
The panel will focus on the impact of playing sports in the workforce, and the discussion will center around the panelists’ experiences in their respective fields, challenges they may have faced, how they were supported, and how sports have impacted their lives.
Learn more about the panelists and register for this special day below.
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Erin O’Hearn
Erin O’Hearn is a freelance Anchor and Reporter for MSNBC and NBC’s Early Today. Her career path took some unexpected twists and turns leading her to the Peacock Network. It all started at MTV back when the channel stopped playing music videos and developed what we now call “reality TV”. Erin worked as a production assistant for the “True Life” series and worked her way up to series Associate Producer, helping to craft a variety of episodes including, True Life: I’m Bipolar, True Life: I’m Coming Out and True Life: I’m a Candidate.
While traveling the country and exploring topics pertinent to young adults was exciting and educational, in the early 2000s, Erin decided to take a shot at on-air reporting at the Time Warner station in her hometown, Albany, NY. Being stationed in the Capital of New York, she had many journalistic opportunities to dive into local, state and national politics—at one point getting an exclusive interview with Governor George Pataki at the scene of a Port disaster.
A couple of years later, she was hired by the ABC station in Raleigh, NC—and was then transferred to Philadelphia’s powerhouse station, 6ABC. One of her first assignments was interviewing the internationally known archeologist, Dr. Zahi Hawass on location in Egypt.
Years later, she would be the only on-air reporter to cover Pope Francis saying Mass at Saint Charles Borromeao Seminary.
It was in the city of Brotherly and Sisterly Love where she met her husband during an on-camera interview. They were lucky enough to be blessed with three children. In addition to changing diapers and volunteering as a homeroom mom here and there, Erin took on some various projects including producing a documentary and several reality television shows.
When Erin isn’t watching her kids play lacrosse, basketball, tennis, golf and football, she enjoys friendly competition herself on the tennis court. She is also an avid runner, skier and yoga fanatic.
Maisha Kelly
Following a national search, Maisha Kelly was named Drexel’s Director or Athletics on June 16, 2021. Kelly, a native of Philadelphia, returns to the city after serving as Bucknell University’s senior associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator.
Kelly’s administrative role at Bucknell included oversight responsibilities for as many as 12 of the 27 varsity athletics programs, including women’s basketball. She also served as the athletic department’s liaison to the academic deans, human resources, financial aid and admissions, student affairs and oversaw NCAA compliance. Kelly spearheaded the department’s long-range planning, she served as the university’s deputy Title IX coordinator, and she played an active role on the President’s Diversity Council. Kelly created the athletic department’s first student-athlete leadership development program — the Bucknell Athletics Leadership Institute — in 2011, and last year organized the Bucknell Athletics Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, comprised of administrators, coaches and student-athletes.
In 2019, Kelly’s primary role shifted to development and fundraising, where she was focused on increasing annual support for the Bison Club and spearheading the fundraising efforts for major capital projects related to Bison Athletics. In 2021, she coordinated a 24-hour giving challenge that netted more than $1 million. In addition, she was the fundraising project manager for a $10 million transformational facility enhancement of Bucknell’s historic Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium.
In April 2018, Kelly was appointed by the NCAA Board of Directors to the NCAA Division I Council, where she represented the Patriot League on important NCAA policy matters. Kelly was also a member of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee. She previously served as a member of the Division I Nominating Committee and the NCAA Division I Track and Field Committee, where she was appointed Chair in her final year of service. Kelly is a 2019 graduate of the NCAA Pathway Program.
Kelly is a member of the Women Leaders in College Sports and a graduate of their Executive Institute. She is also a graduate of the NCAA Leadership Institute for Ethnic and Minority Females. Kelly and her husband, Kevin, have two young children, Gregory and Kennedy.
Erin Malone
Originally from Sydney, Australia, Erin moved to the US in 2009 to attend Villanova University. A dual-sport athlete in both Swimming and Water polo, Erin was an NCAA Finalist receiving All-American Honors in Swimming and was awarded Villanova Student Athlete of the Year in 2013. She holds a BA in Communications and an MBA specializing in Analytics & Strategic Management. Erin is now the Director of Digital Marketing, Analytics & Insights at Free People where she leads the growth and strategy of their digital business.
Christina Minnis
Christina is co-head of Global Credit Finance and head of Global Acquisition Finance. She serves as a member of the Firmwide Capital Committee, Investment Banking Division (IBD) Executive Committee, IBDRisk Committee and the Partnership Committee. Christina is a member of the Board of Advisors of Launch With GS,Goldman Sachs’ $500 million commitment to invest in companies and investment managers with diverse leadership. Christina joined Goldman Sachs in 1998 as a vice president in IBD, where she focused on leveraged finance deals primarily for the Financial Sponsors Group. She joined the Fixed Income Division in 2001 as part of Capital Markets and focused on industrials followed by healthcare. Christina served as co-head of Leveraged Finance in the Americas and as co-head of the Healthcare Group in the Americas from 2013 to 2014and as head of Corporate Finance for theConsumer Retail and Healthcare Group from2014 to 2015. She was named managing director in 2004 and partner in 2008. Prior to joining the firm, Christina was with BT Alex Brown from 1987 to 1998, where her last position was managing director in Corporate Finance. Christina is a member of the YaleDevelopment Council and Yale School of Management Advisory Board. She is also a member on the Board of Directors of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Christina earned a BA in Economics fromYale University in 1987 and an MM from theKellogg School of Management atNorthwestern University in 1991.
