Danette Leighton
CEO, Women’s Sports Foundation
Danette Leighton serves as CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF), founded in 1974 by Billie Jean King to strengthen and expand participation and leadership opportunities through research, advocacy, community programming and a wide variety of collaborative partnerships.
Leighton joined WSF in 2022 as the seventh CEO in the organization’s history, annually serving millions of girls and women to improve access and equity across all sports as fierce advocates of Title IX. By Title IX’s 50th Anniversary in June of 2022, WSF will have invested over $100 million to expand access and opportunities for girls and women in sports.
Most recently chief marketing officer of the Pac-12 Conference, Leighton brings an array of operational, data and analytics, sponsorship, fan engagement, marketing and sales experience to WSF, spanning professional and college sports for both men and women.
While with the Pac-12, Leighton oversaw all external/marketing operations, including all major championships (football, men’s and women’s basketball, Pac-12 China Game, and many more), and 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 members in Pac-12 Sales & Pac-12 MMR.
She also rebranded the Pac-12 Conference and assisted in the launching of the Pac 12 Networks, while facilitating best practices amongst Pac-12 member institutions in all areas of external relations/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.
Leighton is a graduate of the University of Arizona, where she earned her BA in Political Science and a minor in Media Arts. A mother of one daughter, Leighton resides in California and credits her youth softball experience for helping shape her as a sports industry executive.