meet our key players.

The Headed to Work campaign solution reframes women’s sports as what it already is: work—and a rapidly scaling economic engine.

Led by an incredible team of women, Headed to Work transforms women’s sports from a cultural moment into recognized economic infrastructure—where authority is assumed, ownership is normal, and investment follows inevitability.

Our Team & Advisors

  • Patrice is the founder and CEO of Inspire Access, a nonprofit platform that mobilizes philanthropic capital to support women and minority-led businesses, and the founder and managing director of Inspire Capital LLC, an impact-focused venture fund launched in 2015. Her work aims to close gender and racial funding gaps in venture capital through innovative donor-advised and blended-finance models.

    Brickman’s investment philosophy centers on combining philanthropy with venture capital to unlock dormant charitable assets for social good. Through Inspire Access, she channels funds from donor-advised accounts—over $200 billion sits unallocated in the U.S.—into early-stage companies with measurable impact goals. Inspire Capital complements this mission as a private fund backing scalable, socially responsible ventures led by underrepresented founders.

 Impact investor, philanthropist, and social entrepreneur

  • Dia Simms is the Co-Founder and Board Chair of Pronghorn, an American business solution offering a forward-thinking model to effectively diversify any industry for ubiquitous success. As a modern and disruptive 10-year initiative, Pronghorn is cultivating the next generation of underrepresented founders, executive leaders, and entrepreneurs. The first case study focuses on the spirits industry and underrepresented communities, with outputs expected to have far-reaching impacts on other industries and communities. With the goal to generate $2 billion in economic value in the U.S., Dia and Pronghorn co-founders launched this transformative journey with an immediate focus on sustainable investment, incubation, and cross-functional industry recruitment.

    Drawing inspiration from its namesake, the pronghorn—the fastest North American land mammal capable of sustaining high speeds over long distances—Pronghorn embodies the philosophy that meaningful change is a marathon, not a sprint.

    Simms previously served as the Executive Chairwoman of the Board of Lobos 1707 Tequila & Mezcal, an award-winning, independent spirits brand launched in 2020. Before being appointed Executive Chairwoman, Simms led Lobos 1707 as Chief

    Executive Officer alongside Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Diego Osorio, and with early backing by sports and cultural icon,

    LeBron James. Lobos 1707 Tequila & Mezcal is named after the Spanish word lobos, meaning “wolves”, and dedicated to celebrating the strength of the pack.

    Before leading go-to-market success and growth for Lobos 1707, Simms had an illustrious fourteen-year career, starting in 2005 as an executive assistant and culminating in her historic appointment as President in 2017. As the first president in the company’s thirty-year history outside of the original founder, Simms’ tenure was marked by her strategic vision and dynamic leadership. She adeptly managed and propelled the growth of numerous global brands within the company’s portfolio including the renowned

    CÎROC Ultra-Premium Vodka, Blue Flame Agency, AQUAhydrate, Bad Boy Entertainment, Sean John, and Revolt TV. Particularly noteworthy: Simms’ instrumental role in the meteoric rise of CÎROC Ultra-Premium Vodka, transforming it from a nascent product into a multibillion-dollar powerhouse.

    Simms’ impressive career achievements include a distinguished record of success and professional accolades from Billboard’s “Most

    Powerful Executives in the Industry” and Ebony Magazine’s “Power 100” to Food & Wine’s “Game Changers” and the United States

    Black Caucus “Women’s Power 50” award. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Morgan State University and obtained a master’s degree in management from the Florida Institute of Technology. Simms now resides in Georgia with her husband and daughter.

Founding Partner - Project Wellspring
Basketball legend, coach, and former player

  • Weatherspoon gained national attention at Louisiana Tech, leading the Lady Techsters to the 1988 NCAA championship. When the WNBA launched in 1997, she became a cornerstone for the New York Liberty, defining early league identity with her intensity and signature “T-Spoon” energy. Her last-second half-court shot in the 1999 Finals—dubbed “The Shot”—remains one of the league’s iconic moments.

    A two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, Weatherspoon is revered for setting a high bar for grit and professionalism in women’s sports. Her induction into the Hall of Fame and ongoing coaching career underscore her enduring impact as both a pioneer and mentor for new generations of players.

  • Brooke Daniels has been a pioneer in various domains.   With an impressive career spanning over 15 years in Silicon Valley, Brooke has held leadership roles in tech, real estate investing, and venture capital, including as an Executive at Salesforce Ventures, where she was part of the senior leadership team managing a portfolio of over $5 billion in assets under management (AUM). She brings a wealth of experience in scaling companies, driving growth, and strategically investing in socially and economically disadvantaged founders. 

     

    Brooke has served as a mentor for Techstars, Pharrell Williams' Black Ambition, and as a Steering Committee Member for BLCKVC. She is also an advisor to the Justice Technology Association and an Investment Committee Member for Cap Table Coalition, an angel investing group focused on diversifying VC. She was also a participant in the prestigious U.S. State Department Youth Ambassador Program (CBYX) to Germany and holds an Executive MBA from Kenan-Flagler at the University of North Carolina (UNC).​

Founding Partner - Project Wellspring

  • Qiana Patterson is a powerhouse investor, operator, and visionary leader driving inclusive innovation. As Managing Partner at Nayah—a Family Office Venture Studio—she has propelled early-stage ventures toward sustainable growth with exceptional strategic and operational expertise.

     

    She has deployed nearly $45 million with the Cap Table Coalition to diversify venture capital and has held pivotal roles as COO, Interim CEO, and VP of Strategy. Qiana also champions community impact through transformative initiatives like unrestricted grants for founders of color in SouthLA and engaging programming that draws hundreds. A sought-after speaker and storyteller—from Harvard events to fireside chats with top leaders—she exemplifies the power of possibility and the drive to create an economy shaped to fit the needs of most that delivers both maximum impact and financial returns.She is a graduate of the University of Washington, Seattle, University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business.

Founding Partner - Project Wellspring
Founding Partner - Project Wellspring

  • Rachel Wilson is an operations and capital access strategist with over a decade of experience spanning automotive, healthcare, technology, and consumer products. Having raised and managed over $100M in venture and non-dilutive funding, she architects governance models that drive sustainable growth across sectors.

     

    Her work bridges philanthropic, private, and public networks to create equitable funding pathways for underrepresented founders—from WNBA stars to tech entrepreneurs. Rachel's collaborative approach has produced tangible results through national supplier diversity initiatives with the National League of Cities and innovative capital programs with emerging and global venture capital firms. Her expertise in redemptive and regenerative capital is further amplified through curating 50+ ecosystem-building events and serving as an advisor to organizations, families, founders, and ESOs worldwide.Her leadership extends to board service and prestigious fellowships with Milken IIE, Margaret Atwood's Practical Utopias, and NAIC Women in Alternatives. An active NASP member with Bloomberg ESG Certification, Rachel brings a data-driven approach to sustainable market reporting. Rachel holds a B.A. in Economics and Business from Agnes Scott College and an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

  • Christine Roddy is the COO of Inspire Access. She brings 15+ years of experience in nonprofit management, operations, and impact investing, with a deep commitment to equity, wealth creation, and financial inclusion at both the enterprise and fund manager levels. Throughout her career, Christine has championed strategic capital sourcing and deployment to drive systemic change, mobilizing philanthropic and impact investment capital to advance inclusive economic growth. She has extensive experience scaling operations, optimizing financial management, and building cross-sector partnerships to maximize impact within emerging organizations.

    She has previously served as VP Operations at VC backed climate- and ag-tech startup Clean Crop Technologies and led AlphaMundi Foundation as their Executive Director.  Christine is a recognized leader in impact investing, blended finance, and inclusive innovation, frequently representing organizations as a speaker, panelist, and thought leader at industry events. Ms. Roddy holds a BA in International Relations from the College of William and Mary and an MBA from Georgetown University. 

COO of Inspire Access

    • Founder & General Partner of BEA Venture Fund I

    • Founder, 1863 Ventures

    • Advisor for Reign Ventures, New Voices

    • Co-founder of Ureeka (acquired in 2022)

    • Member & former co-chair of the National Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship

    • Professor of Practice at Georgetown University

Advisor - BEA Venture Fund

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