A friend recently gave me a book that gave me a new perspective on how women have more to offer than is sometimes realized. Relevant to our work here at LovePrints I read about this initiative from the U.S. Department of State and espnW called GSMP: Empower Women through Sports and the Global Sports Mentoring Program.

This book I am reading referred to the statistics from global consultancy EY and espnW which surveyed 400 women business executives who held a position in the C-suite (CEO,CFO etc), and found that 94% had participated in sports and the majority of them felt that sports can accelerate women's leadership and career potential. Read more in Fast Forward by Melanne Verveer and Kim K Azzarelli.

According to the research referenced on the Global Sports Mentoring website, women and girls’ participation in sports is an important social and economic empowerment tool. Key benefits from playing sports noted are as follows:

• Women and girls acquire new professional networks, develop a sense of identity and access new opportunities to become more engaged in school and community life;
• Sports serve as a vehicle to improve women’s and girls’ leadership roles and participation in decision-making; 
• Sports convene people across borders, cultures and belief systems, and can promote greater tolerance and understanding among individuals and communities;
• Girls’ participation in sports can challenge gender stereotypes and discriminatory attitudes; and
• Studies show a direct correlation between girls’ participation in sports and higher education and employment.

Thank you espnW and the US State Department for this initiative. This mentoring initiative definitely can leave a LovePrint on the world.