This week’s line up
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Tuesday, September 29th - China Jude, ED.D., Senior Associate Athletics Director/SWA
The 2019 Women Leaders in College Sports Nell Jackson Administrator of the Year began her duties as the Senior Associate Athletics Director for Administration/Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) at the University of Wyoming on Feb. 1, 2018.
Jude oversees sports medicine, sports performance, nutritionists, athletics training table, fueling station, strategic planning, gender equity, and diversity and inclusion initiatives as well as sport oversight of volleyball and soccer. As the Senior Woman Administrator, she also represents the department on the Mountain West Conference Nominating Committee and serve as Sports Liaison to Women’s Soccer.
Since her arrival, she has created strategies on addressing sexual assault/violence, served as Chair of the University Wide Black 14 Commemoration Week, successfully launched a barber shop and strengthen the department’s diversity and inclusion recruitment and professional development programming.
Jude serves on the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee and President of the Minority Opportunities Athletics Association (MOAA).
Before Wyoming, Jude served as Assistant Vice President and Athletics Director at Queens College for over six years, assuming those duties in August 2011.
Queens College sponsors 19 sports and is the fourth largest college in the nation at the NCAA Division II level. During her time as athletics director, Queens College won seven East Coast Conference Championships and six NCAA Regional Championships. Queens College teams earned 12 NCAA postseason berths. A total of 13 Queens College head coaches earned Conference Coach of the Year honors and two were named Regional Coaches of the Year. Over 200 student-athletes earned All-Conference, All-Region and All-America honors.
During her time at Queens College, her student-athletes achieved a four-year graduation average of 75 percent and a 91 percent retention rate, while earning a combined 3.00 grade-point average every semester.
In the area of fundraising and revenue generation, Jude increased alumni giving by 60 percent the last two fiscal years, created the first two athletic naming rights opportunities in school history (one, a basketball court naming campaign and the other a baseball facility naming opportunity) and increased basketball ticket sales by 30 percent in the 2016-17 season.
She successfully managed an athletics department budget that equaled approximately $31.5 million over a five-year period, and generated a surplus every fiscal year. Under her direction, the athletics department eliminated an inherited $1.4 million deficit. In fiscal year 2017, her Queens College Athletics Department generated a $542,000 surplus, which contributed to the elimination of that deficit.
Prior to her time as Athletics Director at Queens College, Jude was the Athletics Director and Department Chairperson at NCAA Division II member Cheyney University of Pennsylvania from October 2007 to July 2011. She also brings experience as a former head volleyball coach at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and the University of the District of Columbia. Jude was a collegiate volleyball player herself at Alabama State University.
A native of Waukegan, Ill., Jude completed her bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from Alabama State in 1994. She earned a master's degree in sports administration and marketing from the United States Sports Academy in 1996. Jude completed her doctor of education (Ed.D.) in athletic administration from Northcentral University in 2017.
Jude's family has a rich history of serving in the United States military. Her son, Tommy Jr., served seven years in the U.S. Army before recently being honorably discharged, and her father was a Navy veteran. Jude, herself, served in the U.S. Naval Reserves, earning an honorable discharge. Her mother worked in corporate positions throughout her career.
THROWBACK THURSDAY SERIES
Our Throwback Thursday Series featuring those women who helped launched this series back in April.
Thursday, October 1st - Felisa Israel, Owner, 10 Fold Entertainment, Impact Internship
After a 20+ year career in the NBA, including serving as NBA Entertainment’s Director of Live Programming and Entertainment and helping to start the WNBA, Felisa started her own live event production company, 10 Fold Entertainment.
Guided by a passion for creating memorable live moments and a philosophy of doing everything tenfold, Felisa and her team have partnered with some of the biggest names in Sports, Entertainment & Media to produce a variety of successful events, using their unique blend of expertise to excite audiences and exceed expectations at every stop.
After leaving the NBA, Felisa wanted to make an impact beyond the world of sports. She has since worked with charities such as Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Straight But Not Narrow to produce fundraising and awareness events, moderated and participated in panels with industry experts to help further positive and creative discussions, and built a strong relationship with the UCLA Anderson School of Management, teaching students, hiring and training interns, and influencing the next generation of rockstars in their fields.
Make sure to take a lunch break and join us!
Until the next,
EP