Американдық спорт басшысы және бұрынғы баскетболшы Donna Orender туралы

American sports executive and former basketball player

Donna Geils Orender (born February 14, 1957) is a sports executive and a former collegiate and professional basketball player. She was formerly president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and senior vice president of the PGA. Currently, Orender is the founder and CEO of Orender Unlimited, a Jacksonville, FL based advisory and consultancy firm. She travels the world as a motivational speaker and advocating for the empowerment of women and young girls through her non profit organization Generation W.

Orender was born in Long Island, New York, grew up in Queens, New York, and in Elmont, New York on Long Island, and is Jewish. She belonged to a Conservative synagogue (the Elmont Jewish Center). She attended and played basketball for Elmont High School, in Elmont, New York, and was a five sport athlete in high school, also lettering in field hockey, volleyball, softball, and tennis. According to Orender, Elmont High School did not have a girls’ tennis team while she was attending, so she asked the coach to play for the boys’ team. The coach agreed to let her try out for the team, and in doing so she beat her opponent and became the first girl to play tennis for the high school, which gained little attention to her surprise. Orender graduated from Queens College in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. While at Queens College she was an All American basketball player.

Under the name Donna Geils, Orender played three seasons in the Women's Pro Basketball League (WBL), where she was an All Star, and one of only 20 women to play in all three seasons of the league. During that time, she played for the New York Stars (1978–79), New Jersey Gems (1979–80), and Chicago Hustle (1980–81). Orender's WBL career is featured in the book Mad Seasons: The Story of the First Women's Basketball League, 1978–1981, by Karra Porter (University of Nebraska Press, 2006). The WBL was disbanded in 1981. Both records were set as a part of the New Jersey Gems. When the league shutdown in 1981, Orender wrote an article for The Times called "Making a Dream Come True, and Watching it Fade Away."

Orender's television production career began as a production assistant at ABC Sports and continued at the Sports Channel. Orender also owned her own production and marketing company, Primo Donna Productions.

In 1987, Orender started working for the PGA Tour, where she oversaw their global television and production businesses. By 1989, she was the original producer of Inside the PGA Tour, a half hour highlights show. In 1997 she negotiated a $400 million TV contract with the networks for the PGA Tour. During her time with the organization Orender notes attendance growth, development on ESPN, and broadcast development are all highlights that she is proud to have played a role in. In an interview with Jackson Daily Record Orender discusses her decision to step down as president was in part due to her twin sons. She wanted to be around for them as they were growing up, and as they needed her more.

In 2011, Orender registered and launched a 501c3, non profit organization called Generation W. This non profit organization is used to provide a platform to bring women together to educate, inspire, and connect through mentor ship and national events. Orender became the CEO of Generation W when it was founded in 2011. Generation W is Orender's proudest professional accomplishment.