WiST Announces New Partnership with Jarvis Sam’s The Rainbow Disruption
San Francisco March 28, 2023 - Women in Sports Tech (WiST) and The Rainbow Disruption are thrilled to announce their strategic partnership to empower organizations to foster diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) in the workplace, specifically in the sports tech industry. The partnership aims to promote growth opportunities for women and employers in sports tech and innovation while creating a more inclusive culture throughout the ecosystem.
The Rainbow Disruption is a multi-service DEI consulting and advisory services firm and agency that partners with Fortune 500 companies, academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and governmental agencies. Founded by Jarvis Sam, who previously served as the Chief DEI Officer for Nike and is a founding board member of WiST serving the last 4 years, The Rainbow Disruption works with businesses of all sizes to promote team and talent effectiveness, as well as brand and product inclusion.
WiST, the non-profit organization founded in 2018 and led by veteran sports tech entrepreneur CEO+Founder Marilou McFarlane, develops and delivers programs for employers and for female and non-binary talent that produce tangible results, from the classroom to the boardroom. The organization aims to promote equity in the industry by offering solutions to employers’ struggle to diversify their talent pipelines and build inclusive cultures while creating opportunities for women and students to network, learn, and lead.
The partnership between The Rainbow Disruption and WiST will enable both organizations to work together to provide end-to-end DEI solutions to organizations across all categories of sports tech and beyond. Through their partnership, The Rainbow Disruption and WiST offer a range of services, including strategy development, training and education, talent placement, and more.
The Rainbow Disruption and WiST present educational, informal conversations to partner organizations that demystify DEI through a relatable presentation and open discussion led by Ms. McFarlane and Mr. Sam and other experienced sports tech executives who are WiST board members. These “Fireside Chats: Culture Matters” offer an accessible dialogue to empower employees to not just talk the talk but walk the walk of creating and sustaining a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture where employees feel a sense of belonging.
Jarvis Sam, the Founder/CEO of The Rainbow Disruption, said, "We are thrilled to partner with WiST to empower organizations to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Our joint expertise and experience in the industry will enable us to provide innovative and effective solutions to organizations looking to create a more inclusive culture."
"We are excited to partner with The Rainbow Disruption to promote DEI in this exploding global industry, projected to be $46B by 2026. Jarvis' experience as a founding board member emeritus for WiST and as the former Chief DEI Officer for Nike, a WiST corporate partner, makes him uniquely positioned to help us achieve our mission of creating a more diverse, equitable and inclusive industry." added Ms. McFarlane.
The partnership between The Rainbow Disruption and WiST is set to create a significant impact in the industry, and both organizations are looking forward to working together to drive meaningful change.
Contact:
WiST: Emma Henzes, Marketing+Content Manager emma@womeninsportstech.org
The Rainbow Disruption: Jarvis Sam, Founder/CEO jarvis.sam3@gmail.com
About WiST
Women in Sports Tech (WiST) is a nonprofit organization that drives transformative growth opportunities for women in sports tech and innovation at all stages of their careers, from the classroom to the boardroom. WiST develops and delivers innovative programs, original content and a global community that provide tangible value for women and employers alike.
Its flagship initiative, the WiST Fellowship program, provides internship experiences and grants for highly motivated college and graduate school students to pursue summer projects in sports technology. Additional WiST programs include the WiST NETWORK career hub, the single source for diverse hiring in the sports tech industry, the WiST Next Gen Resource Hub “Discover Sports Tech” for high school students, and the original content series WiST Presents, featuring female talent at all levels working in sports tech.
WiST is supported by donations from numerous corporations and organizations, including Australian Sports Technologies Network, Catapult Sports, Comcast NBCU, DICK’S Game Changer, FEVO, HOKA, IBM Sports, the NBA, Next League, Nike, Perch, PointsBet, Shorewind Capital, Sports Reference, SRAM, Stats Perform, Tempus Ex, Titleist, the USOPC, Zoomph and more. WiST has provided an array of diverse panelists for learning experiences at Hashtag Sports, CES, SIGA, SXSW, the Stanford GSB Sports Innovation Conference, and more. For more information, please visit womeninsportstech.org.
The Rainbow Disruption
The Rainbow Disruption is a multi-service DEI consulting and advisory services firm and agency that partners with Fortune 500 companies, academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and governmental agencies. Founded by Jarvis Sam, who previously served as the Chief DEI Officer for Nike and was on the board of WiST for over 4 years, The Rainbow Disruption works with businesses of all sizes to promote team and talent effectiveness, as well as brand and product inclusion.
As a Black and LGBTQ+ - owned firm, The Rainbow Disruption's mission is to partner with organizations to develop practical solutions that champion DEI in the workplace and enable systemic progress where authenticity, empathy, growth mindset, and transparency are celebrated. The vision is to unleash human potential and unlock business results by centering equity and humanism in everything we do.