Donna Orender

Founder, Investor, Commissioner, The Upshot League

Donna Orender is a highly respected corporate business leader who has led growth and innovation in several high-profile companies. She has been recognized as one of the top 10 Most Powerful Women in Sports and one of Newsweek‘s 100 most Influential people in the sports and media business.

Her 17-year tenure at the PGA Tour saw her leading global production, programming, distribution, brand management, digital and television strategy, and negotiations from the Office of the Commissioner. She was then handpicked by Adam Silver to become the 2nd President of the WNBA, where she achieved double-digit growth in all business metrics despite a challenging business environment, solidifying the league’s position, ensuring a future could be built

It was that leadership of an iconic brand and business that represented strong women and girls that led Donna to create GENERATION W, and GENERATION WOW, a platform focused on educating, inspiring, and connecting women and girls. Donna authored a book WOWsdom!, the girls guide to the positive and the possible and currently hosts a biweekly Zoomcast called REfresh. 

Excited by the growth and impact of women’s sports, Donna has partnered with Zawyer Sports to launch the UPshot League, a new women’s professional basketball enterprise to be headquartered in Jacksonville, FL.