In today’s episode we have Janet E. Sevilla, who for over a decade has served as a sports philanthropy advocate and corporate social responsibility professional. Powered by a passion for equity and fair access to resources, Janet has worked with multinational corporations, major league sports franchises, politicians, and professional athletes to design and implement successful, socially responsible initiatives that drive change in vulnerable communities.
Within our conversation, Janet shares about her role within the sports industry starting off at a very young age playing sports motivated by her brother, George. She later continues learning more about women and sports by becoming a 3-sport athlete in high school and trying out for the women’s basketball team in college.
Janet shares about the perseverance that she had to have to keep going even when she was a minority in the room and her voice was silenced. She talks about the messages that were given to her including:
FEAR : False Expectations About Reality
...which allowed her to really step into her power and keep going when the doors felt like they were always closing.
In 2020, Janet joined the No.1 largest convention, sports, and entertainment destination in the world, the Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA), as the Manager of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility. Janet is responsible for developing and executing the environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility strategy.
Before GWCCA, Janet served as the community affairs manager for the Atlanta Braves. She strategically engaged the brand's platform by developing education, health/wellness, youth baseball, community engagement programs, and fundraising for the Atlanta Braves Foundation. In 2017, Janet played a key role in launching the Atlanta Braves Spanish language brand Los Bravos and created a community segment called Los Bravos in the Community. Janet previously served as the community development coordinator with the Los Angeles Galaxy and the community relations associate with Los Angeles Lakers.
A Los Angeles native, Janet graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a B. A. in Black Studies and Spanish, with a concentration in Sports Management, and from the Cultivating Hispanic Leadership Institute via the University of Georgia J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development. In 2019, the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce recognized Janet as one of the 50 Most Influential Latinos in Georgia. Janet serves as a Board Member of WISE Atlanta, a Hermanas Unidas, HYPE, and EME de Mujer member.
To learn more about Janet E. Sevilla and her story, please reach out to her here:
[email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetesevilla/
Resources mentioned, if any:
To learn more about WISE - Women in Sports and Events please check out their website here:
https://www.wiseworks.org
Janet also shares about a new platform: Latinx in Sports @LatinxinSports on Twitter
To learn more about me and my work, check me out here:
www.alvaradotherapy.org
Instagram: @therapyetcpodcast
Instagram: @alvaradotherapy
Email: [email protected]
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQDV2PpaxADKmZ3XXDJJK4A
