NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Earlier today SeeHer, the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) leading movement for gender equality in advertising and media, announced that Coach Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame’s iconic women’s basketball coach and a powerful voice for women’s equality in sports, has joined the SeeHer advisory board. McGraw’s arrival coincides with the launch of #SeeHerInSports, the movement’s expansion into collegiate and professional athletics.
Launched in June 2016, the SeeHer mission is to accurately portray all women and girls in media so that by 2020, they will see themselves reflected as they truly are. With full support of the ANA, its 1,700 member companies and 25,000 brands that support $400-plus billion in marketing and advertising annually, SeeHer is the world’s most-influential voice for gender equality in programming, advertising, marketing, and media.
“We are extremely proud of SeeHer, which in three short years has become the leading global movement for gender equality in media and advertising,” says Bob Liodice, Chief Executive Officer, ANA. “Sports is such an integral part of the media landscape; it was a natural extension of our mission.”
“Coach McGraw has said that we don't have enough female role models or visible women leaders out there, and she's right," says Fiona Carter, SeeHer co-chair and AT&T Communications Chief Brand Officer. "We can count her in those ranks, and thankfully we can now count her as a member of the board, bringing her passion and insights to bear as we look to raise the visibility of women in sports."
In 32 years in South Bend, McGraw has won more than 75 percent of her games, taken her team to 9 Final Fours, and won the National Championship twice, in 2001 and 2018. In 2011, she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and, in 2017, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
She has also been a leading voice for gender equality, arguing for normalizing women’s participation in sports, business, politics, and other areas of our culture as well as increasing the number of female role models, not just in sports but throughout society. These also are among the goals of #SeeHerInSports.
“On behalf of the 1,700+ brands of SeeHer, we are delighted to have Coach McGraw join our movement and are looking forward to utilizing her keen insight and experiences to help us amplify the importance of women in sports,” adds SeeHer Co-Chair and Procter & Gamble Global Brand Officer Marc Pritchard.
“I am excited to join the advisory board for #SeeHer and team up with the ANA to change the perception of women in sports,” says Coach McGraw. “We are all fighting for gender equality, and I’m thrilled to be a part of this prestigious group as we look to change the bias that has kept women from reaching leadership positions in sports.”
McGraw’s arrival follows the announcement of Emmy-winning TV personality and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Michael Strahan as the first male advisory board member. Other members include journalist and author Katie Couric; actor and gender rights activist Geena Davis; Former WNBA and Times Up president, Lisa Borders; editor-in-chief of InStyle Magazine Laura Brown; and WME literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh.
“Sports represents one of the most-critical areas for the gender equality movement,” concludes Christine Manna, president and chief operating officer of the ANA. “Our expansion into athletics is a vital step on the journey to utilize the power of media for a gender-equal society.”
About the #SeeHer Movement
Despite the strides made to accurately portray women and girls in media, an unconscious bias persists in advertising, media, and programming. The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) launched the #SeeHer initiative in June 2016 in a partnership with The Female Quotient (TFQ) at the United State of Women Summit. The SeeHer mission is to accurately portray all women and girls in media so that they can see themselves reflected as they truly are--and so that the world can see them with 20/20 vision. SeeHer’s goal is to increase the accurate portrayals of women and girls in media by 20 percent by 2020. The group developed a Gender Equality Measure (GEM™) to track progress and the marketing effect of removing unconscious bias from ads and programming. High GEM™ scores directly correlate to improved ROI. GEM™ won the 2017 ESOMAR Research Effectiveness Award. The methodology became the industry standard in the U.S., which led to a global rollout in 2018. Visit www.SeeHer.com, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @SeeHer2020.
About the Association of National Advertisers (ANA)
The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) makes a difference for individuals, brands, and the industry by driving growth, advancing the interests of marketers, and promoting and protecting the well-being of the marketing community. Founded in 1910, the ANA provides leadership that advances marketing excellence and shapes the future of the industry. The ANA’s membership includes more than 1,700 companies with 25,000 brands that engage almost 150,000 industry professionals and collectively spend or support more than $400 billion in marketing and advertising annually. The membership is comprised of more than 1,000 client-side marketers and more than 700 marketing solutions provider members, which include leading marketing data science and technology suppliers, ad agencies, law firms, consultants, and vendors. Further enriching the ecosystem is the work of the nonprofit ANA Educational Foundation (AEF), which has the mission of enhancing the understanding of advertising and marketing within the academic and marketing communities.
