United We Row Summit

Introduction to the Summit, objectives, and schedule.

Make sure to register for the virtual conference via these links:
Nov 14: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtduCvpzorHtCMrYa6rGMltZVH8bo93oF8 
Nov 15: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqdO-uqToqEtb_z8jwxV7HVcfsXdoIUCu0 

Taunita V. Stephenson is an inclusion veteran, having served in this space for most of her career. Stephenson is the Head of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at the University of Pennsylvania -- straddling Athletics and Wellness at the Ivy League Institution.

Stephenson will join the inaugural United We Row Summit to share her experience building positive cultures and navigating difficult situations.

Stay tuned for more details as we get closer to the event. 

In this session, participants will explore what it takes to make sport a safe space for all athletes - including those who do not always feel safe or represented in sport, for those whom sport wasn’t created or intentionally designed for, or those who might have some difference that requires that we make adjustments for. Coaches will walk away with tangible strategies they can use to create a safe space for all athletes.

Check out the CHJS website here: https://chjs.org/

With Paris behind us and 2028 in scope, our Paralympic coaches, athletes, and community members are doubling down on their commitment to success in LA. But that doesn’t just mean on the podium – it means in boathouses across the country. Join this panel to learn what it takes to launch and grow an adaptive rowing program, compete as a competitive Para athlete, and lead it all.  

Your program may have the passion and commitment, the leaders, and the athletes – but do you have the cash? Fundraising, just like the sport itself, takes strategy, focus, and, in most cases, time to succeed. This session with Dallas United's Austin Brooks will provide best practices on diversifying income streams, best practices for approaching individuals and institutions, and the resources required to generate the revenue you need. Walk away with a new idea to try and get that much closer to buying that new boat, hiring a new coach, or building up a funding base.  

The Positive Coaching Alliance joins the Summit for this 90 minute session.  
Creating a positive, character-building youth or high school sports experience requires organizational leaders committed to creating and maintaining a Development Zone™ for developing “Better Athletes, Better People.” This workshop helps your leadership team do exactly that.  
One key outcome of the workshop is a written action plan for your leadership team, created with the guidance of the PCA Trainer (workshop facilitator), specific to your organization and the population it serves. Throughout the workshop, and reflected in this action plan, is an emphasis on PCA’s “Single-Goal” Leader model, in which shaping the culture of your organization is the primary task of your leadership team. 

Join an intimate conversation with rowing icons Arshay Cooper and Justin Best while Amanda Kraus moderates. These two accomplished athletes understand what success in rowing truly means. One is a Benjamin Franklin Award-winning author, the protagonist of the critically acclaimed film A Most Beautiful Thing, a Golden Oar recipient for his contributions to the sport, a motivational speaker, and an activist. The other is a rower and Gold Medalist in the Paris 2024 Olympic Men's 4-. Both deeply passionate about rowing, they come together today to discuss what the sport needs to do to attract more participants, sustain its growth, and evolve into a thriving 21st-century discipline. 

Our shared love of rowing is what unites us. The beauty, the effort, the rhythm, the team. The reliance on your teammates in the boat – no matter who they are. Rowing can bring people together in ways few other things – even few other sports – can. In this session, hear the stories and experiences of panelists who are some of the strongest leaders in our sport and come from communities that are underrepresented in American rowing. Learn what “inclusion” meant to them, why they kept coming back to their seat in the boat, and learn tangible practices to keep members from all backgrounds in your boathouse.  

This session continues the conversation around Inclusive Coaching with the Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport by offering participants an opportunity to talk through questions and applications of the strategies discussed in the 11/14 session. Participants can bring specific scenarios or examples that they would like to work through with the CHJS team.