WISE Emerging Leaders Certificate Program
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Empowering more women with the right skills at the right time.
The WISE Emerging Leaders Certificate Program empowers women with the broad-based business and leadership skills they need to broaden their horizons, confidently position themselves for advancement, and “break out of the middle.”
While surveys reveal increasing women’s representation in junior roles, the pace of growth of women in middle management roles remains slower. There’s a bottleneck in the talent funnel, with women stuck in the middle or siloed within their areas of expertise.
Since its launch in 2021, more than 400 women have come through the program, representing more than 100 organizations across the sports landscape. This includes leagues, teams, media, venues, brands, governing bodies, and nonprofits, such as CBS Sports, Coca-Cola, FOX Sports, MLB, MLS/SUM, NASCAR, NBA, NBC Sports, NFL, NHL, Under Armour, USGA, USTA, as well as major league teams.
Removing the obstacles of location and time to career-transforming education.
The WISE Emerging Leaders Certificate Program is a high-quality online leadership training program specifically designed for female professionals in middle management across the U.S. and Canada. Learners gain critical exposure to bigger picture topics outside of their typical areas of focus — such as business operations, strategic planning and finance — based on real-world case studies and examples.
The program is designed around a robust six-module curriculum focused to maximize each learner’s time. It is delivered in a constructive and supportive learning environment where women have the opportunity to build relationships with others in different facets of the business of sports across North America.
Who: All WISE Members
Learners come from across all disciplines within the industry and hold a variety of job titles — such as supervisor, project lead, manager, senior manager or director — depending on their organization's structure and size.
This is a member-exclusive program offered to WISE professional level members in good standing. There are no other eligibility requirements. Learn more.
When: Spring and Fall Cohorts
The WISE Emerging Leaders Certificate Program is held in two annual sessions — Spring and Fall.
Classes typically meet on Wednesdays over five consecutive weeks; a holiday week may be skipped. Class duration is one hour and 45 minutes (105 min.). Most virtual classes are facilitated by Leading NOW, a WISE professional development partner.
Spring 2025: April 30–June 4* (no class on May 28).
Fall 2025: Sep. 24–Oct. 22*
* In addition to the the five scheduled classes, both cohorts will meet during a joint session in the fall. Date to be announced.
Program Details
Tuition is $1,800 per person.
Think Like a CEO™
It's never too early or too late to enhance your business acumen, but without action, women's careers plateau. Learn the four key business outcomes that executives monitor and understand how your work drives these outcomes. Also, gain insight into how aligning work to business outcomes differentiates talent for career success.
Speak the Language of Power™
The Language of Power is the language of outcomes, and communicating effectively in this language is a vital success factor. Showcase your business, strategic and financial acumen and communicate using the language of the C-suite.
Strategy Execution: Connecting Teams to Organizations
Managers are central to execution of an organization's strategy, but successful strategy execution is one of the most challenging and underappreciated roles for rising executives. Learn how to break down an organizational strategy to identify its core elements and then align those elements with your team's work and performance measures.
Sports Finance
Financial acumen is a critical competency for all employees, not just business leaders. Learn basic financial terminology and how to read and interpret three key financial statements: the balance sheet, the income statement, and the cash flow statement.
DiSC Assessment and Training Session
Leveraging the Everything DiSC® Workplace assessment, explore your personal style, including your priorities, motivators and stressors. Discover how your DiSC® style connects with other styles and develop strategies to strengthen your effectiveness in building relationships in organizational environments.
Strategic Networking (Joint Session)
While networking is important for success, not all networks are created equal. Learn what makes a network strategic, analyze your current networks and identify opportunities for strengthening them.
