From becoming one of the first women to obtain an on-field internship position as the Atlanta Falcons running backs coach to tackling the tech space as an executive leader, and being recently recognized as one of the most influential and powerful women in sports by Sports Illustrated, Odessa aka "OJ" Jenkins is disrupting the sports industry by advocating for women athletes and proving they earn their right to the field.

Jenkins is the founder of the Women's National Football Conference (WNFC) and is determined to find financial equity for women in sports since its launch in 2018. Coming from an athletic background herself, Jenkins never believed that women were incapable of playing sports like men. It was the lack of representation and funding that gave her inspiration to take action. After moving to Texas, witnessing multiple amateur leagues of women’s football, and working with the NFL, the 5x national champion decided to create a platform that promotes women's tackle and flag football while creating opportunities for them to gain the right investments for their talents.

“If you can't imagine that women play football, that's related to your limited imagination. That's not related to the capabilities of women,” Jenkins expressed.

According to the website, the WNFC is the world's most competitive and provocative women’s football league. Its mission is to accelerate equity in sports for women and girls through the power of football. With 17 franchise teams across the US and players from 20+ countries, the WNFC is a sports vehicle combining football with a commitment to DEI and social responsibility.

To be strategic about how the WNFC will grow within the U.S., Jenkins had to intentionally showcase to investors why players were worth financial backing. She positioned it so that, just like others view sports properties like the NBA and NFL, the WNFC needs to be presented in that way.

“When you think about the Olympics, there's this amazing group of people who have full-time jobs, or whatever, that are sacrificing everything for that 10 seconds of glory. It's the same story that we needed to lean into in women's football, but not in a charitable way," Jenkins stated.

She added, "Before, it was like, ‘Oh, that's cute. Women play football. Shouldn't someone give them something?’ But we have to remind people that we are valuable assets. Our uniqueness makes us valuable, and we have to start presenting ourselves to the world as such. So, establishing that WNFC is a sports property, not another amateur social club, and being intentional about creating value in the business and the athletes. That is what helps raise investments on that value.”

While a strategy was put in place, there were some challenges in the beginning. Jenkins wanted to ensure that while this was a business, the foundation of sisterhood remained intact.

“When sports becomes business, I didn’t want to lose all the things that make it great. If we are going to go away from this amateurism, we can't lose the sisterhood. My best friends in the world, I met through football and playing football. Another thing was people started to question if I was still the same me. I was going from somebody in sports where people would say, ‘Oh, OJ, she can ball. She's cool. I like her.’ To people saying, ‘She's just about business.’ The transition from being a woman talking about leading us [women] to professionalism to now being a Black woman who is leading us [women] to professionalism has been hard.”

Despite the ups and downs and proving to others that she is the same ol’ “OJ,” Jenkins's perseverance and dedication have paid off. In July, it was announced that the WNFC had expanded to New Jersey, making it the league's 17th franchise team. It is owned by businesswoman Dawn Sherman. This milestone is huge for the organization and helps with the necessary exposure of women’s flag and tackle football in the nation.

“Ever since our inception, we have wanted to be in New York and New Jersey. We just knew that, as a startup sports league, we would have to do it differently. Cause we saw a lot of successes and failures on the men's side, and we would have to have an ownership group that was locked in. That was going to be the most important part,” shared Jenkins.

She continued, “So the excitement I have around Dawn and her family is that with this one [expansion], they took their time with this. These are people who mean business when it comes to getting a return on their investment. So, I think the way that they've approached women's football and this business and this team means that we're gonna try and put our team in a position where it can be profitable. The fact that Dawn has had a history of being a woman in leadership who has made space and room for other women is another really important factor to this new franchise, too.”

The WNFC not only gives women and girls a place on the gridiron but also works to spread awareness about different community movements and encourage people to get involved. One of the CEO’s goals is to have more people involved in advocating for minority groups through the beloved sport of football.

“I am really intentional right now about including girls of color and those in the LGBTQ+ community through the growth of football. ‘Cause I think women's sports right now is a gold rush. And unfortunately, what has happened in the past is gold rushes have tried to push out Black people. And when it comes to opportunities to build wealth, we have not been put at the forefront. So, what we're doing with our Got Our Back charity with the voice we have in the WNFC is trying to make it very clear. We will not be left out. Little black girls will not be left out. If football really is for everyone, then its face should look like everyone.”

As Jenkins continues to trailblaze and make an impact in the world, huge lessons have been learned along the way. Being an innovator is no easy feat. You must stay confident and believe in a dream not done before. You have to keep the naysayers at bay, stay focused, and be your biggest cheerleader while playing the game.

“One of the biggest lessons that I've learned about myself is that you have to be resilient if you are going to, in fact, change the world. No one is going to take responsibility for how rejection makes you feel, when you thought you had someone in your corner, or when you're failing and people walk away from you. Resilience and grit need to be the things that you reach for if you are, in fact, going to lead the way in anything. Because no matter how well-intentioned you are, when I do stuff like this, and I talk about women's football in places that we've never talked about before, I get called all kinds of names. So, I have to be comfortable in those words from the same people that I'm trying to put in rooms that we've never been before.”

She concluded, “For anyone, people will question you saying, ‘The audacity of you to be ambitious or the audacity of you to want to create something in the way that you've created.’ If you want to be an entrepreneur, change the world, or a market, you will have to address that one way or another. Have the audacity to do more.”