Sports Icon | Social Justice and Equality Pioneer
Book this speaker: Billie Jean King
About This Speaker: Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King is a legendary tennis champion, equality advocate, and founder of the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative. She is also the co-founder of World TeamTennis and has spent her life fighting for social change, inclusion, and equal rights.
Born in Long Beach, California, King began playing tennis at age 11 on public courts. At 17, she won her first Wimbledon title in 1961 in women’s doubles. Over her career, she claimed 39 Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.
One of her most historic moments came on September 20, 1973. In the “Battle of the Sexes,” she defeated Bobby Riggs in a match that challenged gender stereotypes and pushed the women’s movement forward.
Life Magazine named her one of the “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century.” In 2009, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
In 2014, she launched the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace. She also co-founded GreenSlam in 2007 to encourage environmental action in sports. In 2008, she published Pressure is a Privilege, a book filled with personal life lessons.
In 1974, King co-founded World TeamTennis, now called Mylan World TeamTennis. That same year, she created the Women’s Sports Foundation, which has given over $50 million to support girls and women in sports.
King serves on the Board of Trustees for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and has helped raise over $225 million for HIV/AIDS programs in 55 countries.
She was appointed to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition in 2010. In 2014, President Obama also named her to the U.S. delegation to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
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