In celebration of the 50th anniversary of landmark Title IX legislation passage in the United States, the BJKLI partnered with ESPN to award five young women the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award at the ESPYS in Los Angeles. The honorees are using the power of sport to improve their communities by advancing gender equality, and will receive a one-time college scholarship or a direct grant to an eligible nonprofit aligned with their work.
The 2022 Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award honorees are: Noor Abukaram, Kendall Dudley, Sydney Moore, Alicia Serratos and Lucy Westlake.
2022 Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award Honorees
Noor Abukaram
After facing religious discrimination during a cross country meet, Noor Abukaram founded Let Noor Run in 2019, which aims to fight discrimination, injustices, and advance gender equality for women by making sports more inclusive. Noor realized how essential it was to safeguard future Muslim female athletes to ensure they reap the benefits of sport. This realization led to her writing an article telling her story and showing that hijabi athletes deserve to embrace sport without feeling disregarded.
Her story gained global attention and was featured in both The Washington Post and The New York Times. The support she received from people worldwide motivated her to start the Let Noor Run initiative. Let Noor Run has facilitated female-led panel discussions around discrimination towards the hijab, and hosted virtual 5k runs with funds being directed towards providing sport hijabs for young Muslim athletes in need.
Noor has also fought diligently for her right to run in a hijab and worked with Ohio State Senator Gavarone to pass Senate Bill 181, which prohibits organizations from implementing discriminatory policies in extracurricular activities. Bill 181 was signed into law in February 2022. This law will protect students’ rights to express religion, including wearing the hijab, in school sports and extracurricular activities. She now plans to encourage other states to adopt Senate Bill 181 to protect runners like herself and enforce gender equality, as well as continuing to use her voice and platform for others to share their stories.
Kendall Dudley
Kendall Dudley is the head of SportsMom Foundation’s mentoring programs. The SportsMom Foundation supports middle school and high school girls in under-resourced communities. These girls are predominantly girls of color, and are committed to developing as students and athletes, and achieving their dreams of success in both.
Kendall is using her platform and involvement in basketball to reach back and elevate girls in sports, and build relationships with young girls and women at a professional level. She strongly believes that every girl should be given the opportunity to play sport at the highest level regardless of income, race, ethnicity, or the zip code in which they live. At SportsMom Foundation, Kendall serves as a mentor to the younger players, offering guidance and support to them individually, as well as supporting the design and delivery of the Foundation’s mentoring program with the goal to support up to 75 middle and high school girls by 2024.
Kendall’s goal is to ensure the girls she serves are able to continue their sports careers, but also to feel supported with their mental and emotional health. She previously developed an app called ‘Game Grow-Hers,’ which paired young girls with older girls in their sport within the local community, and established the older girls as mentor or practice partners. Kendall was also a member of the USA Women’s U16 National Team and the Jr. NBA Global Leadership Council.
Sydney Moore
Sydney Moore plays on the women’s varsity volleyball team at Cornell University. Throughout her life, she has noticed the lack of respect and resources that women, and particularly women athletes, receive. Sydney is an avid fighter for gender equality and has the belief that if women’s sports were given the same resources as men’s, they would grow to the same if not bigger level.
She believes it is her responsibility to shed light on these disparities and to encourage women and girls in sport to join the fight. Sydney got involved with Voice in Sport Foundation, which connects girls and women in sports between the ages of 13-23 at all levels, offering formal mentorships, educating girls with relatable content on mind and body, and expert counseling in sports psychology and nutrition. Sydney developed and launched a digital platform that encourages girls to continue participating in athletics, and guides them through issues such as mental health, body image, and navigating their athletic journeys.
In March of 2022, Sydney was invited to participate in a panel discussion about gender inequity as part of the NCAA Inequality Summit, led by Senators Booker, Murphy, and Blumenthal, and House Representative Trahan.
Alicia Serratos
As a high-school wrestler in California, Alicia Serratos has seen a huge gap in diversity and equal access to wrestling for girls in her community. Her outlook on life changed when she witnessed her sister being discriminated against because of her gender.
Alicia joined the boys wrestling team at Laguna Hills High School and became the only girl on the team and only the second in the school’s history. With the support of her coach and family, she started a girls’ wrestling program at the school. Currently, there are 15 girls competing in the program and 30 young girls competing in the youth program.
Alicia works closely with the nonprofit Wrestle Like a Girl, specifically focusing on bringing gender equality to wrestling and empowering girls and women to become leaders in life. Wrestle Like a Girl is currently working to implement a certification process that will be available to coaches all over the world to help educate them on how to include, support, and promote girls’ participation in wrestling.
Lucy Westlake
Earlier this year, Lucy Westlake, 18, became the youngest American woman to summit Mount Everest. When deciding to summit Mount Everest, she created a GoFundMe page titled ‘Climbing Everest to Close the Gender Gap.’ This raised money for AWE Summit Scholarship Foundation, which exists to break down barriers to entry to the big mountain realm for women from all walks of life.
She saw a huge gap in young women and girls climbing mountains and being a part of the mountaineering community. She set out to change this to inspire young girls and women to find a place in the outdoors, and to challenge and push their perceived limits. She joined a public speaking group, The Leddin Group, to share her inspiring experiences and stories, and bring awareness to the gender gap in the outdoors. Her goal is to advance gender equality on and off the mountain.
She plans to write a leadership book, designed to help teenagers become better leaders of themselves and others. With each climb, she gains a broader audience and influence. While climbing Mount Everest, she saw a larger number of women on the mountains, but she believes there is still a long way to go to close the gender gap outdoors. Lucy hopes to start an annual scholarship to benefit a teenage girl to help fund her expedition in the high mountain realm.
2022 marks the fourth year that the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award has been awarded to high school and college-age youth.