Beyond the Panel: Women in Sports, Fashion, Tech
About this Event
The Classic is built around HBCU sports. So where are the conversations about the business, careers, innovation and opportunities surrounding HBCU sports?
Every year, thousands of people come to Birmingham for Magic City Classic week.
We celebrate the culture.
We celebrate the schools.
We celebrate the bands.
We celebrate the fashion.
We celebrate the rivalry.
And at the center of all of it is HBCU athletics.
But somewhere between the parties, brunches, networking events, and celebrations, there is still a gap.
Where is the room for the people who want to BUILD in sports?
Where do you go if you want to understand how athletic departments actually operate?
Where do women in sports go to connect with the people making decisions?
Where can an athlete learn about careers beyond playing?
Where can a stylist, entrepreneur, technologist, media professional, or business owner learn how their skills fit into the sports industry?
Where do we talk about the future of women’s athletics, NIL, technology, fashion, athlete branding, funding, leadership, and access — during a week that exists because of sports?
That is why Beyond the Panel was created.
THIS IS THE ROOM THAT HAS BEEN MISSING.Beyond the Panel: Women in Sports, Fashion & Technology is a first-of-its-kind Magic City Classic week experience intentionally bringing together the people who play the game, lead the departments, build the brands, shape the image, create the technology and make the decisions.
This isn't a sports conference.
It isn't another networking mixer.
And it definitely isn't three hours of sitting in a chair listening to people tell you how successful they are.
Our message is simple:
Panels inspire, but workshops create access.
We are creating a room where conversation turns into strategy, introductions, problem-solving, and opportunity.
FIRST, YOU'LL HEAR FROM PEOPLE ACTUALLY DOING THE WORK.We are intentionally bringing together leaders from different sides of the industry because the future of sports is bigger than what happens on the court.
Dr. Paul A. Bryant
Vice President & Director of Athletics | Alabama A&M University
Dr. Bryant brings the perspective of someone responsible for leading an entire collegiate athletic department.
His career has included leadership across multiple HBCU athletic programs, fundraising, academic success, facilities, and the development of championship-level programs.
He isn't speaking about athletic leadership from the outside.
He is one of the people making the decisions.
For attendees interested in athletic administration, collegiate sports, partnerships, fundraising, leadership or understanding how athletic departments operate, this is an opportunity to hear directly from someone sitting at the executive level.
Coach Dawn “The Diva Coach” Thornton
Head Women's Basketball Coach | Alabama A&M University
Winning and fashion can exist in the same sentence.
Coach Dawn proves it.
In 2026, she led Alabama A&M women's basketball to the first SWAC regular-season championship in program history, while continuing to build a program that has gained attention far beyond Huntsville.
Her presence has also extended beyond basketball into fashion and culture, including visibility through platforms such as ESSENCE.
She represents exactly why fashion belongs in this conversation.
Women in sports shouldn't have to choose between being respected for their results and expressing who they are.
Coach Dawn brings championship-level leadership, culture, fashion, personality and impact into the same space.
Dr. Genese A. Lavalais
Deputy Athletic Director | Chief of Staff | Senior Woman Administrator
Alabama State University
There is an entire business behind what fans see on game day.
Dr. Lavalais represents that side of sports.
Her leadership at Alabama State includes internal athletic operations, executive administration and serving as the department's Senior Woman Administrator.
She has also served at the national level through the NCAA Accelerating Academic Success Program Grant Selection Committee.
Her presence gives attendees access to a woman operating at a high level within collegiate athletics and helping shape the systems that support student-athletes, departments and institutions.
For women who have ever wondered, “Where do I fit in sports if I'm not a coach or athlete?”
This is exactly why her voice matters.
LaDonna Hardy Allen
Professional Wardrobe Stylist | Film & Television Stylist
And then we move beyond the athletic department.
Because sports is also fashion.
Sports is image.
Sports is storytelling.
Sports is entertainment.
Sports is culture.
LaDonna brings years of professional styling experience across personal wardrobe, film, and television to the conversation.
Her perspective opens another door for attendees to understand how fashion professionals can work with athletes, talent, productions and brands — and how image can become part of opportunity.
She represents the creative professionals who may not have traditionally seen themselves as part of the sports industry, but absolutely have a place in it.
AND WE'RE NOT DONE.These are only some of the names being brought into the room.
Additional headliners, leaders, and special guests are being confirmed, including voices across technology, media, NIL, sports business and athlete development.
We are being intentional about who participates because every person added to this experience should bring another layer of knowledge, access or opportunity to the room.
THEN WE GO BEYOND THE PANEL.This is where the event changes.
After the conversation, you won't simply stand up, grab your purse, and leave.
You will enter the Beyond the Panel Innovation Lab.
Attendees will work through actual challenges and opportunities affecting women's sports.
You may be asked to think through:
How can technology solve a real issue inside athletics?
How can women's sports create stronger partnerships?
How can athletes better monetize their influence?
How can we use the people, skill sets, and resources in this room to solve this problem?
How can athletic departments create stronger career pathways?
How can fashion, media and storytelling increase athlete visibility?
How can brands authentically enter women's sports?
And then...
you work on the solution.
This gives you the opportunity to do something most traditional panels never allow:
SHOW THE PEOPLE IN THE ROOM HOW YOU THINK.
Your next opportunity may not come from handing someone your résumé.
It may come because an athletic director watched you solve a problem.
A business owner heard your idea.
A brand realized they need your skill set.
A coach remembered your name.
A technologist saw an opportunity to collaborate.
Or the person sitting beside you becomes your next business partner.
THIS ROOM IS INTENTIONALLY SMALL.We are expecting approximately 50–75 guests.
And that is intentional.
We are not trying to pack hundreds of people into a ballroom just to say the event was crowded.
Because crowded does not automatically mean valuable.
We don't want you standing in a line behind 40 people hoping to get ten seconds with a speaker.
We don't want you sitting so far away that you never engage.
And we don't want you leaving with a tote bag, three business cards and absolutely no idea what you gained.
We want the person sitting at your table to know your name.
We want you to be able to have conversations with the people you heard from.
We want speakers and decision-makers to actually see the people in the room.
We want connections to have room to happen naturally.
This is intimate by design.WHY DURING MAGIC CITY CLASSIC WEEK?
Because this is exactly when the conversation should be happening.
Magic City Classic is one of the most recognizable HBCU sporting experiences in the country.
And Birmingham fills up with people celebrating everything surrounding it.
But HBCU sports should also create economic opportunity, professional access, careers, innovation and relationships.
There should be spaces during Classic Week for aspiring athletic administrators.
For women trying to break into sports.
For former athletes figuring out their next chapter.
For companies that want to work with athletic departments.
For fashion professionals.
For technologists.
For media professionals.
For NIL professionals.
For entrepreneurs.
For people who love sports but realize their contribution to the industry may happen off the court.
Beyond the Panel exists to help fill that gap.
WHO IS HOSTING THIS?Keonna Farmer
Sports Leader | Former Collegiate Athlete | Sports Philanthropy Consultant | Founder
Beyond the Panel was created and hosted by Keonna Farmer, a former collegiate women's basketball player, Basketball Wall of Fame inductee, athletic administrator and sports philanthropy consultant whose work has consistently centered around creating access and opportunities for athletes and communities.
Keonna has worked across athletic administration, athlete development, sports philanthropy, fundraising, sponsorship development, and event production, and has helped secure more than $2 million in grants, contracts, and strategic partnerships.
She also knows what it feels like to experience sports from multiple sides.
She has been the athlete.
She has been the athletic director.
She has worked behind the scenes.
She has raised the money.
She has built programs.
She has created community experiences.
And she has seen firsthand one of the biggest gaps in sports:
Visibility is not the same as access.
Being invited into a room does not automatically mean you know how to move inside of it.
Meeting an important person does not automatically create opportunity.
Hearing someone's success story does not automatically show you what your next step should be.
That is why this experience was designed differently.
Beyond the Panel isn't about Keonna putting accomplished people on a stage.
It is about using the people, relationships, and resources in the room to create another point of access for someone else.
You should be in this room if you are:
- A current or former athlete
- Interested in a career in sports
- A coach
- An athletic administrator
- A student studying sports management, communications, business, technology or fashion
- Interested in NIL
- Working in media or content
- A technology professional
- A stylist or fashion creative
- An entrepreneur who wants to work with athletic departments
- A brand looking to understand the sports marketplace
- Interested in sponsorships or partnerships
- Transitioning from playing sports into your next chapter
- Looking for authentic relationships within the industry
- Someone who knows you have skills that belong in sports but hasn't figured out where yet
You do not have to be an athlete.
You do not need an impressive title.
You need to be willing to come into the room ready to learn, contribute and connect.
WHAT YOUR TICKET GETS YOUYour Beyond the Panel experience includes:
- Access to our featured panel conversations
- The interactive Innovation Lab
- Opportunities to engage with athletic leaders and industry professionals
- Intentional networking
- Access to professionals across sports, fashion, technology, media, NIL and business
- Food and hospitality
- Special guests and additional headliners
- An intimate event environment designed for actual conversation
- Opportunities to demonstrate your ideas and skill set
- A Magic City Classic week experience built around more than entertainment
Maybe you leave with a mentor.
Maybe you discover a career you never knew existed.
Maybe someone asks for your résumé.
Maybe an athletic department needs your company.
Maybe you meet the person who can help bring your idea to life.
Maybe you finally understand how to turn your skills into a career within sports.
Maybe you simply leave with clarity about what your next move needs to be.
We cannot promise what connection will happen.
But we can create the kind of room where meaningful connections have a chance to happen.
And that is the difference.
Once we reach the number of guests that allows us to protect the intimacy of this experience, we are closing registration.
We will not oversell the room.
We will not keep adding tickets just because people are interested.
The intimacy is part of the experience you are purchasing.
So if you know this sounds like the room you have been looking for during Classic week...
Don't wait until Classic week to decide you should have been there.
BEYOND THE PANEL
Women in Sports, Fashion & Technology
October 24, 2026 | 1:30 PM
Birmingham, Alabama
Panels inspire. Workshops create access.
Hosted by Keonna Farmer
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 44.52
