BOUNCE: Changing the Game - The Rise of Professional Women's Sports

KALW's BOUNCE podcast is back! Join us live and in person to explore the Women's Pro Baseball League, 30 years of the WNBA and much more!
About this Event

Join KALW for an evening celebrating the stories, history, and future of women's sports live at our studio event space in downtown SF.
This Month's Features

30 Years of the WNBA: Maya Goldberg-Safir is joined by guest Andrea Lepore and journalist Jordan Karnes to trace the history of the WNBA, from the dawn of the league with the Sacramento Monarchs to the Golden State Valkyries' reign of Ballhalla.

Stepping Up to the Plate - Inside the Women's Pro Baseball League: KALW's Anna Casalme gives the scoop on the new league, its inaugural season, and how the San Francisco Firebells will rep the Bay.

Community Sound-Off - Say your piece about what's happening across the world of pro women's sports in an open community conversation with our guests and hosts.

This Month's Guests

Maya Goldberg-Safir makes stories about women’s basketball and splits her time between Chicago and Oakland, where she was born and raised. She spent 12 years at the Third Coast International Audio Festival in Chicago and is the creator of , a newsletter breaking traditional rules of sportswriting and chronicling women’s basketball throughout its evolutions.

Andrea Lepore is a purpose-driven, creative visionary with deep experience in sports, culture and community development. Raised in an immigrant Italian-American family of artisans and artists, Andrea’s career spanning pro sports, sustainable design and award-winning hospitality brands, brings a unique, cross-sector perspective to the intersection of sports, style and social impact.
Her professional sports career began at age 20 in the NBA’s Sacramento Kings PR department and she rose through the ranks to become the highest-ranking business executive for the new WNBA’s Sacramento Monarchs. Andrea built the start-up team with a bold, innovative, values-driven approach to amplify visibility and grow the women’s game, making the Monarchs one of a few profitable teams in WNBA’s history, directing the commercial strategy to produce more than 30% attendance growth, the highest in the WNBA while league-wide attendance declined.

Andrea founded the first purpose-driven sports marketing agency in the US, pioneering the pairing of sports and cause marketing along with culturally resonant campaigns, events and athlete storytelling, before it became industry standard, working with NBA and WNBA Hall of Famers including Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic, Ruthie Bolton and Ticha Penicheiro.

Currently, as SVP, Brand Partnerships at Oakland Roots and Soul Sports Club, she is leading the Club’s collaborations at the intersection of purpose and profitability, always pushing the boundaries of how sports can influence culture and community through brand partnerships, merchandise and the Oakland Roots and Soul Foundation.

Jordan Karnes (they/them) is a reporter and producer who works in the intersection of sports, identity, and culture. They are an alum of KALW's 2025 Audio Academy as well as the Chair of the Literary Arts Department at Oakland School for the Arts.

Anna Gabriella Casalme (she/her) is a 2025-2026 Audio Academy Fellow. Anna is a writer and educator committed to lifting up diverse stories and storytelling in all sorts of formats, now including public radio. She is the founder and managing director of Novelly Publishing & Youth Authors Week, which publishes and advocates for teen authors. She received her BA in Human Biology and Education from Stanford University and her MSc in Childhood Studies from the University of Edinburgh. She lives in San Francisco, where her favorite thing to do is take classes for fun at City College.

This Month's Hosts:

Erin Lim is Bay Area born-and-raised. She has called San Francisco home for two decades and has worked in various communication roles around The Bay. Erin started her career in local radio, then moved into newsrooms and cable TV productions, and then landed in PR/marketing. During her years in PR (hotel and film), she founded the award-winning culture podcast Bitch Talk and is producing a documentary called The Nomadic Family Project. Both creative projects continue to inspire her. Recently, Erin graduated from KALW’s Audio Academy and is the host of KALW’s BOUNCE, a podcast about the first season of the Golden State Valkyries.

Ben Trefny has been part of the KALW family since 2003, where he currently serves as Executive Producer. As Executive News Editor, News Director, and Interim Executive Director, he helped the news department win numerous regional and national awards for long- and short-form journalism. He also helped create numerous training programs — for teenagers, incarcerated people, and early-career journalists — and has taught hundreds of audio producers. His current work focuses on journalism, live events, and partnerships.

There is a $10 - $20 sliding scale suggested donation for this event. Nobody will be turned away for lack of funds.

Please become a KALW member today and receive your first drink on us at all 220 Montgomery events.

📍 220 Montgomery St., San Francisco, 2 blocks from BART/MUNI🚪 Reception doors open at 6:00🗣️ Program begins at 7:00🆓 The event is free with an RSVP — and you are welcome to donate what you want

Please note:

• The event space is just to the left of the main entrance to the Mills Building at 220 Montgomery Street
• We recommend taking BART/MUNI, exiting at Montgomery, and walking two blocks north
• Ride-shares can drop off and pick up directly in front of the venue
• If you drive, there are several garages within two blocks of the event location; free street parking is available across from the venue at 7:00 pm

Agenda

🕑: 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM
Doors
🕑: 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM
Panel & Community Conversation