Vanessa Garcia-Brito Is on a Mission to Get—and Keep—Girls in Sports
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Vanessa Garcia-Brito is tired of the narrow lens put on sports. “When people hear ‘sports,’ a default image might come to mind,” she says. “I like to say, ‘Life is sport.’ Your hurdles may not be on a track—they could be just getting out of the house, navigating a commute, or simply moving through your day. Life itself requires movement, so expanding what ‘sport’ means is key.”
As Nike’s chief social and impact officer, getting people into sport is literally part of Garcia-Brito’s job description, and in her words, “It has to be fun…and inclusive.” Hence, expanding how we view it. But also, supporting young athletes at the start of their journey. Her biggest challenge right now? Changing the playing field, quite literally, for girls.
Nike chief impact officer Vanessa Garcia-Brito, seen here bonding with the young attendees of an event during the Coach the Dream Summit, wants to empower girls to stay in sports.
courtesy of Nike
Garcia-Brito and I meet in Tokyo in October at the Coach the Dream Summit, a powerful five-day gathering of sports leaders, coaches, and advocates driven by a shared purpose: to ask not only how to get more girls into sports but how to keep them there. The summit, cohosted with Laureus Sport for Good, brings this mission to life with workshops, discussions, and a play day for local girls, who were surprised with a visit from tennis icon Naomi Osaka and five-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin. For Garcia-Brito, a lawyer by training who has spent years building community-first programs (she led communications for Nike’s lauded Girl Effect campaign), it’s a moment to push her vision forward. “Urgency is the starting point,” she says. Only one in five girls globally receive the physical activity they need to thrive—a figure that speaks volumes about both health and gender equity.
Her approach goes beyond any single event or initiative; it’s about transforming a culture. This year’s summit introduced a new coaching guide developed with Laureus Sport for Good, built on Garcia-Brito’s belief in the “Six Cs” (clarity, concise communication, confidence, choice, celebration, and connection). These principles are not just theoretical; they’re Garcia-Brito’s blueprint for how coaches, parents, and communities can reshape sports to foster resilience, inclusion, and, above all, joy. “Girls have told us they need sports to be fun, inclusive, and reflective of who they are,” she shares. “Especially during those years when dropout rates soar, they want to feel heard and represented.”
Working alongside initiatives like Play Academy with Naomi Osaka—now expanded to Haiti and Los Angeles—Garcia-Brito’s commitment to reshaping girls’ sports on a global scale comes into focus. Partnerships with brands like Dove and others reinforce her belief in sport as a transformative force, creating spaces where girls feel they truly belong. For Garcia-Brito, igniting this cultural shift goes far beyond a corporate mandate; it’s her personal mission to drive meaningful change in communities, one girl, one coach, and one game at a time.
Tennis icon Naomi Osaka plays an icebreaker game at a recent event for her Play Academy initiative, which aims to increase the participation of girls in sports.
courtesy of Nike
Glamour: You’ve had an impressive journey, from advocating for human rights to leading social impact initiatives at Nike. How has your background in law and your Argentine and Honduran heritage influenced the impact you’ve made in your work?
Vanessa Garcia-Brito: One of the biggest blessings in my life has been being born a woman and being Latina. I’m 100% American, 100% Latina, 100% Argentine, and 100% Honduran, and all these identities can coexist harmoniously—they’re enriching, not conflicting. For everyone out there, especially those with strong cultural ties, I say: Find your “aunt,” the figure who grounds and uplifts you.
As a lawyer, I learned the importance of being a zealous advocate—for my clients and the issues they face. That same zeal drives me as an advocate for girls and women in every role I’ve taken. This passion has been the golden thread through all my work, energizing and fulfilling me in a way that I encourage others to seek for themselves. When you’re working from a place of purpose, life operates on a whole different level.
What advice do you wish you could give your younger self?
I’d tell my younger self, “It can be done.” Whatever you’re dreaming of, whatever that goal is—it’s possible.
Nike is making strides to address gender gaps in Japan, especially in sports. Could you share some of the cultural challenges you’ve encountered and how you plan to navigate them to increase girls’ participation in sports in Japan?
Japan has its own unique cultural dynamics around gender in sports, but the challenges girls face here reflect broader global issues. What’s interesting is how local partnerships become key in addressing these barriers—by collaborating with community organizations that know the everyday realities, we can create initiatives that truly resonate with kids, parents, and schools. Instead of imposing solutions, we’re working side by side with local leaders to create pathways that feel organic and responsive to Japan’s needs. Our goal is to make participation feel natural and empowering for girls, in ways that respect and honor the cultural context.
What’s a piece of professional advice that has stuck with you?
The power of yes, and knowing it’s okay to be the first.
Sports can be transformative for kids. But how do you create environments that also provide healing for girls dealing with challenges beyond physical health?
Sports can be transformative for kids, but creating environments that offer true healing—especially for girls facing challenges beyond physical health—requires a deeper approach. One key to this is trauma-informed coaching, a practice championed by our partner, the Center for Healing and Justice through Sport (CHJS). Trauma-informed coaching equips coaches with practical skills and knowledge about how the brain processes stress and adversity, allowing them to support young athletes in ways that foster both resilience and healing.
To kick off the summit, 15 coaches from Nike’s community partners across Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Indonesia completed a monthlong trauma-informed training with CHJS, designed by Megan Bartlett. This training emphasizes the power of movement in helping kids manage and process life’s everyday stresses, not just major traumatic events. “Trauma” can encompass a wide range of experiences, and often, the stresses of daily life have a cumulative impact. CHJS’s approach helps coaches integrate movement as a way to process emotions, release tension, and create a safe space for healing.
Kids participate in the Coach the Dream event in Tokyo, hosted in partnership with Laureus Sport.
courtesy of Nike
What’s the best piece of money advice you’ve received?
That money is a tool—it’s not the destination or everything. And also, don’t spend what you don’t have.
What advice would you give young women, especially those who feel they must choose between personal goals and career aspirations?
First, create space to understand, for yourself, what your true priorities are. What does success look like for you—not defined by others, but by what genuinely fulfills and energizes you? Once you’re clear on that, decide whether these priorities can be fulfilled through your job, outside of it, or maybe a mix of both. We often get stuck thinking everything has to fit into one area, but that’s not a rule!
What’s one lesson you learned the hard way?
The work does not speak for itself. I grew up believing that hard work alone would get recognized, but I learned that you have to bridge the gap. It’s essential to connect what you’re doing—your merit, your contributions—to the business priorities and expectations. Demonstrating that alignment and the value it brings is key.
Another key thing is to let your priorities truly be your priorities. If family is essential, act accordingly. If a relationship is important, treat it like it’s important. For me, it’s about embracing all the “ands”—my family, my husband, my team, and my work. They complement each other because I’ve taken the time to understand what each means to me. It’s about letting these priorities uplift each other, not compete.
One statistic that stood out to me was that only 15% of girls are getting enough exercise, while 85% are more likely to turn to their smartphones. In a culture dominated by social media, how can we shift this narrative and inspire young girls to get excited about physical activity?
What we’ve heard from girls and young women is that sports need to feel like they’re for them. First, we need to broaden our definition of sports. When people hear “sports,” a default image might come to mind, but movement and play go beyond that. I like to say, “Life is sport.” Your hurdles may not be on a track—they could be just getting out of the house, navigating a commute, or simply moving through your day. Life itself requires movement, so expanding what “sport” means is key.
Secondly, it has to be fun. Lastly, we need to make it inclusive. Sports aren’t just for one type of body or one type of person—they’re for everyone.
Creating this sense of belonging is why we focus so much on coaching. They help foster a space where every girl feels like she belongs, no matter her level or ability.
Sometimes, though, failure is discouraged. How can coaches and sports leaders help?
Our coaching philosophy, known as the “Six Cs,” addresses this perfectly: clarity, concise communication, confidence, choice, celebration, and connection. If those elements are present, it creates an environment where girls feel encouraged to grow, take risks, and learn without the weight of perfectionism.
