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EAST MEADOW, N.J., Feb. 15, 2011 – 2008 Olympic balance beam gold-medalist Shawn Johnson of West Des Moines, Iowa, has joined the Board of Trustees for the Women’s Sports Foundation. World champion boxer Laila Ali will take office this month as the organization’s incoming president. Ali, who joined the Women’s Sports Foundation Board of Trustees in 2007, will serve a two-year term as an official spokesperson and will help shape strategic direction and development initiatives for the organization.

Other new members of the Board of Trustees include former senator Rebecca Q. Morgan and Sarah Robb O’Hagan, Gatorade president of North America and global chief marketing officer, sports nutrition, of PepsiCo. Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, chief of sports performance for USA Track and Field and former president of the Women’s Sports Foundation (1997-98), will serve as the new chair of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees for two-years and provide guidance to the Trustees and Executive Committee.

The Women’s Sports Foundation, founded in 1974, is the leader in promoting sports, health and education for girls and women. With Billie Jean King as its founder and ongoing visionary, The Women’s Sports Foundation continues to have a profound impact on female athletics, from its vigorous advocacy of Title IX legislation to providing grants and scholarships, grassroots programs for underserved girls, and groundbreaking research. An agent for change, the Women’s Sports Foundation has relationships with more than 1,000 of the world’s elite female athletes and is recognized globally for its leadership, vision, strength, expertise and influence. For more information, please call the Women’s Sports Foundation at 800.227.3988 or visit www.WomensSportsFoundation.org.