Billie Jean King, Sports Icon and Champion of Equality, is Honorary Chair for 2024 International Women of Courage Celebration
American Women for International Understanding is pleased to announce that sports icon and champion of equality Billie Jean King is our Honorary Chair for the 17th Annual International Women of Courage Celebration. Ms. King is a globally recognized athlete and equity advocate, whose tireless efforts to fight injustice and discrimination worldwide continue today. For decades, Ms. King has been a champion for social change and equality, creating new inroads for all genders in and out of sports during her legendary career. She will lead a list of distinguished women on the Honorary Committee offering their support to the 2024 International Women of Courage, leaders from around the globe as designated by the US Department of State. The International Women of Courage (IWOC) Celebration will be held in March 2024, in Los Angeles. AWIU is honored to work with Ms. King.
Co-Chair of the IWOC Celebration Sarah Deschenes expressed the excitement of the entire committee, “We are absolutely thrilled that Billie Jean King will serve as the Honorary Chair for the 17th Annual International Women of Courage Celebration. She is an icon for equality and inclusion and a role model for all of us who are working to make the world a better place for women and girls. Ms. King embodies a spirit of courage, perseverance, and justice that IWOC honorees share. We’re grateful to have her join our effort to recognize some of our world’s most remarkable women leaders.”
AWIU looks forward to working with Ms. King and the other members of the Honorary Committee in support of the 2024 International Women of Courage honorees.
For more information about the International Women of Courage Celebration, please click here.
Billie Jean King
Sports Icon and Equality Champion
Named one of the “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century” by Life magazine and the first female athlete to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Billie Jean King is the founder of the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, the Women’s Tennis Association and the Women’s Sports Foundation, and part of the ownership groups of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angel City FC.
In her legendary tennis career, King captured 39 Grand Slam singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles, including a record 20 Wimbledon championships. Her historic win over Bobby Riggs in the 1973 Battle of the Sexes, is one of the greatest moments in sports history. In June 2022, she received France’s highest order of merit, the Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur, from President Macron, and was inducted into the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee Hall of Fame as a special contributor.
In 2020, Fed Cup, the world cup of women’s tennis, was renamed the Billie Jean King Cup, making it the first global team competition to be named after a woman. In 2019, King’s Southern California roots were recognized with the opening of the Billie Jean King Main Library in her hometown of Long Beach, California. In 2006, the home of the US Open was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in honor of her accomplishments on and off the court. In 2017, Fox Searchlight released the critically acclaimed film, Battle of the Sexes, which depicts the cultural and social impact of the groundbreaking match.
King, and her partner Ilana Kloss, were named the most powerful out LGBTQ people in sports, on the first ever Outsports Power 100 List in 2023. King also was included in the Class of 2024 by the Hollywood Walk of Fame and will receive her star among the Hollywood Legends next year, becoming the first female athlete to receive a star on the Walk of Fame.
In 2018, King received a Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards. In 2021, she received the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award and the Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. King serves on the board of the Women’s Sports Foundation, is an adidas Global Ambassador and is the Honorary Lifetime President of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and a past member of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. King is a New York Times best-selling author and her memoir, ALL IN: An Autobiography, was published by Knopf in 2021 and released in paperback in 2023.
Photo Credit: Howard Schatz