What Did WNBA Changemaker Day Teach 150 Teen Girls?
Inside the day WNBA leaders told 150 teen girls their resilience is already a superpower.
Key takeaway: Yes — at the WNBA's 2026 Changemaker Day, about 150 ninth-grade girls in Chicago were told directly by Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and Olympian Linnae Harper that resilience and perseverance are already superpowers, not something to earn later. The day paired a panel and vision-board workshop with an ongoing mentorship program…
By Dear Sarah · · Updated
Key takeaways
- The WNBA's third annual Changemaker Day brought about 150 rising ninth-grade girls to the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on July 24, 2026, for a mentorship program built around the theme "Finding My Superpower."
- WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told the girls that perseverance, resilience, and dreaming big are powers they are already building.
- Olympian and former Chicago Sky player Linnae Harper, now the Obama Presidential Center's Manager of Athletics and Sports Leadership, named connecting people to resources as her own superpower.
- The event partners with VOICEINSPORT to extend virtual mentorship to roughly 50,000 additional girls nationally, with WNBA players including Aliyah Boston and Natasha Howard serving as mentors.
- Fourteen-year-old attendee RaKaila Jefferson said the day inspired her to keep pushing toward her dreams and to be patient with herself along the way.
On Friday, about 150 fourteen-year-old girls sat in an auditorium in Chicago and got handed something most of us don't get told until much later: that their resilience already counts as a skill, right now, not someday. The WNBA's third annual Changemaker Day gathered rising high school freshmen at the Obama Presidential Center for one afternoon built around a single question — what's your superpower? — and Commissioner Cathy Engelbert named theirs before they'd said a word. "I know you're all learning the power of perseverance, the power of resilience, the power of dreaming big," she told them.
What is WNBA Changemaker Day?
It's an annual mentorship event the WNBA runs during All-Star weekend, and the 2026 version, held July 24 in Chicago, brought together roughly 150 rising ninth-graders for a panel, a storytelling session, and a hands-on vision-board workshop themed "Finding My Superpower." It isn't built as a one-day pep talk — the WNBA partners with VOICEINSPORT to extend virtual mentorship to about 50,000 more girls nationally, with current players including Aliyah Boston and Natasha Howard signed on as mentors.
The women who built the day
Engelbert shared the stage with Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison and Linnae Harper — an Olympian, a former Chicago Sky player, and now the Obama Presidential Center's Manager of Athletics and Sports Leadership. When it was Harper's turn to name her own superpower, she didn't reach for a highlight reel. "My personal superpower is connecting people with their resources, providing a pathway for them to reach their goals," she said. That's a strange thing to hear an Olympian call her superpower — not a jump shot, but a contact list used generously. It's the same instinct behind what Coco Gauff said about what Serena and Venus Williams meant to her: the women ahead of you matter less for what they won and more for the door they hold open.
Former President Obama made a surprise stop at the event, and a few of the ninth-graders admitted it nearly knocked them over — Dyett High School student London Harris called it "surreal." But the day belonged to Engelbert, Edison, and Harper, and to fourteen-year-old RaKaila Jefferson, who said afterward that it "really inspired me to keep going, push everything, take time, be patient and just focus on my dreams and career."
Why this lands differently at fourteen
If you're a teenager, or you remember being one, you know how loud the voice is that says your worth is still pending — waiting on a grade, a roster spot, a growth spurt, a version of yourself that hasn't shown up yet. What Changemaker Day did, on purpose, was hand girls a vocabulary for what they already have. Not "you'll be resilient someday." You're building it right now, and a Commissioner is naming it out loud, in front of everyone.
It's the same message Michelle Obama gave at Essence Fest about self-worth — that the waiting-for-permission instinct so many women carry gets undone earliest when someone tells you your capability was never conditional. And it doesn't only show up on a basketball court. Lauren Betts talking about mental health at the ESPYs landed the same way — a young athlete saying something true out loud so a room full of girls didn't have to carry it by themselves.
One thing to try today
You don't need an auditorium or a Commissioner for this part. Take five minutes and write down one specific thing people already come to you for — not a compliment, a function. Are you the one who calms the room down, explains the confusing thing twice without getting annoyed, remembers everyone's birthday, shows up early when it's hard? That's the vision-board exercise these girls did, shrunk down to fit in a notebook. Name it. That's your superpower's first draft, and you don't have to wait for anyone to hand you a stage to start using it.
Quote to sit with
"Women and girls can do whatever they want. There is no limit to what we as women can accomplish." — Michelle Obama
💌 Sarah
Frequently asked questions
What is WNBA Changemaker Day?
It's an annual WNBA mentorship event, now in its third year, that brings around 150 rising high school freshman girls together with WNBA leaders and players for a day of panels, storytelling, and a hands-on vision-board workshop. The 2026 edition was held July 24 at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago during WNBA All-Star weekend.
Who spoke to the girls at the 2026 Changemaker Day?
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison were on the panel, alongside Olympian and former Chicago Sky player Linnae Harper, who now leads athletics and sports leadership programming at the Obama Presidential Center.
Did Barack Obama attend the WNBA Changemaker Day?
Yes, he made a surprise appearance at the event, which several of the attending ninth-graders described as surreal. But the day's programming and message were built and led by women — Engelbert, Edison, and Harper headlined the panel the girls came for.
How can I find my own "superpower" the way these girls did?
Start smaller than a whole personality: name one specific thing people already come to you for, whether that's calming a friend down, explaining something clearly, or showing up when it's hard. That's the exercise the Changemaker Day vision-board workshop used, and it works just as well solo with a notebook.
Can girls outside Chicago be part of a program like this?
Yes. The WNBA partners with VOICEINSPORT to offer virtual mentorship to about 50,000 girls nationally, with current WNBA players like Aliyah Boston and Natasha Howard serving as mentors beyond the one in-person day.
Sources
Keep reading
- What Helps Young Girls Build Real Confidence? — New data says girls aren't short on bravery. They're short on someone standing next to them when it counts.
- What Did Lauren Betts Say About Mental Health at the ESPYs? — A WNBA rookie stood on one of sports' biggest stages and said the thing most of us are taught to hide. Here's what she said, and why it's sticking.
- What Did Linda Noskova Say About Her Late Mother at Wimbledon? — Linda Noskova won her first Grand Slam and gave the credit to someone who wasn't there to see it. Here's what she said.
- What Did Coco Gauff Say About Serena and Venus Williams? — Coco Gauff says she's still in awe of Serena and Venus Williams — the two women who taught her what she could become before she ever picked up a racket.