Odessa ‘OJ’ Jenkins is a successful coach, executive, and CEO of the Women’s National Football Conference (WNFC). Jenkins is an in-demand global speaker/coach and the founder of multiple nonprofits, including Got Her Back. She also served as the CEO of Bonfire, a leadership development company dedicated to empowering women leaders through transformative programs and experiences.
As a disrupter in tech, Jenkins was a member of the Executive team for YourCause, a Texas-based tech and philanthropy company that exited to Blackbaud for $157 million. In addition to her tech background, Jenkins has built one of the premier sports leagues in the country, creating opportunities, inclusion, and equity in football for women and girls. She was an inaugural participant in the NFL’s first Women’s Careers in Football Forum and is one of the first women to obtain the coveted Bill Walsh Diversity Internship in an on-field position. Featured on Today Show, NBC, Sports Illustrated, Essence, CBS Sports, Yahoo Sports, NFL Network and more, Jenkins was recognized as one of the most influential and powerful women in sports by Sports Illustrated, voted as Culture in Sports’ 2022 Sports Leader of the Year, and is a 2023 recipient of The Leigh Steinberg Denicola Humanitarian Award. In 2024, she was recognized by Essence as one of the top 25 Black women changing the world of sports.
Heralded as one of the top inclusive leadership experts in the country, Jenkins is determined to create equity in the world for all.