Shona Rotondo

Much-respected Maryland racing official Georgeanne Hale will receive the Jane Goldstein Exemplary Leadership Award during the third annual Horse Racing Women's Summit in Arcadia, CA, Sept. 25-27. "I am honored and surprised to receive the Jane Goldstein Leadership Award," said Hale. "To be honored by an organization as great as the Horse Racing Women's Summit is something I never would have dreamed of. I am lucky and grateful to work in an industry that I love and have supported for so many years. Thank you to the HRWS board for...

After two annual events at Santa Anita Park beginning in 2022, the Horse Racing Women's Summit is accepting applications to join their Marketing & Communications Committee as a volunteer, the organization said in a release Friday. The ideal candidate should be passionate about advancing the position and role of women in racing. A background in a marketing and/or communications role is desirable. This individual will be a key contributor to planning and promoting HRWS events. For more information or to apply, send a resume and cover letter to Shona Rotondo,...

The Horse Racing Women's Summit (HRWS) has launched an annual membership program, giving community members a chance to regularly engage and support the HRWS mission. Membership dues will cost $75 and include access to a member directory, a HRWS lapel pin, and early access to event tickets. Dues will help HRWS invest in programs, research, scholarships, and events. "We are at the very beginning of the work needed to drive advancements for women in racing," said HRWS committee member Shona Rotondo. "HRWS membership gives everyone an opportunity to support this...

The Horse Racing Women's Summit committee is looking to add an intern to its team for 2023. The HRWS is a multi-day event bringing together people from all facets of the horse racing industry with the mission of connecting and empowering women in horse racing. After a successful 2022 renewal, HRWS has expanded to include women-centric events across 2023, as well as its core multi-day summit in September. The HRWS intern will assist with marketing and communication duties and will contribute to planning and promoting the group's events. Resumes and...

The Horse Racing Women's Summit (HRWS) committee has partnered with the Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation to offer access to digital tickets from the Inaugural Horse Racing Women's Summit for a suggested donation of $25. Those interested in accessing the video links from the inaugural event can purchase a ticket by visiting the Horse Racing Women's Summit EventBrite page. "Finding a way to share the incredible insights that our speakers shared with attendees in September was a goal from the beginning," said committee member Shona Rotondo. "Doing so in a way...

Given the current snail's pace at which the gender gap is meaningfully shrinking, it'll take more than 250 years for women to reach professional parity with men--just two-and-a-half short centuries, for those who think in blocks. That was the daunting statistic which set the stage at the beginning of the inaugural Horse Racing Women's Summit at Santa Anita Thursday, a two-day event designed to nurture the abilities of women already involved in the sport and engender new talent to follow after the sport's current batch of female leaders. And what...

The inaugural edition of the Horse Racing Women's Summit (HRWS) is just three weeks away and the planning committee behind the buzzed-about event is so enthusiastic about spreading the word that they say down with the TDN to share how the multi-day summit is gaining national attention and discuss why it is important that the event will be bringing in women from all facets of the industry. "The Horse Racing Women's Summit is designed to empower, connect and remove barriers in leadership in racing," said Jodie Vella-Gregory, a member of...