Erik Braverman is an accomplished executive with a distinguished career spanning media, sports, and community leadership. As of 2024, Braverman and his husband, Jonathan Cottrell, are the proud owners of GYM Bar WeHo, a beloved West Hollywood institution. As stewards of GYM Bar WeHo, their mission is not only to preserve its 15+ year legacy but to elevate it, ensuring it remains a beacon of community, diversity, and excellence for years to come.

Now in his 17th season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Braverman has played a pivotal role in the growth of the Dodger brand, guiding its expansion well beyond the world of baseball. As the club's Senior Vice President of Marketing, Community Relations, and Broadcasting, he oversees the Dodgers' local and national broadcast relationships,directs marketing initiatives, and leads community relations efforts, helping drive ticket sales and position the team as a perennial attendance leader in Major League Baseball for eight consecutive years.

Braverman also manages the Dodgers’ in-house productions, creative campaigns, and social media channels, which have set the standard for fan engagement and grown to be among the most followed in professional sports. An openly gay executive, Braverman leads the Dodgers’ PRIDE Business Resource Group and spearheaded the club’s inaugural Pride Night in 2013, fostering a year-round partnership with the LGBTQ+ community and establishing the event as the most well-attended of its kind inprofessional sports.

Before joining the Dodgers, Braverman built an impressive career in radio. From 1996to 2008, he served as Vice President of Programming and Operations for ABC Radio stations, including KABC, ESPN Radio, and Radio Disney, where he led the launch of ESPN Radio’s Los Angeles flagship in 2000. Prior to that, he was Director of Talk and Sports Programming at Westwood One Radio (1994–1996), overseeing a variety of nationally syndicated shows, and began his Los Angeles career as Executive Producer at KFI & KOST Radio in 1989.

A native of Houston, Texas, Braverman resides in West Hollywood with his husband, Jonathan Cottrell. Together, they are dedicated to building community, celebrating diversity, and championing excellence through their work at GYM Bar WeHo and beyond.

Schuyler Bailar was a star student at Georgetown Day School in Washington, DC – one of the top private schools in the country, graduating in 2014. He was aggressively recruited by most of the Ivy League and eventually committed to swim for Harvard. Schuyler Bailar is also the first openly transgender athlete to compete in any sport on an NCAA Division 1 men’s team.

Schuyler was swimming before his first birthday. His first competition was at the age of 7 and by 10 Schuyler was competing in the Junior Olympics. By 13, Schuyler qualified for National level competition, and less than two years later, Schuyler was ranked one of the top 20 15-year-old breast-stroke swimmers in the United States. In 2012 Schuyler broke his back in three places in a biking accident. He was released from an upper-body brace shortly before swimming championships. He went on to win all three DC[1]area 100-yard breaststroke championships and qualified as an All-American. 

At the 2013 NCSA Jr. National Championships he qualified for the U.S. Open – the fastest U.S. meet in a non-Olympic year. At the 2013 USA Swimming National Championships, his 400-yard Medley Relay Team set the U.S. 15-18 year-old Age-Group Record.

Throughout his journey, particularly in high school, Schuyler struggled with issues of body image and self-esteem, often battling with disordered eating and self-harm. Before college, he decided to take a gap year to deal with these issues. In therapy, it became clear that Schuyler’s real struggle was with gender identity and that he was transgender. This presented Schuyler with the most difficult decision ever: whether to continue as a possible NCAA champion – on the Harvard women’s team – or to transition and be authentic to himself, accepting the consequences and the challenges it would entail.

Schuyler’s choice – to be true to himself – has been historic. His story hit Facebook’s top trending news and has been recounted globally in thousands of media outlets from The Washington Post to 60 Minutes with millions of online and broadcast media views. MTV cited his story in their list of “2015’s Best Moments for the Trans Community” and Buzzfeed named him one of the “11 Transgender people who are shifting our views.”

During his journey, Schuyler was unable to find examples of trans athletes and vowed to be public about his transition to give youth at least one public example. His advocacy has evolved into full-time work as a DEI consultant, Life Coach, Advocate and Author. Schuyler’s work spans schools, corporations, and non-profits with hundreds of appearances of all kinds.

Selected #9 overall in the 2013 WNBA Draft, Layshia went on to play 12 years in the WNBA as a notable leader, captain, and key contributor on various teams. In their two terms as WNBPA Vice President, he helped negotiate a groundbreaking CBA Agreement that will serve as a bedrock for women’s professional sports leagues moving forward.  

 In 2018, Layshia captured gold with Team USA in the FIBA World Championships. The previous season, Layshia was named a WNBA All-Star, led the league in total assists, and broke the franchise record for assists in a single season with the Atlanta Dream.  

Clarendon was Cal’s leading scorer while in college where they led the Golden Bears to the first Final Four in school history. During their senior season, she was an All-Pac-12 first-team selection and the Pac-12 women’s basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In 2022, Layshia was inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Fame.  

 Clarendon is a noted social advocate, speaker, and writer, who is often asked to lend their voice and opinions on various social topics. In 2020, Layshia Clarendon became the first out trans and nonbinary player in WNBA history. As an anchor athlete for Athletes for Impact, Layshia launched The Layshia Clarendon Foundation in 2021 to help broaden healthcare access for trans and nonbinary people. They have also been published in The Players’ Tribune, Mic, Esquire, and ESPN. In the off-season, you can find them on the sidelines providing color commentary for the ACC Network. 

Pat Griffin is Professor Emerita in Social Justice Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where her research and writing interests were LGBTQ issues in education and athletics.  She has been an advocate for LGBTQ equality in sport for over 45 years.  She was founding director for Changing the Game: The Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) Sports Project. She is the former director of the Women’s Sports Foundation’s It Takes A Team project, an LGBTQ education project. She has long history of consulting with the NCAA and college and high school athletic departments on LGBTQ issues in sports.   

 She is the author of Strong Women, Deep Closets: Lesbians and Homophobia in Sports (1998), co-editor of Teaching For Diversity and Social Justice (1997, 2007), and co-author of On The Team: Equal Opportunities for Transgender Student-Athletes (2010), the NCAA Guide for the Inclusion of Transgender Athletes (2011) and Champions of Respect: NCAA Guide for the Inclusion of LGBTQ Student-Athletes (2012). In addition, She a founding member of Common Ground an NCAA affiliated project focused on creating welcoming and respectful athletic climates for student-athletes and staff of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and religious perspectives. 

 In 2017 she received an Honor Award from Women Leaders in College Sports. In 2014 Dr. Griffin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Laval University for her research, teaching and advocacy for LGBT inclusion in sports and education and she received the Alliance of Women Coaches “Bigger Picture of Being A Champion” award. In 2013 she was invited to Stockholm, Sweden to address the Swedish National Youth Sports Organization on including transgender youth in sports programs. Also in 2013 she received the University of Massachusetts- Amherst College of Education Distinguished Faculty Award 

  She was the 2012 recipient of the National Girls and Women in Sport Rachel Bryant Award and the 2011 recipient of the R. Tait McKenzie Award from the American Alliance of Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance.  

 In 2012 Dr. Griffin was one of the organizers for the first ever LGBT Sports Summit hosted by Nike to develop a national network of organizations focused on making sports inclusive and respectful for LGBT athletes and coaches. She was an active member of the LGBT Sports Coalition that grew out of this summit. She was voted Outsports.com Person of Year for 2011 for her accomplishments combating homophobia and sexism in sport.   

 In 2007 Dr. Griffin was named one of the top 100 sport educators in the United States by the Institute for International Sport.  She was named among the 100 Champions of LGBT Sports by the Chicago Game Games in 2006.  

 Dr. Griffin played basketball, field hockey and swam at the University of Maryland College Park. She coached high school basketball, field hockey and softball in Montgomery County, MD and coached swimming and diving at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She won a bronze medal in the 1994 Gay Games Triathlon and a gold medal in the 1998 Gay Games Hammer Throw.  Her current sports are pickleball, biking and kayaking. 

Bill Gubrud is a prominent figure in promoting LGBTQ+ representation in sports. In 2001, he founded "Out at Wrigley," the longest-running Pride event in major U.S. professional sports, hosted at Chicago's Wrigley Field. This initiative paved the way for similar Pride Nights across various sports venues nationwide. ​

In 2013, Gubrud established the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago, aiming to honor individuals and organizations that have enhanced sports for the LGBTQ+ community. The Hall of Fame was rebranded as the LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame in 2025, with Gubrud being inducted for his significant contributions.

Beyond these initiatives, Gubrud has been active in the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association as a coach and player. He also worked in advertising sales at the Chicago Free Press and served as a marketing specialist at Tuesday's Child. ​

Gubrud's efforts have been instrumental in fostering inclusivity within the sports community, making athletics more welcoming for LGBTQ+ individuals.​

Violet Palmer’s entire life has been immersed in basketball, having learned the intricacies of the game since grade school. Because of her drive and competitiveness, she quickly made her mark, excelling in all facets of the game. Violet broke gender barriers by becoming the first female referee in a major professional sport, the National Basketball Association (NBA). In nearly two decades as an NBA official, Violet officiated 930 regular season games, 9 playoff games, and the 2014 All-Star game.

In 2016, after a stellar career and earning the respect of her peers, Violet retired from active officiating. She did not veer off too far, however, as she continues to consult for the NBA and train new referees.

Violet retired from the NBA but not from basketball. In 2009, while officiating in the NBA, she set her eyes on the Collegiate level and soon became the Coordinator of Women's Basketball Officials for the West Coast Conference (WCC). Her impressive leadership skills attracted the attention of collegiate commissioners and was soon adding to her resume the Coordinator role for the Pac-12 Conference, the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), the Big Sky Conference, the Big West Conference, and the Mountain West Conference. Violet’s segue into the NBA came from officiating in the WNBA during the league’s inaugural season, including the 1997 WNBA Championship. In 1999, Violet was honored with the Naismith Award for“Official of The Year”.

Additionally, Violet has three years’ experience officiating women’s collegiate games in the CBA and eight years in the Pac-12, Western Athletic, West Coast Conference, Big Sky, and Big West Conferences, as well as five NCAA Final Fours and two NCAA Championship games. She also has five years’ experience officiating high schools in California and seven years in USA basketball.

Throughout Violet’s professional career, she has received awards and honors, including from her alma mater, California Polytechnic University at Pomona. The most prestigious being inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, 2024; the CCAA Hall of Fame, 2023; Honorary Doctorate Degree, 2022; WeCOACH Lifetime Achievement Award, 2021; and the Intercollegiate Hall of Fame, 2020.

As a student, Violet was a successful basketball player at the collegiate and high school levels. She was a four-year letter winner at California Polytechnic University at Pomona, where her team won the NCAA Division II Finals in 1985 and 1986. She played for the varsity girls’ basketball team at Compton High School (CHS) for four years and was captain for her last three years. Violet was named “Team’s Most Valuable Player” her senior year, and “All League” her junior and senior years at CHS.

Violet is a former member of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Sports Officials and currently sits on the NCAA Mechanics Committee. She is the owner and director of the Basics Referee School, training and developing basketball officials on using the 3-person California Collegiate Association (CCA) Women’s Basketball concept.

Dr. Susan (Sue) Rankin retired from the Pennsylvania State University in 2013 where she most recently served as an Associate Professor of Education and Associate in the Center for the Study of Higher Education. Sue also served for 17 years as the Head Coach for Women's Softball and Lecturer in Kinesiology at Penn State.

Dr. Rankin has presented and published widely on the intersections of identities and the impact of sexism, genderism, racism, and heterosexism in the academy and in intercollegiate athletics.

In 2000, Dr. Rankin formed Rankin & Associates, Consulting, LLC, (renamed to Rankin Climate, LLC in 2022) a firm specializing in assisting institutions in maximizing equity and inclusion through assessment, planning and change management strategies. Rankin Climate provides institutions with an examination of their current campus climate and facilitates a process to form a foundation for initiatives leading to institutional transformation. To date, Rankin Climate has collaborated with over 300 higher education institutions and athletic departments in implementing assessments and developing strategic plans.

In her advocacy work, Dr. Rankin is a founding member of the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals, a network of professionals doing advocacy work for LGBT people on college campuses. Dr. Rankin is the recipient of the ACPA 2008 Voice of Inclusion Medallion. The award recognizes individuals who embody the student affairs values of social justice. Dr. Rankin is was also awarded the 2018 James R. Douglass and Gerald B. Roemer from the U.S. Department of Justice for her work in the United States Transgender Project.

Dr. Rankin earned her B.S. from Montclair State University in 1978, a M.S. in Exercise Physiology from The Pennsylvania State University (1981), and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration in 1994, also from Penn

Kirk Walker, one of the most visible and vocal advocates for diversity and inclusion in sports, transitions into a new role in his 24th year at UCLA as the Director of Softball Administration in 2025. Walker was instrumental in building the foundation for the UCLA softball dynasty, winning a total of seven NCAA Championships and making 18 Women’s College World Series appearances as an assistant coach from 1984-94 and 2013-22 and associate head coach from 2023-24.
 
The Bruins won NCAA titles in 1984, ‘85, ‘88, ‘89, ‘90, ‘92 and ‘19 with Walker on the coaching staff.

Walker finished his 23-year UCLA coaching career with an 828-156-1 record (.840), 11 conference regular season titles and one Pac-12 Tournament championship. Known for tossing Jolly Ranchers to home run hitters as the Bruins’ third base coach, Walker was a member of the NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year in 2019 and the NFCA West Region CSOY six times in 2014, ‘15, ‘16, ‘19, ‘21 and ‘24. Across Walker’s two stints, UCLA received 61 NFCA All-America awards, three Honda Cups, 10 Honda Sport Awards, two USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year awards, one NFCA National Player of the Year award, 14 Pac-10/12 Player of the Year awards, 127 all-conference selections (118 All-Pac-10/12) and 11 CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. 
 
Walker started his collegiate coaching career as an undergraduate assistant at UCLA in 1984 and was on staff for 11 seasons before leaving to be the head coach at Oregon State. In his first stint at UCLA, he worked closely with the Bruins' pitchers and played a large role in developing all-time greats Debbie Doom, Tracy Compton and Lisa Fernandez, among others.
 
Walker coached 18 seasons at Oregon State from 1995-12 and still stands as the all-time winningest coach in program history with a 594-490-3 record (.548). The Beavers experienced their greatest stretch of success with Walker at the helm, registering eight seasons of at least 40 wins and making the postseason 10 times.
 
Two of Oregon State’s most prolific teams in 2005 and 2006 were coached by Walker and later inducted into the Oregon State University Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2006, Walker led the Beavers to their first WCWS appearance as Oregon State posted a school-record, 28-game winning streak and reached No. 5 in the national rankings with a 43-16 mark. In 2005, he was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year for the second time in his career (1999) after guiding Oregon State to a 43-16 record and its first Pac-10 Championship, which was also the first regular-season Pac-10 title for any Beavers women's sports program. The most wins in a season for Oregon State came in 1999, when the Beavers had 47 victories and went to the postseason for the first time in program history. Along with his Pac-10 Coach of the Year award, Walker's staff was named the Speedline Pacific Region Co-Coaching Staff of the Year. Under Walker's tutelage, the Beavers earned 33 All-Pac-10/12 Team honors, 10 NFCA All-America awards and 26 NFCA All-Region accolades. Oregon State also received 46 All-Pac-10/12 and two NFCA All-Region Honorable Mention awards during Walker’s tenure.
 
Walker announced his return to Westwood on Aug. 7, 2012.
 
Walker has earned coaching acclaim away from the collegiate level. Most recently, Walker helped organized and coach the Finland Softball Women’s National Team in 2022, which secured its first international play win against Turkey at the WBSC European Championships. During the summer of 2017, he was an assistant coach on the USA Softball Junior Women's National Team which won gold at the WBSC Junior Women's World Championship. Walker was named one of 12 coaches to form the USA Softball Women’s National Team Coaches Pool through the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. He served as an assistant for the USA Elite Team for three summers (2002-04) and also assisted the USA Red National Team during the summer of 2001.
 
On the professional level, Walker was the head coach for the four-time ASA Women's Major National Fast Pitch Champion California Commotion from 1996-99. He was announced as the head coach of the Commotion again in 2020 when the team re-organized as part of the National Pro Fast Pitch League.
 
Walker has spent the entirety of his career pushing for the advancement and support of diversity, equity and inclusion in sports. He is one of the founders of the Equality Coaching Alliance and the LGBTIQ+ Human Rights Sports Coalition and serves as a founding board member for the non-profit Sports Equality Foundation. Walker is also the coordinator of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s (NFCA) LGBTQ+ Convention Session. He was named as one of the top 100 most powerful and influential LGBTQ people in sports by Outsports in October 2024.
 
One of the sport’s biggest entrepreneurial minds, Walker is a co-founder and owner for college softball’s premier early-season tournament, the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. Walker has organized the event for the last 20 years, bringing thousands of fans to the Palm Springs area to inspire future generations of female athletes.
 
Walker has fought for safety and rules clarity in a variety of roles with the NFCA, including four years as a member of the Executive Board. Walker also spent six years on the Regional Advisory Committee, three years on the NCAA Playing and Practice Rules Committee and has been a presenter at numerous NFCA conventions for the past 20 years. He co-authored the American Sport Education Program’s (ASEP) Coaching Softball Technical and Tactical Skills, which helps teach basics and intangibles in softball.
 
Walker also boasts a successful men’s fastpitch playing career. He was named the Most Valuable Pitcher in the summer of 2015 after winning his first national championship as a player at the North America Fastpitch Association (NAFA) Men's Masters 40-and-over National Championships in Carson City, Nev. He claimed his second national title in the summer of 2019 and was named to the All-World Team for a sixth time.
 
Before UCLA, Walker started his coaching career in the early 1980s as a travel ball coach for his sister, Karen Walker, who would later play for the Bruins.
 
Walker earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from UCLA in 1988. The Woodland Hills, Calif. native has an adopted daughter, Ava, with his ex-partner.
 
Walker’s Coaching Experience
College
1984-94 – Assistant Coach, UCLA
1995-12 – Head Coach, Oregon State
2013-22 – Assistant Coach, UCLA
2023-24 – Associate Head Coach, UCLA
2025 – Director of Softball Administration, UCLA
 
International
2001 – Assistant Coach, USA Red National Team
2002-04 – Assistant Coach, USA Elite Team
2017 – Assistant Coach, USA Softball Junior Women’s National Team
2022 – Assistant Coach, Finland Women’s National Softball Team
 
Professional
1996-99 – Head Coach, California Commotion (ASA Women’s Major Fastpitch League)
2020 – Head Coach, California Commotion (National Pro Fastpitch League)