WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, Independent Women (IW) is excited to announce its newest ambassador Sia Li’ili’i, captain of the women’s volleyball team at the University of Nevada Reno (UNR) and rising voice for IW’s Stand With Women initiative advocating for the protection of women’s spaces and sports.
As the team’s captain, Li’ili’i bravely led her teammates as they forfeited their match against San José State University (SUSJ), which rosters a male player on the women’s team. Despite the players’ vote to forfeit, UNR coaches and administrators said it would move forward with the match against SJSU. Li’ili’i and her teammates defied pressure from the university and, in a powerful display of unity and courage, the women’s volleyball team held the line and prioritized the integrity of women’s sports and the safety of its players. UNR became the fifth NCAA women’s volleyball team to forfeit its game against SJSU on October 26, 2024.
The day after the scheduled match between the University of Nevada Reno and San Jose State University, Li’ili’i joined IW Ambassador Riley Gaines and Former Hawaii Congresswoman and 2020 Presidential Candidate Tulsi Gabbard for a live-studio panel discussion at Independent Women’s Voice’s Stand With Women: Equality Is Not A Game event. Li’ili’i spoke before hundreds of Pennsylvanians and millions of livestream viewers to expose how high the stakes are for female collegiate athletes, both in being forced to risk their privacy and physical safety by facing male competitors and in choosing to speak out against the male takeover of female collegiate sports.
As an IW ambassador, Li’ili’i will continue using her voice to amplify the experiences of female collegiate athletes who have been abandoned by their coaches, administrators, and the NCAA; call on the NCAA — NCAA President Charlie Baker and members of the NCAA Board of Governors — to amend its discriminatory participation policies and protect single-sex sports; testify before state legislatures on the need for legislation to keep women’s sports female; and encourage other female athletes to take a stand against the false legitimization of males competing in women’s category events.
About becoming an ambassador for Independent Women’s Forum, Sia Li’ili’i said, “I am speaking up on this because men do not belong in women’s sports. As a Division 1 athlete, I have worked my whole life to live out my dreams of competing at this level. This is a dream I see in my nieces as they watch me play. I don’t want them to be faced with competing for a roster spot against a male with significant biological advantages. That is not fair!”
Carrie Lukas, Independent Women’s Forum president, said, “We are thrilled to have Li’ili’i join our team. She has been such a brave and powerful advocate for women’s rights and common sense. This is the moment when we can win on this issue and ensure that our policies and laws protect women and girls — and with ambassadors like Li’ili’i, I know we will make it happen.”
BACKGROUND ON IW AMBASSADORS:
IW is proud to bring unique and personal insight into the biggest issues facing Americans today through its ambassador program. IW ambassadors are storytellers and advocates who champion a policy issue area by continuing to tell their story and call for change through op-eds, speaking engagements, testimony before federal and state legislatures, and media interviews.
IW ambassadors have been integral voices in the fight to protect women’s spaces:
- IW ambassadors have testified before Congress on the impact of allowing biological males in women’s private spaces and the dangers of the Biden-Harris administration’s changes to Title IX; met with dozens of lawmakers to highlight the need for federal legislation that protects women’s sports; joined U.S. Senators for a roundtable discussion on preserving Title IX; and joined Speaker of the House Mike Johnson for a panel discussion during National Women’s Sports Week.
- Written firsthand testimony from IW Ambassador Amie Ichikawa, a former inmate in the California state prison system, was instrumental in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s decision to block the nomination of Judge Sarah Netburn to a U.S. District Court following Netburn’s history of allowing men to transfer into women’s prisons.
- IW ambassadors have rallied outside the 2023 and 2024 NCAA Annual Conventions, the USA Cycling National Championships, and the U.S. Women’s Open to demand sports governing bodies end discriminatory policies that take away opportunities for women to compete.
- IW ambassadors headlined the Our Bodies, Our Sports “Take Back Title IX” Summer 2024 Bus Tour across America, traveling throughout 30 states in 30 days to share their stories and sound the alarm on the Biden-Harris administration’s Title IX rewrite.
- Detransitioner and IW Ambassador Prisha Mosley has worked to expose the irreversible medicalization of children taking place under the guise of “gender-affirming care” nationwide; specifically in New Mexico this year, sharing her story, resulted in severe New Mexico media bias against Prisha and a Cease-and-Desist letter issued by Independent Women’s Law Center calling for Prisha’s authentic story to be shared.
- With IW ambassadors sharing their stories and breaking into the media and IW Features, the storytelling arm of IW, providing a platform for more voices to be heard, anti-women policies are being exposed as support for pro-women, pro-fairness, and pro-safety policy grows.
To book Sia Li’ili’i or another IW ambassador for an interview, email [email protected].
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Independent Women’s Forum is dedicated to developing and advancing policies that aren’t just well intended but actually enhance people’s freedom, choices, and opportunities.
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