For All Mothers+ Announces Legacy Champions Coalition of Elite Women Athletes to Institutionalize and Advance Maternal Leadership in Sport
For All Mothers+ (FAM+) today announces Legacy Champions, a coalition of elite women in sport committed to advancing motherhood, sport, and workplace equity.
The inaugural Legacy Champions include:
Adeline Gray, Wrestling - Six-time world champion, two-time Olympian, winning her first medal (silver) at the 2020 Olympic Games, mother of three
Alysia Montaño, Track and Field - Six-time USA Outdoor Track and Field 800 Meter Champion, 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, mother of three
Chelsea Sodaro, Triathlete - Former professional runner, transitioned to IRONMAN in 2017 and won her first IRONMAN World Championship in 2022, mother of one
Kaleo Kanahele Maclay, Volleyball - Three-time Paralympic gold medalist, one-time silver medalist, mother of two
Mallory Weggemann, Swimming - Four-time Paralympian, 7-time Paralympic medalist, two-time World Disabled Swimmer of the Year, mother of one
These athletes have competed in Olympic and Paralympic Games, world championships, and global events. All of these achievements have occurred while also managing pregnancy, postpartum recovery, caregiving, and leadership in and beyond sport.
Legacy Champions bring together athlete-led efforts to advance policies, protections, and culture, while positioning motherhood as a flex rather than a liability.
Women make up nearly half of the workforce, but hold less than one-third of senior leadership roles. The “motherhood penalty” results in billions of dollars in lost wages each year across industries. In elite sport, these gaps are even greater. Athlete mothers often face inconsistent maternity protections, unclear return-to-play standards, limited guidance, and shortened competitive careers.
FAM+ was founded to address these systemic gaps through coordinated action and not awareness alone.
The Legacy Champions coalition exists to:
Honor and institutionalize the contributions of mothers in sport who have paved the way for systemic change
Provide lived-experience expertise to guide FAM+’s policy, advocacy, and programmatic work
Serve as trusted advisors in developing best practices and guidelines
Build a lasting legacy of equity, protection, and opportunity for the next generation of athlete-mothers
“This work is about moving from isolated stories to coordinated systems,” said Montaño. “For years, women athletes have navigated pregnancy, motherhood, and elite competition largely on their own. It shouldn’t require extraordinary resilience to exist in both spaces. If not now, when?”
Legacy Champions will collaborate to develop and deliver a formal, actionable playbook to inform national sport leadership, including engagement within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic ecosystem and other governing bodies leading up to the LA 2028 Games.
The playbook will set clear objectives: establish consistent, athlete-centered maternity policy standards, provide actionable guidelines for supporting mothers, and promote systemic change based on lived experience, and will provide athlete-informed recommendations across four key stakeholder groups:
National Governing Bodies (NGBs): maternity policy standards, athlete protections, ranking considerations
Players Associations: contract protections, paid leave provisions, return-to-play frameworks
Race Directors and Event Organizers: competition access, family accommodations, prize equity
Brand Sponsors: inclusive sponsorship structures, equitable contract language, and responsible storytelling
The launch comes at a pivotal moment as the global sports community looks ahead to the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games. FAM+ sees a strategic opportunity to influence sport governance and sponsorship standards before the world’s attention turns to Los Angeles.
“Motherhood is not a footnote in an athlete’s career,” Montaño added. “It is a leadership chapter. And leadership deserves structure, protection, and voice.”
