In Ep. #38, hear from Karen Issokson-Silver, the Vice President of Research & Education at the Women’s Sports Foundation.In her role, Karen oversees proprietary research, program evaluation, and education, as well as directs the organization’s research agenda to drive programming and advocacy within girls and women’s sports when it comes to health, gender and equity. Most recently, Karen and her team released a report called: The Healing Power of Sport: COVID-19 and Girls’ Participation, Health and Achievements.This new report is one of the first studies to examine ways in which sports participation among girls was impacted during the pandemic and how sport served as a protective factor against some of COVID-19’s negative impacts on behavior, mental health, and academic achievement. The findings from this report highlight the powerful protective role that sports can play in supporting the physical, social and emotional well-being of girls.While sports participation among young people was significantly impacted by COVID, girls who were able to continue playing experienced a myriad of positive impacts in areas of physical health, mental health and academics. The report shines a light on the critical role of sports in girls’ lives and underscores the need to invest in girls’ sports programming so that all girls reap the benefits.In this episode, hear Karen & Caroline dig into the Women's Sports Foundation's findings, and discuss why it is so essential to the well-being of girls for brands, networks, schools and communities to invest in sports for women & girls. Full episode available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Music.