Emhoff discusses gender equity at Angel City training

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — When women lead, everyone usually benefits. However, gender equity is needed to make that possible.

The second gentleman of the United States, Douglas Emhoff, believes in working to make it a reality.

“We need more women in positions of leadership in sports, government, military and business,” Emhoff said. “When we lift up women and communities, all of society benefits. 

There's a misconception out there that if somehow a woman is succeeding, some guy out there is not. That is not true. When women succeed, we all get lifted up.”

Emhoff toured Angel City’s training grounds at California Lutheran University last month, meeting the team and other members of the club. He also spoke on a panel to discuss gender equity and equal pay alongside Angela Hucles Mangano, Catherine Davila, Shawna Gordon, and Lorie Fair Allen. 

Emhoff visited Angel City as part of his many stops across the United States. He has traveled to 37 states to discuss the focus of the Biden-Harris administration. Those travels included a March roundtable with New Jersey/New York Gotham FC and work with the WNBA during the NBA All-Star weekend. 

But Southern California is special to Emhoff as he attended Agoura High School.

“This is my hometown,” Emhoff said. "I'm from here. I wanted to come here to support this team that's doing the right thing in my hometown. 

"I'm going to continue to do this in communities around the country to keep spreading this message that things need to be more fair. Not only in sports but in business and all other fields, too, because it's the right thing to do. But as someone said, it's also good for the economy.”

Angel City is a team that promotes women in leadership positions by leading by example. The club’s co-founders — Natalie Portman, Julie Uhrman, Kara Nortman, coach Becki Tweed,and general manager Hucles Mangano among other leaders — are women.

“Women are paid less than men in professional sports leagues all over the world,” Emhoff said. “In the 2023 World Cup, women earned on average 25 cents on the dollar of what men earned. 

This is not right. It's not fair. It's actually discrimination.”

Angel City also works to uplift women and local communities. They do so through their 10% sponsorship model, which directs money towards community initiatives. 

This work is carried out through Angel City’s local partners. One of these is Football for Her, a group that looks to offer female and nonbinary youth a safe space to play soccer that Gordon founded. 

Angel City, with partner Cedars-Sinai, regularly hosts its Footy Friday program, a free program for girls and non-binary youth to play pickup soccer and develop their soccer skills. A few of the team’s players teach the kids fundamentals and join their games. 

The program started with one location but has expanded to two. 

“It started with one location and we helped scale it to where we serve over 1,300 different kids throughout the year,” Gordon said. “It is with the support of like-minded individuals and organizations here for the same reason.” 

Fair, a member of the 1999 United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) that won the World Cup and Angel City investor, also spoke on the panel. She is familiar with Emhoff’s work as the two met in New Zealand during the 2023 World Cup, during which they discussed gender equity at various events on a world stage.

“There are a lot of things that (Emhoff is) doing, and it is not just gender equity around sports,” Fair said. “It's across the entire workforce...

"From my perspective, sport is social justice, and sport is gender equity.”

Angel City wants to grow women’s soccer and push for gender equity. Emhoff supports that mission.