Donna Geils Orender (born February 14, 1957) is a sports executive and a former collegiate and professional basketball player. She was formerly president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and senior vice president of the PGA. Currently, Orender is the founder and CEO of Orender Unlimited, a Jacksonville, FL based advisory and consultancy firm. She travels the world as a motivational speaker and advocating for the empowerment of women and young girls through her non-profit organization Generation W.
Early life
Orender was born in Long Island, New York, grew up in Queens, New York, and in Elmont, New York on Long Island, and is Jewish. She belonged to a Conservative synagogue (the Elmont Jewish Center). She attended and played basketball for Elmont High School, in Elmont, New York, and was a five-sport athlete in high school, also lettering in field hockey, volleyball, softball, and tennis. According to Orender, Elmont High School did not have a girls’ tennis team while she was attending, so she asked the coach to play for the boys’ team. The coach agreed to let her try out for the team, and in doing so she beat her opponent and became the first girl to play tennis for the high school, which gained little attention to her surprise.
College years
Orender turned down an academic scholarship to the University of Chicago to instead attend Queens College in New York City, New York to play basketball for Lucille Kyvallos. Queens College was invited to play Immaculata at Madison Square Garden on February 22, 1975. The matchup was the first ever college women's basketball game in the arena. Orender graduated from Queens College in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. While at Queens College she was an All-American basketball player. In 2012 Orender was inducted into the Queens College Athletics Hall of Fame.
After graduating from Queens College, Orender attended Adelphi University to pursue her master's degree in social work. She dropped out of the program after one year to play professional basketball for the Women's Pro Basketball League (WBL). Adelphi University presented Orender with an honorary doctor of law degree in 2007.
Career
Women's Pro Basketball League (WBL) (1979–1981) Under the name Donna Geils, Orender played three seasons in the Women's Pro Basketball League (WBL), where she was an All-Star, and one of only 20 women to play in all three seasons of the league. During that time, she played for the New York Stars (1978–79), New Jersey Gems (1979–80), and Chicago Hustle (1980–81). Orender's WBL career is featured in the book Mad Seasons: The Story of the First Women's Basketball League, 1978–1981, by Karra Porter (University of Nebraska Press, 2006). The WBL was disbanded in 1981.
Orender still holds two records for most field goals made, and is currently ranked 34th with 249 field goals made in the 1979–1980 season and ranked 7th for most turnovers in a single season, with 191 also in the 1979–1980 season. Both records were set as a part of the New Jersey Gems. When the league shutdown in 1981, Orender wrote an article for The Times called "Making a Dream Come True, and Watching it Fade Away."
In 1985, she was the captain of the Team USA Women's Basketball Team at the 1985 Maccabiah Games in Israel.
Television production (1981–1987) Orender's television production career began as a production assistant at ABC Sports and continued at the Sports Channel. Orender also owned her own production and marketing company, Primo Donna Productions.
Professional Golfer's Association (PGA) Tour (1987–2005) In 1987, Orender started working for the PGA Tour, where she oversaw their global television and production businesses. By 1989, she was the original producer of Inside the PGA Tour, a half-hour highlights show. In 1997 she negotiated a $400 million TV contract with the networks for the PGA Tour. In 2001, she became the senior vice president of strategic development in the Office of the Commissioner. Orender spent 17 years with the PGA.