WISE is dedicated to recognizing women who have achieved a standard of excellence in sports business, led by example, and support other women. The Women of Inspiration Awards, determined and awarded by WISE Houston, honor local women who exemplify the spirit of the WISE mission and are making a positive impact on the business of sports while serving as positive role models and mentors for other women.

We are partnering with Dress for Success Houston to collect handbags and other items requested to serve the needs of their clients. Please bring your handbags or purchase an item from this Wishlist to the event. 

Jennifer Davenport is an Award-winning CMO with 15+ years progressive leadership experience generating innovative, multi-platform marketing campaigns that increase brand reach and customer loyalty. Jennifer joined Houston Grand Opera as the Chief Marketing and Experience Officer in August of 2022 and has previously worked at the Houston Texans, Houston Rockets, and iHeartMedia. Davenport is a founding board member of Houston’s Women in Sports and Events chapter and served on the YMCA of Greater Houston Board of Directors for 11 years.

June Deadrick currently serves as the Director of State & Federal Relations (Government Affairs) for CenterPoint Energy. Before assuming her current post, she served as Senior Specialist with Reliant Energy's Government Affairs Division and Manager of Government Affairs for CenterPoint Energy. Prior to joining Reliant Energy, June served as the constituent services director for two members of the Houston City Council, Chris Bell and Judson Robinson, III. 

A native of Palacios, Texas, she was a 1983 graduate of Palacios High School, a graduate of the University of Texas (Austin) with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and received a Master of Liberal Arts (MLA), from the University of St. Thomas (Houston). An alumna of the Texas Lyceum Association, Leadership Texas, Leadership Houston and 2018 Graduate of Leadership America, June serves as a volunteer and board member for several non-profit organizations including: Miller Outdoor Theatre Advisory Board, Theater Under The Stars (TUTS), Texas Exes Board of Directors, Texas Exes Public Affairs Committee, UT Chancellor’s Executive Council, Stadium Park TIRZ, Jr. League of Houston 100th Anniversary Sustainer Committee, The Bryan Museum (Galveston), Houston Harris County Sports Authority Foundation, Undies For Everyone, UT Health Development Committee, Longhorn Foundation, Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Engagement, Houston Arts Alliance, Presidents Council (University of St. Thomas). Since 2020, June has served as one of the public appointed members of the Texas Bar Foundation Board. 

A Sustaining member of the Junior League of Houston, June is a member of the Texas Spring Cypress Chapter of Links, Inc., a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and a Life Member of the Texas Exes Association. In 2017, she was chosen from a pool of nationwide applicants to participate as a member of the Leadership America Class of 2018, the premier Leadership Development organization for corporate women throughout the United States. In January of 2018, Ms. Deadrick made history as she became the first African American female to Chair a post-season collegiate Bowl game as Chair of the Academy Sports & Outdoors Texas Bowl. Most recently, June was chosen by the Houston Harris County Sports Authority to Chair the Houston Host Committee for the 2024 College Football Championship Game.

Zina Garrison is many things. She was a very successful tennis player, climbing all the way to a top five ranking in the world, winning an Olympic Gold Medal, and winning almost forty combined singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles including three Grand Slam trophies. 

She is a successful coach who has bestowed wisdom to a list of great players, including both Williams Sisters. She is a beloved mentor, who once took a fresh-faced fourteen year-old Venus Williams under her wing and showed her the ropes of the women’s tour. She is a community leader, with a program that has served the city of Houston’s inner-city youth for over 30 years.

But before she was any of that, she was another kid in Houston that just enjoyed sports. As the youngest and only girl in her family that took an interest in pursuits of athleticism, she could often be found playing as a catcher for her older brother Rodney, twelve years her senior, in parks of where she grew up in Sunnyside Garden in South Houston. She was a self-proclaimed tomboy and could be found riding bikes with friends through her neighborhood, playing in yards, and even a stint playing softball in high school.

At ten years old, driven by a competitive streak that all pro athletes possess, she found the sport of tennis. Fueled by an impressive determination, Garrison soon learned that she was a completely different breed of athlete from her peers, winning her first tennis trophy at a small tournament in Herman Park, back when they had tennis courts. Coached by Houston tennis legend, John Wilkerson, Zina quickly came to understand that she could see the game differently than most twelve year olds.

Armed with a steely confidence and seriousness that far outweighed her years, she quickly rose through the ranks of American junior tennis. By the time she was fourteen, she had won the Girls 18 National Title and by the time she turned pro, she would go on to win the Junior US Open and Junior Wimbledon as well as being ranked the number one junior player in the world.

Upon her graduation from Sterling High School, the Sunnyside Houston product turned pro and immediately played in her first French Open. She reached the quarterfinals, losing to eventual champion Martina Navratilova. 

Zina enjoyed a successful fifteen career on the women’s tour, staying in the top ten in the year end international rankings routinely for a large portion of those fifteen years, achieving a career-high ranking of number four in the world at the end of 1989. 

Her list of accolades is long, spanning an Olympic Gold Medal in doubles in the Seoul Games of 1988 and Bronze Medal in singles. She has beaten all-time greats including Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, and Chris Evert. She has won Wimbledon doubles twice. And most importantly to her, she opened her own free tennis program, The Zina Garrison Academy, to serve the kids in 1992, while still a top player in the world.

She continues to believe that tennis serves as the gateway to provide young people with all of the skills needed to thrive as a member of his or her community.

Women of Inspiration Houston Honorees

• 2023: Jennifer Davenport, June Deadrick, Zina Garrison
• 2022: Paula Harris, Nina Jackson, Rachel Quan
  
• 2021:  Anita Sehgal, Lana Ramirez, Sarah Robles
  
• 2020: Carrie Potter 
  
• 2019: Julia Morales Clark, Amy Palcic, Gretchen Sheirr
  
• 2018: Seun Adigun, Leah Mastaglio
  
• 2017: Gina Gaston, Pam Gardner
  
• 2016: Sallie Sargent, Anita Dimartino, Janis Burke

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