The Women's Sports Foundation was established in 1974 by Billie Jean King to advance the lives of women and girls through sport and activity. The Foundation was first established in San Francisco and supported by individual donations, corporate contributions, and fundraising events. Athletes Donna de Varona, Micki King, Joan Joyce, Wyomia Tus, Sheila Young, Jane Blalock, Paula Sperber, and Mary Jo Peppler were involved in the foundational discussions and early years of the Foundation. For the first two years, the main programs of the Foundation were to act as a central source of information and referral on women's sports, to assist girls' and women's groups in introducing sports programs, the sponsorship of a scholarship for girls' sports camps, and the coordination of seminars and clinics on sports and physical fitness.
In 1976 the first executive director Eva Auchincloss was appointed, and an Advisory Board composed of female athletes and individuals from sports-related fields was formed to set the goals and programs of the organization. It was decided that the WSF would become the national collective voice of women in sports and would work with and through sport and general interest organizations, would devise programs and activities that would help popularize sports and physical fitness for women, would provide a network for women in sports, and would provide a central source of information on women's sports. In 1977 the Foundation established its first grant programs and distributed its first official newsletter. In 1979 Donna de Varona became the first elected Foundation president.
Throughout the early 1980s, the Foundation initiated additional programs, grants, and research projects, including the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame launched in 1980, toll-free information phone line in 1981, internship program in 1982, first Travel & Training Fund grants awarded in 1984, and High School All-Star program in 1985. In 1983 the Foundation, along with the United States Olympic Committee, sponsored the New Agenda Conference, at which more than 500 of the most influential people in sports, education, and government gathered in Washington, DC to address issues of concern to women in sports. In 1985 the proposal for the Aspire Higher campaign to raise three million dollars for the Foundation was created, a Coaches Advisory Roundtable (CAR) was established, and the Foundation conducted its first research study, "The Miller Lite Report on Women in Sports."
In 1986 the WSF relocated to New York City and hired Deborah Slaner Larkin as the second executive director. In 1987 the first National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) was held, thanks in part to the Foundation and to Senators Bill Bradley, Ted Kennedy, Bob Packwood, and Ted Stevens and Congresswomen Olympia Snowe and Claudine Schnieder. In 1990 Sudafed joined with the Foundation as the first corporate national supporter, enabling the Foundation to expand staff and programs.
In 1992 Donna Lopiano, former Athletic Director of Women Athletics at the University of Texas came on board as the new executive director. Lopiano developed the Community Awards and Grants program, later renamed the Community Action Program. In 1993 the Foundation moved its headquarters to Nassau County, New York (Eisenhower Park). In 1994 the Athletes' Speaker Service, later renamed the WSF Athlete Ambassador Program, was launched to raise the profile of female athletes and to educate and inspire the public. In 1996 the WSF launched its first website and a weekly email newsletter. In 1997 WSF published the Gender Equity Report Card, an exhaustive survey of athletic opportunities in higher education. In 1998 the Foundation was granted official United Nations Consultative status to the Economic and Social Council. In 2000 the Foundation was awarded the International Olympic Committee's first Women and Sport Award for the Americas. In 2001 the WSF launched the GoGirlGo! curriculum and educational campaign. Throughout 2003 the WSF helped to lead a 12-month campaign with a coalition of more than 100 organizations to engineer grassroots demonstrations in seven cities to oppose the administration's attempts to dismantle Title IX.
In 2008 the Billie Jean King International Women's Sports Center opened in New York City inside the Sports Museum of America. The Museum subsequently closed in 2009. From 2010 to 2014 the Foundation partnered with University of Michigan's School of Kinesiology and its Institute for Research and Women and Gender on the establishment and work of the Sport, Health and Activity Research and Policy (SHARP) Center for Women and Girls. In 2013 the International Olympic Committee selected the Foundation's GoGirlGo! Curriculum as a model for global youth sports programs. In 2004 the GoGirlGo! Education curriculum received a gold National Health Information Award from the Health Information Resource Center.
In 2014 the WSF and espnW co-founded Sports 4 Life, a program to address the racial disparities in access to youth sports opportunities for girls of color. In 2015 the WSF hosted its first Athlete Leadership Connection, an annual event connecting top industry leaders with professional and collegiate female athletes. In 2016 the WSF held its first "Candid Conversations" series to provide champion and college athletes with skills to advance their post-competition careers and held the 30th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD). In 2020 WSF established The Equity Project, an initiative designed to close the gaps in equitable access and opportunities in sports and to achieve true gender equality.
As of 2021, the mission of the Foundation states, "We are the ally, advocate and catalyst for tomorrow's leaders. We exist to enable girls and women to reach their potential in sport and life."
