MEET THE BOARD
FOUNDER
Kate Courtney
Kate Courtney is a professional-cross country mountain bike racer from Marin County, California. She is the 2018 Elite XCO World Champion, 2019 World Cup Overall Champion and a Tokyo 2020 Olympian.
She is a Stanford University Graduate and founder of the She Sends Foundation, a non-profit organization with a mission to connect, support and inspire women and girls through mountain biking.
In 2025, she launched She Sends Racing to further align her elite racing career with her mission to get more girls on bikes.
maggie Courtney
Maggie Courtney is an attorney with more than four decades of experience in advising employers and individuals in employment related matters, including legal compliance and best practices, wage and hour issues, sexual harassment, discrimination, contract negotiations and litigation. Her clients have included Fortune 50 companies, government agencies, technology start-ups, and non-profits of all sizes. She has also advised and represented athletes in team and sponsor negotiations. Maggie is an accomplished public speaker and corporate trainer and created one of the first employment law and judicial ethics training curricula for state and federal judiciaries.
Maggie has been a part of She Sends Foundation from the beginning, working along-side Kate to create a platform to drive resources, both money and mentoring, to growing the sport of mountain biking among girls and women. Maggie chaired the Foundation’s first initiatives; providing scholarships and mentoring to NICA racers to encourage them to continue riding and racing mountain bikes in college. In three years, the Foundation awarded $120,000 in scholarships. Maggie’s life-long focus on women’s rights and her front row seat to the positive impact of mountain biking for adolescent girls have brought a uniquely deep and nuanced voice to the shaping of the She Sends Foundation mission and structure.
Michelle Chang
Michelle Chang is a seasoned product and strategy executive with over two decades of experience spanning technology, consulting, and non-profit organizations. At Strava, she runs the product team responsible for cultivating a positive and safe community to help people live their best active lives. For a decade at Google, Michelle held various leadership roles including building and leading the Google Search AI, Payments, and Shopping policy teams. Prior to Google, Michelle worked in international development, public radio, and management consulting. A Bay Area native, Michelle holds a Masters of Public Policy from U.C. Berkeley and a B.S. from Cornell University. In addition to She Sends Foundation, she serves on the Board of Directors of Filoli Historic House and Garden in Woodside, CA, and has previously served on U.C. Berkeley's Board.
Michelle lives on the Peninsula with her husband and their two young children. A lifelong competitive athlete, she is a recently converted sub-elite marathoner-turned-mountain bike racer. In her spare time, Michelle also helps coach the NICA Woodside Beasts' girls high school mountain biking team. She's a lover of the wild outdoors, exploring new frontiers, and elevating girls and women in sport.
Naomi Clarkson
Naomi Clarkson is a seasoned marketing and commercial executive with a deep passion for women’s sports and an unwavering commitment to fostering inclusivity in athletic communities. As Senior Vice President of Marketing at Momentous, she leads initiatives that help democratize high performance—empowering people to do what they love, for longer.
Previously, at Wahoo Fitness, Naomi helped redefine the brand’s commitment to women’s cycling—reshaping sponsorship strategies and producing impactful content, including the Embrace Every Moment series spotlighting the Tour de France Femmes.
Naomi is also an active angel investor, advisory board member and mentor, focused on supporting startups and initiatives that drive diversity and empowerment in sports. Personally, she finds joy and grounding in the mountains and trails of her hometown of Truckee, where mountain biking and skiing have played a transformative role in her physical and mental well-being—and in building a strong community.
Her role on the board of the She Sends Foundation reflects that same spirit: breaking down barriers so that more women and girls can experience the freedom, strength, and belonging that come from time on the bike.
MEET THE Staff
Vanessa Hauswald
Vanessa Hauswald is an experienced nonprofit management executive who has focused her career on building and sustaining community through the sport of cycling. As Executive Consultant for the She Sends Foundation, she is helping to build a strong foundation from which the organization can succeed in its mission to help move the needle closer to gender equity in mountain biking
Prior to working with the Foundation, Vanessa was the Executive Director for the NorCal Interscholastic Cycling League for a 15-year tenure. At the League, she was instrumental in driving growth, securing sustained funding, and overseeing all programs and staff with one goal: to build an inclusive, fun, diverse, and welcoming place for teens to create community through cycling. Vanessa and her husband, Yuri, also co-own an event production and consulting business: Haus Productions.
Vanessa is a proud cancer survivor, a Juliana bicycles ambassador, and the VIce Chair of the NICA board of directors. She also finds meaning in being a volunteer mentor for cancer survivors through Imerman Angels, and beyond. Her interests include cycling, hiking, skiing, cooking, paddling, gardening, creating art, and, most recently, making custom hats!
Alexandria Antonacci
Alexandria 'Ace' Antonacci is a versatile creative professional specializing in marketing strategy, content creation, and event communications. With a strong background in the cycling industry and beyond, Ace combines a passion for storytelling with a keen eye for impactful brand connections. She is the founder of Call Me Ace Productions, a company dedicated to growing women’s representation in cycling through her strategic work with brands like Liv Cycling, Roam Fest, Ladies AllRide, and now the She Sends Foundation.
Ace has a history of nonprofit communications management at Bike Pittsburgh and is excited for this next chapter at the She Sends Foundation, where she creates impactful campaigns to connect, support, and inspire women and girls to get on mountain bikes.