Sierra Enge

Sierra Enge is a defender for the San Diego Wave in the NWSL. She is a former USYNT player, a Division One soccer player from Stanford University and a National Champion. She is also one of our mentors here at Female Footballers. Sierra brings a wealth of knowledge in the soccer landscape at all levels and a mission driven spirit to our Board of Advisors.

When Sierra was a Division One player at Stanford University her dear friend, co-captain and teammate, Katie Meyer, lost her life to suicide. Sierra has made it her mission to support female athletes through mental health struggles so they can gain the tools needed to navigate the somewhat difficult pathway that exists for women and girls in sport. She learned about the power of connecting and talking with others who have gone through similar experiences and challenges.

Sierra has already helped us grow our mentor network with other likeminded and mission driven professional players. We are thrilled to have her join our Board and help grow our reach within the mental health and soccer space.

 
 

Jen Ratay

Jen is a veteran nonprofit CEO, philanthropy advisor, facilitator and executive coach. As founder of Ratay Consulting Partners, Jen provides a range of customized coaching and consulting services to nonprofit boards, founding executives and leadership teams. She also regularly advises individual philanthropists and charitable foundations. Jen serves on the Northern California Grantmakers’ board of directors and has been named by Silicon Valley Business Journal as a Woman of Influence in Silicon Valley for her leadership in the region and the social sector.

 Jen led the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2) as Executive Director from 2013-17. Prior to leading SV2, Jen was a program officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation where she collaborated with the foundation's leadership team on organization-wide strategy, evaluation and learning. While at Hewlett, Jen built and ran a grantmaking program that strengthened grantees’ effectiveness and managed Office of the President grants, including a $110M grant to the University of California, Berkeley. Jen also worked as a legislative aide to a U.S. Congressman and at the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford's Graduate School of Business where she engaged the next generation of socially-minded business leaders.

 Jen has an MPA from Princeton University and a BA in Government from Dartmouth College where she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. At Dartmouth, Jen played varsity soccer and was president of the Mountaineering Club.

 Jen recharges in nature on a mountain bike or telemark skis. She enjoys organizing mountaineering trips for women and coaching youth basketball. Jen lives in Portola Valley, CA with her family.


 
 

Jaclyn Verba

Jaclyn grew up in the Bay Area playing soccer, basketball, and softball as a youth and played her club soccer for Sunnyvale United and then Los Gatos United. While attending St. Francis High School, she played basketball, track and field, and soccer. Jaclyn was recruited by TCU, in Fort Worth, TX, and found her perfect fit as a Horned Frog. There, she was a four-year starter and captain of the team and was able to help build the young program from the ground up. Being a part of something from the beginning and helping lay the foundation of something great has always been a motivating factor in all aspects of Jaclyn’s life.

Professionally, Jaclyn brings over 15 years of sales and marketing experience. Previously, she was Director of Brand Marketing and Specialty Sales for a sports nutrition company where she had the opportunity to work with world class, professional athletes from multiple sports. Jaclyn is passionate about working with, and for young brands to build success and growth.

When the opportunity to work with and advise for FF arose, she jumped on it. Soccer has always been Jaclyn’s passion and where she made some of her best friends and memories. Having found her voice and confidence through sports, working with FF was the perfect opportunity to help make an impact with a new generation of female athletes about the importance of being mentally strong, in sport and life.

Jaclyn is a wife and mom to two boys. When she is not chasing her toddlers around, you can find her on the pitch or cheering for her TCU Horned Frogs.

Jennifer “JT” Thomas

JT is a large inspiration behind the mission at Female Footballers. Having coached our staff members as D1 athletes at UC Berkeley, she is the mentor we all strive to be in our programming.

JT earned a BA from UC Berkeley in PEIS (Political Economy of Industrial Societies), emphasizing Women’s Rights and the Economy. She played on the CAL Women’s Soccer team, earning an NCAA Final Four appearance. After graduation, JT backpacked around the world, visiting twenty countries in ten months. Upon her return she earned her MA in Education from Stanford University.

​JT was drawn back to Berkeley when offered a job to coach at her alma mater, Cal, where she had played soccer as an undergraduate. After eleven seasons, ten playoff berths, and countless visits to college campuses all over the country, JT retired from college coaching. Wanting to return to her high school roots, she pursued a Certificate in College Advising from UC Extension and spent the next 10 years as the Director of College Counseling at Maybeck High School in Berkeley. JT was a member of the WACAC Executive Board specializing in athletics and served for three years as chair for the NACAC Student Athlete Advisory Committee which partners with the NCAA. You can find JT speaking about student-athletes and the college process to high schools and clubs all around the Bay Area and now “virtually” everywhere.

​JT holds a USSF “A” Coaching License and has worked extensively with the women’s and girls’ soccer Olympic Development Program at the state and regional levels. She was a commentator for the WUSA, the first women’s professional soccer league in the US. For the past twelve years JT has been coaching Mavericks soccer, producing an NPL Champions League team and many college soccer players who she enjoys watching play in DI, DII, DIII and CC programs all over the country.

lesle Gallimore

Lesle Gallimore brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our Female Footballers Advisory Board. She is a U.S. women’s soccer legend. She is a former D1 Coach and sports administrator who currently serves as General Manager for OL Reign of the NWSL. She is the former commissioner of the Girls Academy League and coached the women's soccer program at the University of Washington — retiring as the winningest coach in program history after 26 seasons. Her career victories rank in the top 25 in Division I women's soccer history.

Gallimore has served as a coach and staff instructor for US Soccer for 13 years. She helped coach some of the biggest names in the game today. She was also the former President of United Soccer Coaches where she made an impact on the direction and education in the game. She recently received the Carla Overbeck Leadership Award from US Soccer, for her dedication to giving back to the sport and leading the female side of our game to success on so many levels.

Lesle is a graduate of UC Berkeley where she met our staff as a fellow Alumni. She was a role model and coach for our founder, Kassie Gray, during her time as a player. Lesle is an amazing role model for women in sport as a player and administrator. She has taken the newly formed Girls Academy Program and helped shape it to be a whole player development model, helping to evolve coaching practices all over the country.