Nice Talk with Nikki Ogunnaike
Nice Talk with Nikki Ogunnaike
Future
Power Talk: Shana Stephenson, the NY Liberty Chief Brand Officer, on the Power of Women’s Sports
40 minutes Posted Jul 31, 2025 at 9:00 am.
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Today we’re focusing on the topic of “power” with the Chief Brand Officer of the New York Liberty WNBA team, Shana Stephenson. She grew up in a sports-loving family in New York, and after years of working in marketing at ESPN and running her own businesses in the sports industry, in 2018, Stephenson joined the NY Liberty. Since then, she’s led the team through a major rebrand as it moved from Westchester to Brooklyn and helped create its beloved mascot, Ellie the Elephant. With Stephenson at the branding helm, the NY Liberty has cemented its place as a leader in the industry, securing partnerships with brands like Away and Fenty and seeing a 665% increase in social media engagement. In this episode, she dives the development and evolution of Ellie the Elephant, what goes into branding a WNBA team, and the power of women’s sports.