Blackburn has been at the forefront of innovative and effective strategies for more than 10 years working with brands like WeWork, SONY, Location Based Technologies, American Idol/ABC, USA Volleyball and many local, national and global NGO’s.

Her professional experience spans traditional media relations, live television production and influencer marketing. Before her work at WeWork she ran ATHLETE MGNT where represented a (predominantly female) roster of Olympic Athletes where she handles all aspects of an individual’s brand marketing strategy, securing sponsorships/endorsements, licensing partnerships, and advising on all aspects of the athlete’s brand and online content.

Blackburn launched and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Give It Back Foundation founded by members of the USA Women’s Volleyball Team. Blackburn also serves the community through her leadership with the Positive Coach Alliance, Women’s Sports Film Festival and Play Like A Girl.

Most recently in 2018 she is co-lead the conversation with Gatorade, espnW and Refinery 29 on developing national research to keep young girls in sport. Also in conjunction with espnW she volunteered to help advance #AthleteActivism to help give tangible support to athletes who are using their platform to advance social justice issues on a local and global scale.

Blackburn has been honored as a “Make An Impact” women at the espnW Summit in 2014 for her innovative work in the sports industry. Before shifting her career from technology to sports, she was honored by Kenyan Prime Minister Dr Fred Okengo Matiani for her visionary work with One Laptop Per Child. The “Asilong Primary School” in West Pokot is the first technology school/lab in Kenya in conjunction with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

An avid explorer and learner, Blackburn has enjoyed working and volunteering in 13 countries and loves using the universal language of sports to communicate with anyone in the world. She continues her twelve years of international development work in Kenya by championing the Imani Collective, a non-profit that empowers women through social entrepreneurship and the Liberty House, a rehabilitation center outside of the capital city of Nairobi.

Recently she has volunteered alongside of United State of Women (USOW) to help amplify the work of organizations and individuals at the forefront of the fight for women’s equality. USOW’s mission is to provide tools, access and connections to help women see and step into their power to break down the barriers that hold women back. In 2017 she was a part of the group that launched the IL Council on Women and Girls from the incredible energy of USOW’s Galvanize program. The bill, HB 3402, passed the Senate State Government Committee in May of 2018. The Council will advise the governor and the General Assembly on policy issues through a female lens. It will focus on finding those areas of systemic disadvantage or bias in the states policies and seek realistic ways of reforming them.

Outside of her community work, her professional highlights include creating strategic partnerships for Location Based Technologies (LBT) with AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon to keep teen drivers safe with the universal #ItCanWait Distracted Driver Campaign. She also was a key leader helping execute the Apple (AAPL) partnership of the consumer facing brand of GPS Locators. At LBT she also created the company’s first Social Responsibility Campaign to fund USA public schools.

Blackburn played volleyball and graduated from Baylor University earning her B.A. as a Communications Specialist (Film and Digital Media and Journalism), with a minor in Public Relations. Upon graduation at Baylor, Blackburn was awarded the Student Life Achievement Award (Baylor’s highest honor for a student) for her work pioneering international development initiatives on campus such as the Baylor Sports Outreach (still in operation inside of the athletic department).

In 2017 she was certified by Wichita State University’s “E-Launch” Entrepreneurship Program while volunteering as an assistant under Shocker Volleyball Coach Chris Lamb. In 2017 Blackburn was certified in Sport Management by Columbia University.

Blackburn enjoys coaching her youth volleyball teams, public speaking, visual storytelling, community organizing, and “color commentating” volleyball games for ESPN and COX Communications. Her research interests include women’s empowerment, leveling the playing field for female entrepreneurs, and the intersection of sport and community development. Her forthcoming book and research will be published in 2021.