I have just returned from a week in Doha, Qatar where the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships were held.  In addition seeing some great tennis, I was also honored to be named the first Global Mentor for Gender Equality as part of an international program with the WTA Tour and UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).  I was thrilled to be joined at the announcement in Doha by Vera Zvonareva of Russia.  The players are behind this new program and the partnership already has the support and involvement of Venus Williams, China’s Zheng Jie, Tatiana Golovin from France and many other athletes, all of whom are committed to bringing about equality for women and men around the globe.

Both Ilana and I are pleased the new program will include a role for the Women’s Sports Foundation.  The combination of UNESCO, the WTA Tour and the Women’s Sports Foundation is a powerful team. 

The Billie Jean King Leadership Internship program – which will be funded by the UNESCO/Sony Ericsson WTA Tour partnership is the sixth UNESCO program to be launched, joining projects in Cameroon, Liberia, Jordan, China and Dominican Republic announced in November 2007.  The new program will be run by the Women’s Sports Foundation, and will annually provide an opportunity for one young woman to gain experience in the sports industry through an internship at the Women’s Sports Foundation.  Over the years we have had more than 500 interns at the Foundation and many of them have gone on to jobs and careers in the public and private sector.  Women are severely underrepresented in leadership positions in the sports industry, and the program is designed to develop a next generation of female sports leaders.

The trip to Doha further convinced me this is the century of women and the century for women and programs like the UNESCO partnership are great examples of what is being done around the world.  I was excited to make my first trip to Qatar to see firsthand how equality is incorporated into other societies and cultures.  I went there to listen and to learn. 

In order to move forward – especially in such monumental efforts as gender equity -- you first have to recognize change is difficult and change takes time.  And, we cannot create change without respect for one another.  After seeing things in Doha, I know we are headed in the right direction.  We are working together and it's important for people, both men and women, to see women be examples of leadership in supportive roles. 

Having the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha is important.  You have to see it to be it.  You either have to see it in your mind because it's never happened and visualize it, or you have to see it for yourself.  So when young girls and women see the players playing, maybe it will inspire them in their own lives to think about things.  But it also inspires both men and women to listen to each other, to see each other sometimes in a different way.  

Just seven years ago Doha was the first Middle East city and Qatar the first country in the region to host a women’s professional tennis tournament.  What is happening in Doha is not all that different from how women’s professional tennis began on the Virginia Slims Series in the United States.  Granted, because of the progress of our sport, there is not a need for the players to stand in the street and stop cars to give them tickets to the matches (yes, we really did that).  But, the spirit is there.

Just as we did 35 years ago, these women are taking steps to make things happen – to create change.  These younger players have accepted the responsibility to see this partnership through to a reality and they are making an effort to inform and educate others, one by one.  To see current and past generations of our sport working together toward a common goal is a great thing and it’s all very healthy and uplifting.