Collaboration is a key component in business because it can help companies expand into new markets. Safr, a rideshare company, and the Women’s National Football Conference both want to continue to carve out spaces for women — this includes trans women — so they decided to join forces.

Odessa Jenkins, CEO of the WNFC, and Syed Gilani, CEO of Safr, said they decided to work together because both organizations have similar goals: empowering women, keeping them safe, and offering opportunities to succeed.

“Honestly, we are looking for strategic partnerships with organizations that have the DNA and a mission that aligns with ours,” said Gilani. “What the WNFC has accomplished by building a parallel to the NFL is incredible. Both organizations see this as a long-term partnership.”

“It’s such an easy fit,” said Jenkins. “We are about connecting women to entrepreneurship, as well as the trillion-dollar industry of women in sports and technology. We thought it was a no-brainer.”

Photo: Odessa Jenkins, CEO of WNFC

Jenkins founded the WNFC in 2019, and it has several corporate sponsors. The WNFC has two divisions, the Pacific and the Atlantic Conference, and exists mostly in southern states, but also in major East and West Coast cities. Vinciane Ngomsi, a Yahoo sports reporter, writes that Jenkins “is using her influence to uplift Black women in sports.”

“An openly queer Black woman, Jenkins was candid about the criticism the league has faced thus far and how that fuels her to prove skeptics wrong,” reported Ngomsi.

“If you don’t have Black, queer or female leaders, it’s hard to have empathy and compassion for something not made personal to you,” Jenkins said in the same interview.

“When approaching a brand to align with us, I aim to present myself as authentically as possible. There is strength in representation. What fans look like today won’t be the same way they appear decades from now. Sixty-five percent of the league is made up of Black, Indigenous and people of color, and openly queer women make up 55% of the WNFC. … Sports are supposed to stay unique. We shouldn’t be called a gay women’s league like the NBA is a straight man’s league.”

Photo: Syed Gilani, SEO of Safr

Safr is a fairly new rideshare company. It focuses on giving women opportunities to drive and protecting them as drivers and passengers. It is one of few rideshare companies that has built its rideshare institution with women in mind. Riders can choose the gender of their drivers. Safr has drivers in Washington, D.C., Boston, San Francisco, Orlando, some places in Pakistan, and Dallas, the headquarters of the WNFC.

According to CNET, “both riders and drivers get an SOS function within the Safr app that can call 911, an emergency contact, or Safr staff.”

“Rides are also monitored in real-time 24/7, and Safr will immediately contact the rider or the driver if there are any deviations from the set route,” CNET.com reported.

“We realized that women are not given equal opportunities in the gig-economy as drivers due to safety reasons and more women were feeling unsafe while riding with traditional rideshare companies,” said Gilani. “We wanted to create a platform that empowers women to earn without safety concerns. We also wanted to ensure that women can focus on their life’s ambitions without the thought of safety being compromised; our pilot programs reassured our business model.”

In 2019, Uber reported, that a little over 3000 women had been sexually assaulted while ridesharing. Unlike other rideshare companies, Safr allows customers to choose the gender of their drivers.

Desiree Abrams is an entrepreneur, the coordinator of officials, and works in the office of officiating for the WNFC. She is a WNFC champion, and former player. Generally speaking, Abrams — due to officiating games in the league — said she uses rideshares to get from one place to another. Living in DC, she said, sometimes it’s better to use public transportation or rideshare than personally driving to a destination. Allowing women and transwomen to choose the gender of the driver, Abrams thinks, is reasonable, and could provide a sense of security.

“For you to be able to choose a driver based on gender, knowing that you automatically gravitate towards that particular gender and feel more comfortable there — I think it’s a reasonable accommodation you should be able to have,” Abrams said.

Jordyn White is the General Manager of the Washington Prodigy

Jordyn White is a general manager of the Washington Progidy, a D.C. team within the Atlantic Conference. White said that she grew up in Sicklerville, New Jersey, a suburb in south Jersey near Camden. Growing up there, White told me, using rideshare companies to travel wasn’t a reality, at least not like in D.C. She said growing up in the suburbs, there can be anxiety around using this kind of way of transportation. White said she has friends who are afraid to rent Airbnbs and to use rideshare companies.

“In the city, I think we get a little desensitized to the inherent risk that exists,” said White. I have some friends [who grew up in the suburban and rural areas] that have a lot of trepidation around renting Airbnbs or doing rideshares because they hear about these situations where people are rendered unsafe,” White said. “And I can’t speak for everyone, but I don’t think that our team, probably, if the option [to choose a driver based on gender] is not available…would be so distraught by that just because we are so used to [using rideshares], and we know how common the practices are here is the city.”

However, White said she knows people who are less familiar with the city, and with using rideshares, the option to choose a driver’s gender may provide a sense of relief and security.

“It’s always good to have that option and to be safe,” White said.

Safer partnering with the WNFC will give the rideshare more visibility.

“Our hope is that when we grow in scale, and build relationships…with our global sponsors and partners that we can continue to propel Safr into markets that there not in. The markets that we [co-occupy], we can grow them together,” explained Jenkins. “We are focusing on Dallas, but the expectation is that we will help the application to be adopted in all the cities. Ideally, it’s all of our players and fans. They come to one of our games, and they take a Safr home.”

Partnerships often have economic benefits for consumers and employees. Syed said WNFC players and organizational members will get a discount, and there will be frequent discounts offered to the fan base in each city or town. Also, team players, according to Gilani, will be allowed to become entrepreneurs (independent contractors) with the company.

“On a broader level, there is a real opportunity that we want to treat the members and the players as entrepreneurs,” Gilani. “ [There will be an] opportunity for them to partner with us as a first right of refusal to take the license or the brand in their market. On top of that figuring out how we can donate a percentage of our profits back to their initiative focused on employment, empowerment, or family issues within their membership base.”

Giving women players the opportunity to become independent contractors provides them with another avenue to make money. WNFC players are not paid to play in the league. Also, they have to pay to play. However, most players, if not all, have a career outside of football. For these players, their full or part-time jobs help them to pay for team expenses. Abrams said players pay for field time, equipment, and travel expenses. Like other rideshare companies, Safr drivers’ day-to-day pay can vary depending upon hours worked.

White said all players have other careers outside of football, in areas such as the federal government, information technology, and ministry. Additionally, there are a number of Prodigy players that have also driven for other rideshare companies to supplement income.

“I definitely know of women that would be interested in those business opportunities,” said White.

She added: “We play because we love it, but women don’t get paid. Providing safe and constructive opportunities for supplemental income is always a [wonderful] thing for us.”

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