Odessa "OJ" Jenkins
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Odessa "OJ" Jenkins is a successful coach, executive, and CEO of the Women’s National Football Conference (WNFC). Jenkins is the winningest head coach in women’s tackle football history, with a staggering 91–5 career record, and a seven-time national champion. She is also an in-demand global speaker and leadership coach, and the founder of multiple nonprofits, including Got Her Back, dedicated to uplifting girls and women in football.
She previously served as the CEO of Bonfire, a leadership development company focused on empowering women leaders through transformative programs and experiences. A disruptor in tech, Jenkins was part of the executive team at YourCause, a Texas-based tech and philanthropy company that exited to Blackbaud for $157 million.
In addition to her leadership in business and tech, Jenkins has built one of the premier women’s sports leagues in the country, creating unprecedented opportunity, visibility, and equity in football for women and girls. She was an inaugural participant in the NFL’s first Women’s Careers in Football Forum and one of the first women to earn the coveted Bill Walsh Diversity Internship in an on-field coaching position.
Jenkins is a proud member of the Dove Body Confident Collective, an all-star squad of influential female voices in sports assembled by Dove to support its Body Confident Sport initiative. The campaign aims to help young female athletes feel more confident in their bodies and on the field. The collective includes icons like Billie Jean King, Venus Williams, Sabrina Ionescu, Tara Davis-Woodhall, Kylie Kelce, Emma Navarro, and Jenkins.
She has been featured on The Today Show, NBC, Sports Illustrated, Essence, CBS Sports, Yahoo Sports, NFL Network, and more. Jenkins was named one of Sports Illustrated’s most influential and powerful women in sports, voted Culture in Sports’ 2022 Sports Leader of the Year, and received the 2023 Leigh Steinberg Denicola Humanitarian Award. In 2024, Essence recognized her as one of the Top 25 Black Women Changing the World of Sports, and in 2025, she was honored on the Curve Power List, recognizing LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary leaders making lasting impact in their communities.
Heralded as one of the top inclusive leadership experts in the country, Jenkins is fiercely committed to building a more equitable world for all.
She previously served as the CEO of Bonfire, a leadership development company focused on empowering women leaders through transformative programs and experiences. A disruptor in tech, Jenkins was part of the executive team at YourCause, a Texas-based tech and philanthropy company that exited to Blackbaud for $157 million.
In addition to her leadership in business and tech, Jenkins has built one of the premier women’s sports leagues in the country, creating unprecedented opportunity, visibility, and equity in football for women and girls. She was an inaugural participant in the NFL’s first Women’s Careers in Football Forum and one of the first women to earn the coveted Bill Walsh Diversity Internship in an on-field coaching position.
Jenkins is a proud member of the Dove Body Confident Collective, an all-star squad of influential female voices in sports assembled by Dove to support its Body Confident Sport initiative. The campaign aims to help young female athletes feel more confident in their bodies and on the field. The collective includes icons like Billie Jean King, Venus Williams, Sabrina Ionescu, Tara Davis-Woodhall, Kylie Kelce, Emma Navarro, and Jenkins.
She has been featured on The Today Show, NBC, Sports Illustrated, Essence, CBS Sports, Yahoo Sports, NFL Network, and more. Jenkins was named one of Sports Illustrated’s most influential and powerful women in sports, voted Culture in Sports’ 2022 Sports Leader of the Year, and received the 2023 Leigh Steinberg Denicola Humanitarian Award. In 2024, Essence recognized her as one of the Top 25 Black Women Changing the World of Sports, and in 2025, she was honored on the Curve Power List, recognizing LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary leaders making lasting impact in their communities.
Heralded as one of the top inclusive leadership experts in the country, Jenkins is fiercely committed to building a more equitable world for all.