U.S. Girls & Women's Rugby News • EST 2016

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Women’s Elite Rugby Expands Leadership

  • 02 Mar 2026
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Onyx 2025 Women's Elite Rugby champ

March 2, 2026 — Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) today announced a series of key leadership and governance advancements as the league enters its Series A raise on the back of its successful inaugural season. The league is strengthening its leadership bench with proven operators, people who have built audiences, grown revenue, and run businesses with fiscal discipline, to help WER scale faster.

Over the past several months, WER has also significantly bolstered its executive leadership team. Dr. Jessica Hammond-Graf has transitioned into the role of Chief Sporting Officer, while continuing to serve as President, with oversight of high-performance planning, rugby operations, athlete development, and events. Phil Camm has moved into the role of Chief Commercial Officer, leading the league’s growth strategy. This new leadership structure will report to an already impressive board.

At the board level, the league welcomes Priya Oberoi, representing Goddess Gaia Ventures. Her addition deepens the board’s expertise as WER enters its next phase of growth. Oberoi joins board members Randy Little, co-founders Koma Gandy and Jenny Houlihan, and lead investor Deb Henretta.

In parallel with these leadership advancements, WER has established a Commercial Advisory Council composed of seasoned industry leaders Teresa Palladino, Liz Anderson, Stacy Jolna, and Rob Candelino. The Council is a senior-advisor group made up of WER stakeholders helping to sharpen the league’s commercial plans, focused on marketing, partnerships, broadcast and investment strategy.

WER Commercial Advisory Council

Teresa Palladino is a senior marketing executive with global experience building sports and media brands that grow audiences, deepen fan engagement, and drive revenue. She spent a decade at Red Bull creating athlete-led campaigns and partnerships with measurable commercial impact. Most recently, she led brand marketing, storytelling, community engagement, and partnerships for Grand Slam Track’s launch, and earlier helped ONE Championship expand across the Americas through digital and broadcast partnerships.

Liz Anderson is an entertainment and sports marketing leader with 20 years of experience shaping global campaigns. At Netflix, she led strategy for live sports and events, partnering with leagues like the NFL and WWE. She also built the “Netflix is a Joke” brand and marketed comedy worldwide, after leading digital and social strategy at Disney/ABC.

Stacy Jolna is a C-suite media innovator working across TV, AI, streaming, and social. At TiVo, he built the brand nationwide, secured strategic media investments, and helped drive a successful IPO to a $1B market cap. At News Corp, he created and scaled TV Guide SPOT from concept to a $650M market cap. He also launched CNN Presents and Special Reports, and now leads enViibe, an AI guidance platform for streaming consumers.

Rob Candelino is a globally accomplished Consumer Products executive, investor, advisor and Board member. Most recently, Rob served as CEO of PetSafe Brands, the world’s largest PetTechnology company. Prior to that Rob spent decades at Unilever where he served in a variety of executive roles, most notably as CEO of Thailand and Inland ASEAN. Rob is a Board member of The Scott’s Miracle-Gro Company, where he Chairs the Innovation and Technology Committee, and the Tennessee Theatre.

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The Rugby Breakdown (TRB) covers girls and women's rugby in the U.S. JACKIE FINLAN is the sole employee creating content and the paid subscription base supports this full-time enterprise. For $5/month (or $60/year), subscribers access features covering the USA Eagles, senior clubs, colleges, high schools, and everything in between. TRB prides itself on original, interview-based articles that showcase the people driving this great sport in the U.S.

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