The Inaugural Women in Sports Data Networking event began Saturday at the Brooklyn Nets training facility in Industry City.

With panelists from the NFL, NBA, ESPN and other professional leagues, the event aims to amplify women’s voices in the sports industry.

The initiative was launched by Tegan Bunsu Ashby, senior software engineer for the Brooklyn Nets, Sarah Gelles, director of Research and Development for the Houston Astros, and Diana Ma, former data scientist for the Los Angeles Lakers.

"STEM is already extremely underrepresented for women, about 20% of software engineers in the Silicon Valley are female, but in sports, it's half of that," Ashby says. "We're building the front office of the future, the next GM of a major sports team is in that room today. We want people to see that women can be technical, but they can also speak the language of sports."

It provided aspiring professionals and college students with the exciting opportunity to hear from industry leaders through panel discussions and immersive experiences.

News 12’s Brittany Cadet has more from the event.