$1 Million Gift to Create LEAD Scholars Program for Athletics

The gift from Cathy Engelbert '86 '23P will prepare the next generation of leaders

Seeking to give back to her alma mater and helping to prepare the next generation of women leaders — and inspired by Soaring Together, the celebration of 50 years of undergraduate coeducation at Lehigh — Cathy Engelbert '86 '23P recently made a $1 million gift to establish the Cathy Engelbert '86 LEAD (Leadership, Empowerment, Athletics, and Distinction) Scholars Program for women athletes.

LEAD will bring together cohorts of women, as well as male advocates, in a holistic program that will empower and impact the development of women athletes, staff, and girls in the Bethlehem community. Lehigh students in the program will benefit from individualized development plans, alumni mentorships, academic courses, research experiences, and community engagement.

Engelbert knows firsthand the challenges of leadership. She arrived at Lehigh as an "extremely shy and quiet" first-year student but credits her Lehigh experience with bringing her out of her shell — socially, academically, and athletically. Having honed her leadership skills — as CEO of Deloitte until her retirement after a 33 year career, and currently, as the first ever commissioner of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) — Engelbert believes that experiential learning and confidence are crucial. She envisions that the LEAD program will provide student-athletes with a head start on developing key leadership skills while they're still at Lehigh and prior to embarking on their careers.

"We need their leadership," Engelbert said. "We need this generation of young women to step up and raise their hands when they're uncomfortable doing different things, to know what it means to take risks in their future careers and how to build their capabilities more broadly. And I'm hoping this program will help them see that that's how you lead — that's how you develop your skills and that is how you become a future leader in the complex world they are facing."

"Throughout her life, Cathy Engelbert has exemplified the qualities that define the LEAD program that she helped us to envision," said Joe Sterrett '76 '78G '03P '05P '07P '09P, Murray H. Goodman Dean of Athletics. "We are incredibly grateful to her and fully expect that her commitment will inspire others to join in supporting our aspiration of making Lehigh the most compelling institution for a talented female scholar-athlete to learn, grow, achieve, and become prepared to lead."

Engelbert came to Lehigh as a lacrosse recruit and was a walk-on guard for women's basketball in her freshman year. She eventually captained both teams and received the Hall Foundation Award for most outstanding senior female athlete. In her senior year, the women's basketball team won the East Coast conference championship, where Engelbert was named tournament MVP. She graduated with an accounting degree in 1986 and went straight to work at Deloitte, where she stayed for 33 years until her retirement. She became WNBA commissioner in 2019.

"I think when you play college sports, it naturally builds some leadership skills. I learned lessons at Lehigh that provided a great foundation to eventually lead 100,000 people [at Deloitte] and now to lead the inspiring players of the WNBA. The LEAD Scholars Program is designed to provide a path to current student athletes to be ready to thrive in their next phase after Lehigh graduation," Engelbert said.

Julie Ammary '07, director of athletics leadership development, said Engelbert's gift will make the athletics program even better. "To be able to leverage and expand the most effective elements of our current leadership development efforts with these resources is a game changer."

Head Women's Basketball Coach Sue Troyan concurs. "This will certainly provide an opportunity for Lehigh Athletics to become distinctive in how we recruit, develop, and prepare young women for a lifetime of leadership."

Engelbert hopes that, in years to come, LEAD scholars will credit the program with giving them a foundation of leadership that contributes to their success, as Lehigh contributed to hers.

"I was blessed to have a long career in business, and now I'm leading a women's professional sports league," she said. "It's important to me to give back and get the next generation prepared for what is a very complicated world to lead in."

-- by Cynthia Tintorri

Lehigh University Athletics

$1 Million Gift to Create LEAD Scholars Program for Athletics

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