Alana Beard

As an entrepreneur, Alana utilizes the power of education, community, business, and sports to create a culture shift in how women and girls experience access and opportunity. Alana is the Founder of Transition Play, a talent firm helping women athletes to build a prolific life across their personal, professional, and public domains beyond the game. She is the Founder and President of the 318 Foundation, a nonprofit established in her hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, committed to inspiring positive college, career, and life outcomes for high school girls in underrepresented communities. Alana is also leading a bid to acquire the rights to a WNBA franchise. She served on the Board of Directors for Fifth Wall Acquisition Corp. I, where she advised company leaders as they navigated the completion of their IPO through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) transaction in 2021. She holds Board positions at SmartRent (NYSE: SMRT), Fifth Wall Acquisition Corp. III., and The Sports Academy Foundation. Best known for her athletic career, Alana won championships at every level, from high school to the WNBA and internationally. She was the first woman basketball player to have her jersey number retired at Duke University, a four-time WNBA All-Star, and an integral piece in leading the Los Angeles Sparks to a WNBA Championship in 2016. At the back end of her career, Alana won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year Awards in 2017 and 2018. She retired in January 2020 after 15 years, was enshrined in the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022, and is set to be enshrined in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in July 2023. During and after her time in the WNBA, Alana found success as a small business owner, start-up founder, mentor, and advocate for female athletes in corporate America. After her retirement in 2020, she served as a Senior Associate at Silicon Valley Bank Capital.