Episode 78: Jessi Miley-Dyer, Chief of Sports at the World Surf League, Shares How To Roll With It And Speak Up

Embrace the Pivot with Dr. Cheryl Robinson

You never know when a pivot is going to occur. Sometimes you just have to roll with it or go with the flow. Jessi Miley-Dyer, Chief of Sports at the World Surf League, shares how to roll with it and speak up. As a former professional surfer, there was a significant difference in pay for the men versus women. When she started overseeing the competitions after retirement, she began to speak up about the pay gap and how they could find a solution. Today, the men and women surfers earn equal prize money.

More about Jessi:

Jessi Miley-Dyer is the Chief of Sport for the World Surf League (WSL), the global home of surfing. Miley-Dyer, a former Championship Tour (CT) competitor, oversees the entire competitive landscape for the WSL’s Tours and competitions, including the Championship Tour, Challenger Series,Qualifying Series, Pro Junior Series, Big Wave, Longboard, and specialty events/series.

Since joining the WSL in 2012, Miley-Dyer has been integral to professional surfing's growth, particularly in developing the women's Tours. Miley-Dyer has held several positions within the Tours and Competitions team, including the Women's Championship Tour Manager, and Vice President of Tours and Competitions. Miley-Dyer most recently held the role of Senior Vice President of Tours and Head of Competition. Miley-Dyer has led milestones for professional surfing through her work with the WSL. In 2022, the WSL hosted the first fully-combined men's and women's competition schedules for the Championship Tour and Challenger Series. Miley-Dyer was key in the WSL's groundbreaking 2018 announcement to award equal prize money to male and female athletes for every WSL-owned and operated event from 2019 onwards, becoming the first and only US-based, global sports league to

do so. Miley-Dyer also introduced the WSL Rising Tides program, a community engagement program to inspire the next generation to take to the surf. Her work has received worldwide recognition for surfing and women's sport. Most recently, she was honored as a 2022 Sports

Business Journal (SBJ) Game Changer for her groundbreaking work at the WSL.

Before joining the WSL, Miley-Dyer spent over 10 years as a professional surfer. She earned numerous accolades, including winning the first World Junior Championship and spending six years competing on the Championship Tour, where she won the Billabong Pro Maui in her rookie year. During her competitive career, Miley-Dyer also took on the Surfers' Representative role, allowing her the opportunity to help grow the sport as an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Board Member and Director.

Miley-Dyer was born and raised in Sydney, Australia, and earned her Master's Degree in Business from the University of New South Wales. Miley-Dyer is based in California at WSL's Santa Monica headquarters.