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Monica Gustin, vice president of business development at the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, is lauded for attracting "some of the largest events the city has ever seen."
Baldwin Wallace University sport management alumna Monica Gustin '12 is one of two executives honored by Women In Sports and Events (WISE) as a 2024 WISE Woman of Inspiration last week.
And, this week, she was named to Crain's Cleveland's elite "40 Under 40" list, which highlights "CEOs, founders, innovators, community champions and others under the age of 40 who are making significant impacts."
Ahead of the November 13 "Women of Inspiration" awards ceremony, WISE touted Gustin, who serves as vice president of business development at the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission (GCSC), as a "focused leader" in the Greater Cleveland community.
"We celebrate her work in attracting and managing the largest events that the city has ever seen, her commitment to bringing the right partners together for creative and unique solutions, and most recently for her role as Executive Director of the 2024 NCAA Women's Final Four."
Gustin, who has been at the GCSC for more than a dozen years, was elevated to vice president of business development in 2023. She was active in the sport management club as a BW undergraduate, where she played for the women's Yellow Jacket basketball team and was on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.
Her BW ties remain strong. A group of faculty and staff attended the WISE awards to cheer her on, and Gustin frequently comes back to campus to speak to classes. She also helped to arrange several exciting BW student experiences during the Women's Final Four earlier this year.
Crain's Cleveland Business, which previously named Gustin a "Notable LGBTQ Executives 2020," selected her to be among its 2024 "40 Under 40" class, citing her leadership of the wildly successful Women's Final Four.
"This year's games not only drew sold-out crowds to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse — and a combined 40.5 million TV viewers for the semifinals and final — but saw tens of thousands more attend the week's ancillary events," Crain's wrote, adding that the event was a "dream come true" for the former Yellow Jacket hoopster.
"Women's sports is so on the rise and to have a very small, individual part of that was incredible, but to see Cleveland shine on that level was beyond fulfilling," she told Crain's.
The magazine also notes that Gustin started interning at the GCSC during her junior year at BW.
David Gilbert, the president and CEO of the GCSC and Destination Cleveland, told the magazine, "It's been really fun to watch her grow from being an intern to, 13 or so years later, being an incredible leader. And that's not just in our own organization; she's really respected throughout the whole industry."
