Research Team

Meet our Researchers

Athlete Ally Staff

Dr. Anna Baeth (she/her)

Director of Research

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Anna Baeth, Ph.D., is the Director of Research for Athlete Ally. Baeth (she/her) is a feminist sport scholar from Frederick, Maryland. Baeth has a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in Kinesiology with a focus on Sport Sociology. While there, she was a research assistant in the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport and examined the experiences of NCAA D-I women coaches with career longevity via a Graduate Student Research Grant from the NCAA. Baeth is a coach and advocate for cultural awareness in sport spaces. Holding an M.S. in Exercise and Sport Studies from Smith College (MA), Baeth has been an assistant lacrosse coach at Hamline University (MN), head field hockey coach at Oberlin College and Conservatory (OH), and assistant field hockey / lacrosse coach at Mount Holyoke College (MA). She holds a Level IV Coaching Certification through the National Council for Accreditation of Coaching Education and is a Level II Accredited Coach through US Field Hockey. Baeth graduated from Swarthmore College (PA) with a degree in Sociology and Anthropology, Peace Studies, and Educational Studies, where she played field hockey and lacrosse and where she founded the not-for-profit Chester Neighborhood Bike Works.

adidas x Athlete Ally AEI Fellows

AJ Kurtz (she/they)

Athlete Ally x adidas AEI Research Fellow | Senior Associate of AEI Communications & Collaborations

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AJ Kurtz is studying community organization for violence prevention at Penn State University. They have been teaching writing and developing inclusive curriculum for students in high school through college since 2013. In 2020, she joined the adidas x AEI research fellows. Since then, they have focused on developing resources and ongoing meetings for religiously affiliated institutions as well as forming partnerships with other organizations and managing communications around the AEI.

AJ is liaison to the following schools:

Dr. Jo Line (she/they)

Athlete Ally x adidas AEI Research Fellow | Athletics Inclusive Climate and Belonging Senior Specialist

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Jo Line (she/they) studies sport from a feminist cultural studies perspective with the aim of helping teams maximize their collective capacity. Her primary focus is inclusive leadership development in college sport. In addition to working with Athlete Ally, Jo is an Assistant Professor of Sport Management at Hiram College. Jo’s experience also includes eight years of collegiate coaching at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), Smith College, and the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. They also have coached several community running programs. Jo earned a Ph.D. in American Culture Studies with a concentration in ethnicity, gender, and social identities from BGSU, an M.S. in Exercise and Sport Studies from Smith College, and a B.A. in French and Biology from Oberlin College. At Oberlin, Jo earned seven NCAA All-American honors in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track during her tenure. After graduating, she was awarded a Watson Fellowship to explore the experiences of women runners in different cultural contexts, during which she trained and competed with teams around the world, in countries including Ethiopia, France, Norway, and Singapore. They continue to train and compete in races, ranging from 5ks to marathons.

Jo is liaison to the following schools:

Ryan Socolow (he/him)

Athlete Ally x adidas AEI Research Fellow | Senior Fellow of Data & Trans Inclusion Research Coordinator

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Ryan Socolow graduated from Endicott College with a B.A. in Sociology & Gender Studies and a minor in Psychology. He completed an M.S. degree at Springfield College in Sport and Exercise Psychology. Ryan played lacrosse at Endicott, earning 4 consecutive conference championship victories and their first NCAA tournament win. He also founded and was president of the college’s Gender-Sexuality Alliance for 4 years. Ryan has coached at the high school and collegiate levels while presenting across the US and internationally on LGBTQ+ athletes and inclusion efforts. He loves to work collaboratively while sharing and developing resources. His research has focused on trans college athletes and supportive athletic environments, allyship, and policy. When not at his computer, you can find him hiking with his dog, Spud!

Ryan is liaison to the following schools:

Anna Russian (she/her)

Athlete Ally x adidas AEI Research Fellow

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Anna (she/her) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at Indiana University. Her dissertation uses the case study of former Division I NCAA college athletes’ transition out of college athletics to examine how race and sexuality impact a) the ways people hold themselves and others accountable for how they express their gendered selves. And b) when and under what conditions people reject previous gender socialization or use it to their advantage. She received her M.A. in Sociology and M.S. in Applied Statistics from IU Bloomington and holds a B.A. in Global Studies and Spanish from Providence College. During her time at PC, Anna was a proud member of the Women’s Varsity Volleyball and Basketball teams.

Raiya Taha Thomure (they/them)

Athlete Ally x adidas AEI Research Fellow

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Raiya (they/them) is a Lebanese-Muslim settler in Tkaronto (Toronto) who recently graduated from the Bachelor of Kinesiology program at the University of Toronto, with a personal focus on Physical Cultural Studies. Raiya has been involved in sport-related social justice research for the past three years, mainly focusing on gender-based violence experienced by trans* athletes in North America. As a non-binary former-powerlifter at the U.S. national level, Raiya’s initial focus looked at the violences posed towards transgender powerlifters. After publishing this work, Raiya expanded their research focus to include all sports in an investigation of gender-based violence against trans* athletes at large. Recently, Raiya has been working on multiple projects from sport environmentalism, COVID-related encampment evictions, and trans*-related research for the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES). Raiya hopes to enter a graduate program in Fall 2023 to advance their studies of gender and sport.

Dr. Sam Winemiller (he/him)

Athlete Ally x adidas AEI Research Fellow | Senior Fellow of Data & Research Initiatives

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Sam is responsible for a variety of initiatives in the research division of Athlete Ally including management of the AEI database. Sam is a feminist cultural studies scholar whose research focuses on ways to make sports and recreation more welcoming to all people. He earned his PhD in kinesiology and sport studies from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, after earning his master’s in sport management at the University of Florida, and is now working on his master’s in information and library science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to graduate studies, Sam worked for six years in the outdoor industry in the mountains of North Carolina.

Leo Wytkind (they/them)

Athlete Ally x adidas AEI Research Fellow

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Leo Wytkind (they/them) graduated with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Educational Studies from Haverford College. They were a 2-year captain of the soccer team at Haverford. Leo was also Student Consultant at the Haverford Teaching and Learning Institute, where they partnered with professors to create accessible and engaging learning environments. Since then, Leo has worked in both the education and disability fields, working to create inclusive spaces for folks in the classroom and beyond. They spent time as a Partner Teacher at a D.C. Public School and currently work as a Program Associate at The Arc of the United States, with a focus on Education and Health initiatives for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

We are grateful to adidas for their sponsorship of the adidas x Athlete Ally Research Fellowship.