Rosa M. Gatti

Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and Outreach, ESPN, Inc.

GRADUATE: Archbishop Prendergast High School

Rosa Gatti has been responsible for ESPN’s public relations since its first year of operation as one network. Today, she oversees the communications and corporate outreach strategies for ESPN, Inc., which includes 50 business entities worldwide, and is the liaison to The Walt Disney Company’s Communications and Investor Relations departments.

Prior to joining ESPN, Gatti spent four years as the Sports Information Director at Brown University (1976-1980). During her tenure, she served as the publicity coordinator for several NCAA championships and chaired a variety of national sports information committees.

Before Brown, Gatti was employed by her alma mater, Villanova University, where she advanced rapidly. Starting as a secretary in the University’s sports information office in 1973, Gatti was promoted to assistant director within a year, and shortly thereafter (Dec. 1974) became the first female SID in the NCAA’s major university division. In 1983, she became the first woman to receive Villanova’s Arts & Sciences Medallion, awarded to alumni for their professional achievements: “In a male-dominated field of endeavor, Rosa has shown a creative and positive approach to sports publicity and public relations.

During her career as a Sports Information Director, Gatti was selected President of the ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) SIDs and served as Vice President of CoSIDA (the national organization of College Sports Information Directors of America). She also served on the public relations advisory committee of the U.S. Olympic Committee in the 1980s. In 1987, CoSIDA honored Gatti with the Jake Wade Award for outstanding contribution to intercollegiate athletics in the communications media, and the Keith Jackson “Eternal Flame” Award in 2003 for a lasting contribution to intercollegiate athletics.

Gatti received the Association Cable Communications Achievement Award for her contributions to cable communications and public affairs in 2005, and the Communications Department received PR Week’s Corporate Team of the Year award in 2005. In 2008 she was named one of the Wonder Women of the year for her contributions to the cable and telecommunications industries.

Gatti is a graduate of Archbishop Prendergast High School (1968) and was graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Villanova University in 1972. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for The V Foundation for Cancer Research, the Association of Cable Communicators and the Franciscan Life Center. She previously held board positions with Women in Cable and Telecommunications, Cable and Telecommunications Human Resources Association, Bristol Family Center for Girls and Boys, and the 1995 Special Olympics World Games, and was a trustee of Villanova University for 10 years.