Research shows that sports help women and girls build confidence, positive relationships and a sense of purpose. And yet, female athletes can struggle with depression, anxiety and isolation.
Christina Walker, AB ’24, MSW ’25, understands this paradox all too well.
“Basketball has given me a lot,” says Walker, a four-year member of the Bears women’s basketball team. “But female athletes face unique mental health challenges that often are overlooked. For one, we face unfair gender norms — ‘Oh, you’re not as good as the boys’ — that, amongst other things, negatively impact our self-esteem and can create bigger issues.”
At WashU, Walker discovered a suite of opportunities — on the basketball court, in the classroom, and within student and campus organizations — to build on her interests and become a future-ready leader in the field of sports mental health. Less than a year after graduating from the Brown School’s 3-2 program, earning a bachelor’s degree in psychological and brain sciences from Arts & Sciences and a master’s degree in social work from the Brown School, she is launching a mental health platform, 4 Her Sport.
Supporting future-ready leaders like Walker is a key priority of With You: The WashU Campaign, which launched May 1, 2025. “WashU is committed to developing purpose-driven leaders of character and capability,” says Anna Gonzalez, vice chancellor for student affairs.
In the classroom, the course “Social Entrepreneurship,” taught by Heather Cameron, the Michael B. Kaufman Professor of Practice in Social Entrepreneurship, was a revelation for Walker. With assistance from Cameron, as well as others including Emeritus Trustee Maxine Clark and staff from the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Walker developed a scalable plan for her enterprise.
In the fall 2024 Skandalaris Venture Competition, Walker pitched her plan for 4 Her Sport. The platform provides an online health curriculum and resources, interviews with female athletes and a space where women can share personal stories and advice. She won an Innovation Award in the Skandalaris competition, which offers funding and support to selected early-stage entrepreneurs.
“The experience gave me a new way to think about how to achieve my mission while making a living,” says Walker, who also works as a therapist at Youth In Need, a child and family services agency. “There is something special about the Skandalaris Center — the speakers they bring in, the resources they provide, the programming they offer and their overall positivity.”
“There is something special about the Skandalaris Center — the speakers they bring in, the resources they provide, the programming they offer and their overall positivity.”
Christina Walker
Walker says campus leadership opportunities also prepared her for the future. She served as a peer mentor at the Taylor Family Center for Student Success and held executive positions with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, Black Women and Femmes Collective, and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated.
These types of roles and experiences are woven throughout the student experience, and through With You, future WashU students will have even more opportunities to develop their leadership potential. The George and Carol Bauer Leaders Academy, for example, offers leadership coaching, cohort-based workshops and a path to earn a Leadership Development Badge. (For more about the academy, see “Redefining Leadership” in the April 2025 issue of WashU Magazine.)
“A truly transformative education extends beyond the classroom,” says Gonzalez. “When we invest in the student experience, we’re preparing compassionate, capable individuals who are ready to lead and serve in a complex world.”
Ultimately, Walker, who is pursuing her license in clinical social work, plans to provide group therapy to high school and college teams.
“Group settings help athletes see that their peers may also be going through the same things, and that allows for team healing and team trust,” says Walker, who is working with track and field athletes at Incarnate Word Academy in St. Louis County.
As female sports and players grow in popularity, the need for mental health support is ever more urgent, she says. Informed by her own experiences and course work, and bolstered by her campus leadership experiences, she’s committed to helping others thrive — both in person and online.
“A big reason why I chose WashU was because of its emphasis on work-life balance,” Walker says. “I knew I wanted to do more than basketball; I wanted to have a great college experience and grow as a leader.”
“Having time to work with first-year students at the Taylor Center and organize events that build community amongst my peers and student athletes was important to me,” she says. “I’m passionate about uplifting other people.”
“The experience gave me a new way to think about how to achieve my mission while making a living.”
