Business Elevated

Stephen Curry's three-point shooting changed how basketball is coached and played at every level, from youth leagues to the NBA. Off the court, he and Ayesha Curry have spent the past seven years trying to change something harder: the odds facing Oakland's children.

Brenda Villa is one of only two athletes in water polo history to win four Olympic medals. But the cause she has championed since leaving the pool as a player is about who gets to jump in at all.

Stephen Curry, Golden State Valkyries President Jess Smith, Olympic medalist Brenda Villa, and the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative are the first winners of the Bay Area Sports Business Awards. The Leavey School of Business and the San Francisco Chronicle will present a fifth award live at the November 9 gala.