About
Founders' Message
As the only two girls on our high school’s co-ed varsity golf team, we have always been strong advocates for gender equality in sports, especially golf. However, golf is not an easily accessible sport, so we founded FairWay for Girls, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring and teaching underprivileged girls to play golf. We want to provide other girls with the same opportunities we were given, while doing our part to help close the gender and socioeconomic gap in the sport of golf.
Lauren & Olivia Wood
Our Mission
FairWay for Girls is a 501(c) (3) student-run nonprofit organization in Northern Virginia dedicated to closing the gender gap in golf by inspiring girls and expanding opportunities for girls to learn golf. Our high school volunteers provide free introductory golf lessons to girls, particularly those from underprivileged backgrounds. Through our website and blogs, we seek to bring awareness to gender equality issues, promote female golfers, provide resources to girls who want to learn golf, and raise funds and donations of equipment to help our mission.
Our Team
Lauren Wood
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Treasurer of the Board
Lauren is a high school junior and co-captain of her varsity golf team. She has been playing golf since kindergarten, and her love for the sport only grew as she got older. After seeing how girls were underrepresented in high school golf tournaments, she co-founded FairWay for Girls to inspire and assist young girls with beginning to play golf.
Olivia Wood
Co-Founder, Chairman and Secretary of the Board
Olivia is a sophomore and a member of both the varsity and girls golf teams at her school. She co-founded FairWay for Girls to help give young girls more opportunities to learn golf. She has been playing golf since she was six years old, and wants to pass on her love of the sport to other girls and work to close the gender gap in golf.
Gabriella MacKay
Director
Gabbi is a high school sophomore and competed for her school's coed varsity golf team in her freshman year. Gabbi has been playing golf since she was six years old. Golf has been a way for her to spend time with the people she cares about and make new friends. She would love to share that experience with other girls.
Victoria Diaz
Director
Victoria is a junior in high school and captain of her school's varsity co-ed golf team. She has been playing golf since the age of ten and wants to share her passion for the sport with other young girls.
Our Advisors To The Board
Megan Leineweber
Megan has been on the Professional staff at TPC Potomac since 2021 and now serves as the Lead Assistant at the club. She turned professional in 2010 after graduating from Radford University where she competed all four years on their Division I women’s golf program. Megan held status on the LPGA Symetra Tour for three seasons before transitioning into the club professional role. Her most recent accomplishments include being one of five women to qualify and compete in the National PGA Assistant’s Championship and was voted the 2023 Middle Atlantic PGA Assistant of the Year.
Rick Burk
Rick Burk is the owner and president of Next Level Golf USA and provides instruction, course management guidance, performance testing, and on-course playing ability assessments. He was named Top 50 US Kids Coach 5 times and a Top 100 US Kids Coach since 2010. Rick has been a PGA Junior League coach since 2011 and a passionate advocate of the First Tee program.
Joshua Sweeney
Josh started playing golf at 13 and immediately became hooked. After a few lessons on the basics, most of what he learned during the early years came from countless hours and many frustrations on the golf course, and practice areas attempting to figure things out on his own. Josh has been teaching golf since 2004. Following high school, he planned to enter a dual degree mechanical/nuclear engineering program at the Pennsylvania State University; however, during his freshman year he recognized his true passion was the game of golf. Josh graduated with degrees in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management - Professional Golf Management and Business Management from Penn State.