June 4, 2019

Courtney Place made a bold statement in her junior year at Augustana University:

“I have an idea, and I want to change the world with it.”

Less than two years later, her vision for a movement to recognize female athletes has been honored by Victoria’s Secret Pink with a new national award.

See Us evolved into a social media and fundraising success, benefiting the Women’s Sports Foundation and holding drives for athletic clothes and feminine hygiene products.

“It’s a movement that spreads awareness about female athletes being underrepresented, sexualized and judged on appearance rather than ability,” Place said. “I hope that it just spreads awareness and starts conversations that didn’t happen before, and I think that it’s a hard subject to talk about, and a lot of people are afraid to discuss female empowerment in general but with sports especially, and hopefully I want it to become a nationally known thing.”

Days after Place graduated in May, she learned she was one of 20 winners of Victoria’s Secret Pink’s first GRL PWR Project, which came with a $10,000 prize.

There were more than 5,000 submissions for the awards, and the judges chose 20 based on how the project empowered the applicant or others.

“The GRL PWR Project is important to the Pink brand because we are always looking to encourage our customer to find their voice and to support the dreams of young women who exemplify ambition, optimism and confidence,” Pink CEO Amy Hauk said in a statement. “We are very excited to be celebrating the inaugural class of the GRL PWR Project, each of whom have been selected because of their bright contributions to the future.”

Place will get to grow #SEEUS. It’s becoming a program at Her Next Play, a nonprofit in the Twin Cities that empowers female athletes to launch successful careers, and Place will oversee it.