Lindsay Gottlieb knows how to make an impact.

Her first season as the head women’s basketball coach at the University of California, Santa Barbara--her first head coaching job--she won a conference championship. In her second year at her next head job, at UC Berkeley, she made the NCAA Final Four. In her second season in her current job, as head coach at the University of Southern California, she and the Trojans earned their first NCAA tournament appearance in more than a decade – they’ve made it to the Elite Eight in each of the last two seasons.

Now she’s coming to Portland so she – and you – can make an impact on Jewish communal life at the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland’s Impact event for women Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 5:30 pm at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center.

Gottlieb has become famous not just for winning – though she’s done plenty of that – but for being a recognizable Jewish woman in sports. In the 2025 NCAA Division I national tournaments for men and women, Jewish coaches led four of the eight No. 1 seeds – Gottlieb was the only women, and the only coach of a women’s program, amongst that number.

“That’s honestly how I learned about her,” event chair and Federation board member Elana Hutter Davey explained. “There was just a sense of pride, to have that kind of representation at a moment when people have not been the kindest.”

While Gottlieb has spoken to Jewish audiences throughout her career – she was inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame of Northern California in 2016 – this is one of her first appearances in front of a Federation audience.

“For her right now to find meaning in coaching us, I think it’s cool to be on that part of the journey with her,” Davey said.

Wendy Kahn, the Federation’s Chief Development Officer, explained that, as women’s sports in Portland are thrust into the spotlight with the pending return of the Portland Fire to WNBA play, having a marquee name in women’s sports come to town to discuss her connection with her Judaism and its importance makes for a powerful moment. All the more so as Gottlieb, with her national prominence on the rise, is picking this moment to step even more strongly into that part of her identity.

“At this time, she’s saying, ‘I want to connect with this part of my being and my community in this way,’” Kahn said, “and being who I believe she is, she says, ‘I’m going to go big,’ because she starts from a place of confidence.”

Confident enough to forgo the usual speech - this event will center on a Fireside Chat interview between Gottlieb and Davey.

“Women’s events generate a load of excitement and energy and result in great philanthropic results for the community,” Kahn said. “People bring their friends who bring their daughters, their nieces, their granddaughters.”

Tickets are $75, but many of those daughters, nieces and granddaughters may qualify for discounted NextGen tickets at $40 per person for ages 12-25. Tickets are available through Oct. 9.

Events like this one, Davey explained, are powerful examples of the importance of both Jewish women and Jewish philanthropy – particularly the intersection of the two.

“Women are the heartbeat of Jewish community,” she said. “Where our philanthropy comes in is that we’re investing in ourselves, and it’s foolish to think that everything is just going to remain at our fingertips when it comes to Jewish life. So, it’s really important to me to give meaningfully, to give deeply, to give with intention.”

Find more information and purchase tickets online at jewishportland.org/impactoctober.