Lori E. Okimura has enjoyed a long and successful career in the sports industry, having amassed a unique portfolio of professional experience in business management, media relations, marketing and manufacturing. Now a private consultant and the President/CEO of Creative Sports Strategies, Okimura has combined her experience in every facet of the industry to provide her clients with a comprehensive perspective on sales driven marketing campaigns targeted to professional and amateur sports organizations.
Okimura was appointed as the Chairperson of Hawaiian Invitational Sports, a non-profit organization she founded in 2003 that develops and promotes educational and sports-related programs in the State of Hawaii. She serves as the Chairperson of the Volleyball Council of America steering committee, comprised of top decision-makers in the volleyball industry working together to improve the business of the sport. She was also appointed to the Board of Directors of the Maui Sports and Entertainment Council as a founding member. As the former Chief Operating Officer of Online Enterprises, Inc., parent company of the Beach Volleyball America (BVA) professional tour, she was involved in the merger of the men's and women's professional beach tours, before deciding to venture out on her own with the creation of Creative Sports Strategies.
Okimura enjoyed a successful career with MIKASA Sports USA as the company's first female executive in charge of global sports marketing and product development for Olympic product lines in beach volleyball, volleyball, and water polo. She is credited with the development of key products in the MIKASA product line, in addition to founding the company's Marketing Internship Program that provided academic internships for collegiate student-athletes interested in pursuing a career in sports beyond the playing years. Okimura was a founding Board of Directors member of the United States Youth Volleyball League (USYVL) and served as an Executive Committee officer from 1997 through 2006.
She has been involved in managing inner-city youth sports programs with the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles (AAFLA), now known as the LA84 Foundation, in the late 1980's and early 1990's through its Summer Beach Volleyball Program that created places to play in the toughest areas of Los Angeles. She was appointed in 2005 to the Board of Directors of Kids in Sports Los Angeles, a non profit foundation founded by IOC and USOC member Anita Defrantz, regarded as one of the top female executives in amateur sports, and whose Chairman of the Board is Olympian Rafer Johnson. She served as Vice Chairperson of the prestigious Sporting Goods Manufacturer's Association (SGMA) Volleyball Executive Council from 1995-2004 and served from 1999-2001 on the International Beach Commission (IBC) of USA Volleyball, the sport's official national governing body, as one of seven key individuals identified as the top authorities in the field of International and Olympic beach volleyball. She is a member of the Los Angeles chapter Women in Sports and Events (WISE) a national professional organization. She served as the Commissioner of the American Water Polo League during her tenure with USA Water Polo, under former Executive Director, Bruce Wigo. She also serves on the National Advisory Commission of the Women's Sports Foundation in New York, and continues to actively contribute to the foundation's girls' sports initiatives.
In 1997 Okimura was appointed to be the Technical Manager of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships held at UCLA. She enjoys a close working relationship with the organization that governs the sport at the global level. She served actively as the only American female Technical Supervisor for the FIVB World Tour, the official Olympic Qualification Tour for beach volleyball worldwide from 2004 to 2009. She is an alumna of the University of Southern California with a bachleor's degree in Public Relations (minor in Sports Studies) and a master's degree in Business Administration. Throughout her career, Okimura has also held key positions with the SPEEDO/Authentic Fitness Corporation, The Robbins Group Public Relations, the Assoc. of Volleyball Professionals, and the University of Southern California Sports Information Department, where she credits her mentor, USC Sports Information Director Tim Tessalone, with opening the first door to the future success of her career and encouraging her to do the same for others.
