“I didn’t see anybody that looks like me,” Perry said.
“I immediately realized I had to change that. And what I discovered about golf – when you look at the numbers – they are glaring.”
Perry, a vibrant, driven woman whose family has long been involved in education and social change in her Tampa hometown, discovered that of the 30 million golfers in the United States, 4 million are minorities and less than 1 percent are women of color.
Determined to make a difference, Perry – using her severance package from work – in 2014 launched Tampa-based nonprofits Women of Color Golf and Girls On the Green Tee. The organization is designed to increase and promote minority participation in golf for women and girls.