Sonya Crawford Bearson is a Director at TrailRunner Sports, where she serves as a senior client advisor leading sports-focused engagements and shaping global growth strategies.
Sonya spent the majority of her career in the high-pressure environment of elite broadcast journalism. As a national correspondent for ABC News in Washington, D.C., she covered the White House, the Iraq War, and major international events, including the death of Pope John Paul II. In Los Angeles, she worked as a producer for Dateline NBC and a reporter for NBC Los Angeles, covering the trial of O.J. Simpson, the September 11th terrorist attacks, and the championship runs of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sonya has maintained a passion for sports throughout her career, using her bilingual skills to cover the Olympic Games on three continents — Seoul, Barcelona, and the U.S. Sonya has also held key leadership roles in the startup environment, overseeing messaging and strategic partnerships for the advertising technology platform AdCritter and the independent production company Exceleration Studio. Her unique blend of hard-news tenacity, global sports insight, and experience in strategic messaging, partnership development, and stakeholder management allows her to navigate the increasingly complex intersection of sports, media, and business.
Sonya earned degrees in communication and political science from Stanford University. She is based in the Nashville area, where she lives with her family. During her free time, she likes to cook, read, and enjoy all things “K”: K-food and K-dramas and, on occasion, K-pop!
