STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Sun Valley’s Muffy Davis is among six women who will be honored at the inaugural Change Makes Hers Gala on Feb. 4.

The first-of-its-kind fundraiser will celebrate athletes, coaches and changemakers who are paving the way for the next generation of girls and women in Idaho sports. It will be held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, at Stueckle Sky Center in Boise.

Davis will receive the Courage to Lead Award for the resilience she displayed coming back from a ski racing accident that left her paralyzed at 16 to become one of the most accomplished adaptive athletes in history. She’s earned multiple World Cup titles and more than 25 World Cup victories and medals across three Paralympic Games in alpine skiing and road cycling.

A member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame and the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame, she has served on the U.S. Paralympic Committee. After a stint in the Idaho legislature, she now serves as Blaine County commissioner. She also works with Olympic medalist Christin Cooper to encourage Idaho girls to pursue sports activities through the Idaho Women’s Athletic Foundation.

Three-time gold medalist KRISTIN ARMSTRONG, the most decorated U.S. women’s cyclist of all time, will receive The Legend Award. The owner of Pivot by KA fitness club in Boise, she continues to mentor athletes through coaching.

She is the only female U.S. athlete to win the same event in three consecutive Summer Olympic Games and at the 2016 Rio Olympics she became the oldest female cyclist to win an Olympic medal, capturing gold in the individual time trial one day before her 43rd birthday.

JENNIFER SWINDELL will receive the Trailblazer Award for moving girls’ and women’s sports to the front pages of the Idaho Statesman after she joined an all-male sports desk. Idaho’s first female sports editor, she also was one of the first female sports editors in the nation. She also was the first female Board President of the Idaho Golf Association and one of the first women recruited to a federally funded wildland firefighting crew.

KAYA EVANS, a 2023 Rhodes Scholar, will receive the IX Stories Award. She captained the soccer team at the College of Idaho while earning All-American and All-Conference honors. She has served as a Minority Party Attache for the Idaho House of Representatives, helping to draft legislation on fair housing and judicial integrity.

MARY KAROL TAYLOR, a teacher librarian at South Junior High in Boise, will receive the Team of Allies Award. The founder of Nations United Soccer, her nonprofit has served more than a hundred refugee and immigrant youth since 2016, helping them overcome adversity through soccer. Thirteen of them went on to play in college.

AVA JOHNSON, a 2025 graduate of Mountain Home High School and current Boise State University nursing student, will receive The Alice & Charles Taylor Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. A valedictorian and four-year varsity athlete in basketball and softball, she created a mental health initiative called “You Are More Important Than You Realize” after watching her sister endure multiple ACL injuries.

"These six Change Make*Hers embody the spirit of what we're building through iWIN Sports," said Angela Taylor, president of The Taylor LEAD Foundation. "They've broken barriers, elevated others, demonstrated resilience and proven that when girls and women are given real access to opportunity, they don't just participate—they transform entire fields and inspire generations to come."

Proceeds from the evening support the Alice & Charles Taylor Scholar-Athlete LEAD Scholarships and iWIN Sports, which provides scholarships and microgrants, amplifies representation through IX stories and takes role models into schools.

Learn more at https://www.iwinsportsix.com/.