Meet the PeopleBehind the Mission

Preeti Singh is the founder of The Empower Play Project, a women-led initiative dedicated to empowering women through indoor cricket, leadership, confidence, and community building.

With a strong passion for sports and women’s empowerment, Preeti has created a platform where women from diverse cultures and backgrounds can come together, compete, grow, and support one another both on and off the field.

As the captain of the Dallas Warriors women’s indoor cricket team, Preeti believes cricket is more than just a sport. It is a powerful tool to build confidence, discipline, teamwork, mental strength, and lifelong friendships.

Her vision for The Empower Play Project is to provide women and young girls with opportunities to step outside their comfort zones, discover their potential, and find a safe and inspiring space through sport.

Under her leadership, the project continues to encourage inclusivity, sisterhood, sportsmanship, and personal growth while promoting women’s indoor cricket within the community. Preeti is passionate about creating history for women in sports and inspiring the next generation of female athletes to lead with courage, resilience, and purpose.

Amber Marfani serves as Director of Community Engagement & Relations for The Empower Play Project, helping build the relationships, community connections, and support network that sit at the heart of the organization’s mission.

In her role, Amber supports outreach, player engagement, family connection, community relationships, and the inclusive environment that helps women and girls feel confident stepping into sport. She brings a people-first approach to growing the Empower Play community and making sure participants feel welcomed, valued, and supported.

Amber’s work helps connect players, families, volunteers, supporters, and local partners around a shared purpose: creating more opportunities for women and girls through indoor cricket, mentorship, and community-based programming.

As Empower Play continues to grow, Amber plays an important role in strengthening the community experience both on and off the field. Her focus is on helping women build confidence, connection, friendship, and a sense of belonging through sport.

Puneet Suri serves as Director of Operations for The Empower Play Project, bringing a strong background in project leadership, business operations, process improvement, customer experience, vendor coordination, and team management.

Her professional experience includes leadership roles across operations, product marketing, project management, and business process engineering. Through these roles, she has developed a strong ability to organize complex work, align teams, improve processes, and turn ideas into clear plans and measurable outcomes.

Puneet has also owned and operated a 7-Eleven franchise, where she managed day-to-day operations, built strong relationships with customers, employees, and vendors, trained managers and team members, and helped grow annual revenue from $2 million to $2.5 million within two years. This hands-on business experience gives her a practical understanding of service, execution, accountability, and community connection.

In her role with Empower Play, Puneet supports the operational foundation behind leagues, events, player coordination, communications, logistics, volunteer support, and program delivery. She helps ensure that the organization runs with clarity, consistency, and care as it grows.

Puneet’s leadership style is organized, people-centered, and execution-focused. She understands that strong operations are not just about schedules and systems, but about creating a dependable experience for players, families, coaches, volunteers, sponsors, and community partners.

As Empower Play expands, Puneet helps build the structure needed to support meaningful programs, welcoming events, and long-term community impact through indoor cricket.

Dr. Sayema Ahmed is a researcher, former university professor, athlete, writer, and advocate dedicated to advancing women through sport, mental wellness, and community empowerment.

With a strong academic background in sports sciences, athlete development, and women’s participation in sport, she has spent years combining research, education, and hands-on athletic experience to better understand the powerful connection between sport, mental resilience, and personal growth.

Alongside teaching and research, she has actively worked with athletes and sports teams, helping support both performance and wellbeing.

Her doctoral research focused on the relationship between hardiness, mental toughness, and pain tolerance among track and field athletes. As part of this work, she also designed and developed an original Pain Tolerance Questionnaire, contributing a unique research tool within the field of sports psychology and athlete behavior.

Dr. Sayema has authored and contributed to multiple research papers focused on sports psychology, athlete behavior, mental resilience, physical education, and women in sport. Her work reflects a deep commitment to understanding the emotional, psychological, and social impact of sports participation.

She has also been actively involved in sports leadership and development initiatives, supporting women’s participation, engagement, and representation in sport through athletic and community programs.

Currently based in Dallas, she continues to stay closely connected to sports both as a researcher and athlete. She is a proud member of the Dallas Warriors and actively participates in indoor cricket leagues across the Dallas area.

Her lived experience as an athlete continues to shape and strengthen her research, advocacy, and perspective on women’s experiences in sport.

Her current research explores the impact of indoor cricket participation on women’s mental health, emotional wellbeing, confidence, social connection, identity, and empowerment. Through this work, she examines how sport creates spaces for resilience, leadership, belonging, and community among women from diverse backgrounds.

A lifelong sportsperson, Dr. Sayema believes sports are far more than competition. They are a pathway to confidence, healing, resilience, leadership, and connection. Her journey across athletics, cricket, fitness, yoga, and strength training continues to influence her work and philosophy today.

Beyond research, she writes and speaks about women’s mental health, athletic identity, wellbeing, fitness, and empowerment. Her goal is to create supportive and inclusive spaces where women feel encouraged to move, connect, grow stronger, and rediscover themselves through sport.

Today, she continues to combine research, leadership, lived experience, and storytelling to inspire meaningful change and help build communities that empower women both on and beyond the field.

Her mission is to help women become mentally, emotionally, and physically stronger through the power of sport, movement, and community.