ANONYMOUS SOURCING: David Chadwick's RealResponse provides a platform for athletes and staff to report what is really going on.

• Author: Solender, Michael J.
• Position: NC TREND: Entrepreneurship

Being associated with a university athletic scandal prompted David Chadwick to build a business around accountability and shifting an uneven power dynamic in collegiate sports.

In 2012, the former Charlotte Latin basketball star was on the Rice University basketball team in Houston. An Iranian-born player and a coach originally from Egypt allegedly received derogatory comments by coaches and administrators that led to racial discrimination. Rice officials denied any wrongdoing. The matter sparked negative stories in Sports Illustrated and other publications

"I thought either [the alleged discrimination] wasn't going on and the school should have had more protection, or it was going on and they should have uncovered it and addressed it sooner," says Chadwick, who later transferred to Valparaiso University in Indiana, where he earned a bachelor's degree and an MBA. "I wanted to come up with something that would solve a direct challenge that I and many of my peers experienced: The absence of a confidential, real-time accessible way to bring issues forward to administrators and coaches."

Three years later, Chadwick reworked his Valparaiso business-school entrepreneurial class project for an anonymous online reporting platform and launched a business to create a fairer, simpler reporting system. Seven years later, RealResponse has signed more than 100 colleges and universities as clients and employs 10 staffers. The business has experienced torrid growth of late, signing partnerships with the NFL's Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs. Additional clients include the NFL Players Association, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, The National Women's Soccer League and USA Gymnastics.

Their tools provide more than 150,000 athletes and staff the ability to anonymously share feedback and allow administrators to create custom surveys, document cases and retain records through accessible software. The platform is mobile-friendly and allows clients to send texts to students on important matters ranging from COVID-19 protocols to reminders to complete a required survey.

"Student-athletes are oftentimes unlikely to speak up because of the [unbalanced] power dynamic," says Chadwick. "They're dealing with potential repercussions of playing time, financial aid, desire to work in the sports industry, network and relationships. Having a confidential third-party [vehicle] allows them to address concerns when they might not have otherwise."

Chadwick's clients include UNC...