Wendy Hilliard

Gymnastics coach and former gymnast Wendy Hilliard was born in Detroit, Michigan to Gwendolyn and Stratford Hilliard. She graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1978. She went on to attend Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, where she studied communications. She earned her B.A. degree with honors in broadcast journalism from New York University in 1988.

In 1978, Hilliard was the first African American rhythmic gymnast to make the United States Rhythmic Gymnastics team. She went on to compete in the 1979, 1981, and 1983 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships. Then, Hilliard competed in the 1984 Olympic Trials before retiring from gymnastics in 1988. That same year, she was hired by the United Nations International School, where she worked as a gymnastics coach. She spent eight years with the school before she founded the Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation in 1996, which provides gymnastics programs in New York, New York and Detroit, Michigan. The Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation has served over 25,000 youth. In 1991, Hilliard co-founded Antigravity, a performance company, and she went on to perform in the Broadway production of Candide. Hilliard was also a gymnastics television broadcaster for numerous events, including the 1992 Olympic Games, for NBC. From 1995 to 1996, Hilliard served as the first African American president of the Women’s Sports Foundation. Then, in 1999, Hilliard served as the Director of Sports for NYC2012, a non-profit organization used to manage New York City’s 2012 Olympic bid. In 2006, Hilliard worked as the director of gymnastics and youth sports at Aviator Sports and Events Center in Brooklyn, New York. She went on to work as the New York City director of ‘GoGirlGo!’, a program of the Women’s Sports Foundation, from 2011 to 2012.

Hilliard served on the United States Olympic Committee Athletes' Advisory Council from 1992 to 1993. She also held various positions with USA Gymnastics such as Athletes' Council Chairperson, executive committee member, and Vice President of Rhythmic Gymnastics between 1988 and 2001.

Throughout her career, Hilliard received numerous awards and honors, which include an induction to the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2011, she was the recipient of the Rings of Gold Award from the United States Olympic Committee and a Master of Sport Award, from USA Gymnastics, for coaching an Olympic athlete. She was inducted into the World Acrobatics Society Hall of Fame in 2021.

Hilliard and her husband, Robert Mensah, reside in New York, New York. They have two children: Kennedy and Bailey Mensah.

Wendy Hilliard was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on January 30, 2025.