You don’t have to be a die-hard football fan to understand the power and expanse of the NFL. It’s a multi-billion-dollar, international behemoth that’s averaging 18.58 million viewers per game this season.
For Friends Academy alumna Mindy Weiss Singer ’10, understanding everything about those die-hards — and even casual fans — consumes her professional life the way quarterbacks study endless film of opposing defenses.
Mindy, who spoke at this fall’s Senior Parent Luncheon at the Mill River Club in Oyster Bay, is the senior director of consumer insights and research at the NFL. For 10 seasons she has translated quantitative and qualitative studies about fan behavior into insights for the league’s business endeavors.
She has worked with all 32 teams to optimize season-ticket member experiences, and she has helped guide league initiatives with marketing campaigns, game broadcast and advertising experiences, fan perceptions of player health and safety, and fans’ understandings of various social responsibility programs.
“It’s my job to represent the voice of the fan in everything the league does,” she told the parents. “Every day I help make sure our fans — the people watching at home, tailgating with friends, or introducing football to their kids for the first time — are at the center of our decision-making.”
Part of her expertise comes from being an athlete herself.
At Friends Academy, Mindy played field hockey and lacrosse for four years and captained both teams. She was an All-State and All Long Island field hockey player and a U.S. Lacrosse Academic All-American award-winner.
“Through sports at FA,” she says, “I learned responsibility to my team, discipline, and how to motivate people even when it’s hard. As a student who entered Friends freshman year shy and timid, I look back on that transformation as one of the most defining periods of my life.”
Beyond her success on the field at Friends Academy, Mindy was a member of the Cum Laude Society; she won the AP Scholar with Distinction Award; and she was a National Merit Scholarship Commended Student.
After graduating, Mindy went to Cornell, where she played club field hockey and served as a volunteer coach for the Ithaca Middle School club field hockey team. She earned a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society.
Prior to joining the NFL in 2016, Mindy worked on the Global Consumer Insights team at Under Armour, where she gained her first experience in the business of sports and completed her training as a focus group moderator.
Focus groups, however, are but one tool in her quiver.
She also conducts surveys and ethnographies, analyzes data, and delivers deep insights that drive strategy. “My role,” she says, “is all about translating business questions into research programs and turning data into stories that help leaders make smarter, more human decisions.”
From l. to r., Middle School Dean Christine Botti (Mindy’s coach at Friends Academy), Lower and Middle School Principal Alfred (Rik) Dugan III, Head of School Paul Stellato, and Mindy Weiss Singer ’10.
For that expertise, she credits her time at Friends Academy.
“It’s exciting work, but it’s also deeply human work,” she says. “And I can say without question that the foundation for it began at Friends Academy.
“At Friends, I learned that knowledge isn’t just about outcomes — it’s about understanding,” she explained. “It’s about asking why. That spirit of curiosity shaped not only how I think, but how I lead. Whether I’m moderating a focus group or synthesizing the opinions of fans, I’m reminded of those Quaker meetings where we’d sit in silence and listen. That’s where I first learned that reflection (and listening) can be just as powerful as speaking.”
Mindy spoke to a room full of parents whose sons and daughters are on the cusp of large unknowns: Where will they go to college? What will they major in? What careers will they pursue? What will life be like for them away from home?
“To all the parents,” she said, “I know this chapter can feel uncertain. But I can promise you, that’s OK. Because the foundation they’re building at Friends — curiosity, empathy, reflection, leadership — those are the skills that will guide them through every unknown. Even when they don’t yet know the what, they’ll know the how . . . how to ask questions, how to listen, how to adapt, and how to dream big.
“When I look back, I can see the thread so clearly in hindsight — from the classroom discussions to Quaker meeting reflections, from the field hockey field to my place today at the NFL. Friends Academy didn’t just prepare me for college or my career. It prepared me to approach life with curiosity, courage, and compassion. And that, more than any single accomplishment, is the gift that stays with me every day.”
Photos by Alvin Caal / Friends Academy