Submitted by Adeola Adesoba, SIGA Youth Council Member & SIGA Women mentee
The SIGA Summit on Female Leadership in Sport 2024 was a valuable opportunity for female leaders in the sports industry to come together and discuss the challenges and opportunities facing women in Sport. The summit provided a platform for networking, sharing experiences, and learning from each other. Participants left feeling inspired and empowered to make a difference in the sports industry.
As the Chief of Outreach and Engagement at UN Global Compact rightly stated in her opening remark, Sport practitioners are admired everywhere and have an opportunity to make a change. Women participation in sports can challenge stereotypes both on and off the field, in the boardroom and in the changing room. The SIGA Summit on Female Leadership in Sport proved it!
“You cannot change what you can’t measure’
This was a consistent mantra featured across various conversations, panels and sessions kickstarted by a keynote from Cristina Ackas, VP of Equity and Belonging, Draftkings. The keynote really drove home the point about everyone’s role in fostering equity and belonging, including developing and retaining female leaders in Sport. To achieve that, effective governance through data transparency to measure impact, fostering trust and leadership action is crucial.
One of my favourite sessions was on “The Final Frontier: Women Leading Technology”, which featured inspiring women innovating the Sport industry with technology. The sports industry needs to figure out how to accommodate women and minorities. Mentorship is impactful in breaking down barriers. It’s important to find people who will support you along the way and the need to consistently advocate for oneself was emphasized. Technical innovation should include women and people with disabilities. Innovation has to be equitable for women with disabilities.
As a young female in Sport looking to advance in the industry, the SIGA Women mentorship program has been instrumental in guiding and supporting my ambition, and it was a key highlight to connect with my Mentor Sally Nnamani at the summit! She walked the talk and was already introducing me to her network at the summit.
This reflects the conversation I had with Kerry Rodgerson from the Octagon group on how brands and partners can pave the way for young people, especially in leading the Sport Integrity evolution. Kerry emphasized the importance of brands, partners and leaders in providing not just money, but investments, sponsorship, scholarship, and influence, opening up their resources, platforms and networks to pay it forward.
Here are some key highlights from a youth perspective:
Empowering the Next Generation
- The Summit provides a platform for young female leaders and aspiring professionals to learn from accomplished women in sports
- It offers networking opportunities to connect with mentors and role models across various sectors of the sports world
Driving Gender Equity
- The event addresses the underrepresentation of women in decision-making positions within sports organizations
- It advocates for gender equity and diversity as essential components of good governance in Sport
- Male allies are encouraged to participate and support women’s advancement in the industry
SIGA Women Global COO Katie Simmonds’ statement at the opening scene of the summit rightly wraps up my key takeaways and profound joy witnessing the summit in person this year. Representation matters, women in sport should be empowered and elevated to own the space, be set up for success and supported on every front.
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ABOUT SIGA
SIGA is the world’s leading organisation for Sport Integrity. We are creating a whole new landscape for the sports industry by delivering independent global rating and certification for world Sport to ensure it is governed and operates under the highest integrity standards: The SIGA Universal Standards.
Funded by our Members, SIGA is a non for profit global independent organisation with one aim: To ensure the sport industry is governed under the highest integrity standards so that the values of sport are protected.
SIGA is the only organisation to bring together sport, governments, academia, international organisations, sponsors, business, rights holders, NGOs and professional services companies, from every region in the world, around a common cause of fostering greater integrity throughout sport.
SIGA is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, as a non for-profit association, and comprises of the following continental subsidiaries: SIGA AMERICA, SIGA EUROPE and SIGA LATIN AMERICA.
For more information on SIGA, including its vision, mission and reform agenda, please refer to the website: www.siga-sport.com and FAQs.
To contact SIGA, please email: comms@siga-sport.com.
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