The 4th edition of the SIGA Summit on Female Leadership in Sport embarked on a groundbreaking journey with a full house. Hosted by SIGA founding member Mastercard in New York City, SIGA Women’s flagship event sold out, bringing together leading figures in the US sports industry, as well as convening industry experts from across the world, including Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, in a unified effort to reshape the future of female leadership in sports.
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The summit kicked off with an engaging welcome message from Alison Giordano, Senior Vice President of Global Sponsorships & Consumer Marketing at Mastercard, setting the stage for a day dedicated to fostering gender equity in sports—a fundamental pillar of SIGA’s reform agenda for good governance.
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Sue Allchurch, Chief of Outreach & Engagement at the UN Global Compact, highlighted the critical financial disparities in global leadership, with only 5% of the world’s significant fortunes being managed by female CEOs. Allchurch’s warning of a 257-year wait to close the gender pay gap underscored the urgency for the ‘forward faster’ initiative, aiming for equal representation, participation, and leadership to achieve equal pay for work of equal value.
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Katie Simmonds, SIGA’s Global COO, set the scenes by underscoring SIGA’s mission to promote gender equity and accelerate female leadership in sports. Her belief in the power of aligned efforts to significantly reduce the gender gap for positions in decision-making structures of sports organizations.
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The first panel, “The Changemakers: Leading the Sport Integrity Evolution,” powered by M&T Bank, delved into actionable measures organizations can adopt to enhance integrity and governance in Sport. Discussions revolved around the role of brands and leadership in driving cultural change within business.
Notable contributions came from a diverse panel including Alexa Klein of the New York Yankees, Jan Liebchen of M&T Bank, Kate Pratt Theobald of Liverpool FC, and Kerry Rodgerson of Octagon, with Sarah Castro of Diario AS USA moderating. The panel shed light on practical steps towards greater governance and gender equality in sports.
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A standout keynote by Cristina Ackas, Vice-President of Equity & Belonging at DraftKings, emphasized the necessity of decisive action to achieve governance and gender equality, reminding us that “this journey depends on us.”
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The session discussion on “Driving Cultural Change: Good Governance in Sport” united leaders like Amanda Vandervort, President of the USL Superleague; Carol Stiff, President of Women’s Sports Network; Katie Simmonds, Global COO of SIGA; Neera Shetty, Executive Vice-President – Office of Social Responsibility and Inclusion and deputy general counsel at the PGA Tour; and Joanne C. Gerstner, Brandt Fellow Sports Journalist in Residence, Michigan State University School of Journalism.
The participants agreed that good governance equals better business and that it leads to a more inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous industry. Joanne C. Gerstner reminded everyone that today, organizations are no longer congratulated simply for hiring a woman. “What matters today is knowing what have they done to empower women”. Neera Shetty concurred and added that it’s essential to have women in leadership positions, and not just in entry-level roles.
Katie Simmonds highlighted that change is underway, and recalled that in August 2023, Liga Portugal became the first major professional football league to submit to SIRVS for Good Governance in Sports, as an example that sports organizations are seeking to adopt the highest levels of governance and integrity.
With a vibrant dynamic, the panels progressed with participation from the audience, who not only asked questions but also shared their concerns.
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After a coffee and networking break, the summit proceeded with a fireside chat on barrier-breaking, featuring Danita Johnson, President of Business Operations at DC United, introduced by Adrienne Rochetti, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Social Impact at Underdog & Company. As the first Black woman to serve as president of an MLS club, and one of only three women to have done so, Danita Johnson said her “superpower” is staying true to herself: “I also follow my 3 C’s: Consistency, Communication, and Commitment.”
Following a deep conversation interspersed with moments of humour that captivated the audience, the third panel of the day was dedicated to The Final Frontier: Women Leading Technology in Sport.
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The panel, powered by Tata Consultancy Services, featured industry leaders discussing the transformative power of technology and the critical need for women’s involvement in this rapidly evolving sector.
Chrissy Thurmond, Head of Responsible Relations at DraftKings; Nicole Smith, Vice-President of Corporate Communications at Fanatics and SIGAWomen Global Mentor; Jessy Jacques, Senior Partner Manager at LinkedIn Marketing Solutions; Christine Wylie, Senior Director, Partnerships & Sponsorships, Verizon; and Alex Whittington, Futurist at TCS, discussed the widespread introduction of technology, and how it has enhanced performance and contributed to greater integrity. The analysis of existing data, made available through technological advancements, highlights women’s involvement in sports, especially from a consumer perspective.
“Invest in women, accelerate progress”, was one of the calls o action. “Having a diverse leadership team will foster better innovation”, was another. How are brands using technology in Sport? Verizon uses data to ensure it is associated with sports in which honesty is the most important value. LinkedIn, on the other hand, uses data to provide more training for women.
Christine Wylie shared that 52 terabytes of data were produced during the Super Bowl! “That’s equivalent to more than 3 years of HD streaming”, she added.
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Following was a keynote by Lukasz Turlej, Secretary-General of the International Chess Federation. He focused on the number of women participating in chess and disclosed the measures taken by FIDE when, a few years ago, it realized that only 11 per cent of the players were women. He then unveiled a program designed to engage women in chess and assured that there are real expectations for it to become natural in the future to see a woman as a world champion.
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As the morning sessions concluded, the “Leaving a Legacy: Spotlight on the Olympics and Paralympics” panel, sponsored by Connecticut Sun, offered an inspirational discussion on the transformative power of major sporting events. Panelists shared their experiences and perspectives on creating effective connections among people, highlighting the often-overlooked potential of individuals with disabilities in mega events.
Concluding the morning in New York, the panel brought together Amy Rosenfeld, Vice President of Olympics and Paralympics Production at NBC Sports; Jennifer Marie Rizzotti, President of Connecticut Sun; Karin Korb, a two-time Paralympian and 10-time member of the USA World Team, SIGA Champion, member of the SIGA Council, and Co-Chair of the SIGA GRID Committee; Nzinha Prescod, Olympic athlete and founder & executive director of The Prescod Institute for Sport, Teamwork, and Education, with our moderator Sarah Axelson, VP of Advocacy at the Women Sports Foundation.
It was an inspiring session, discussing the transformative power of major events to create effective connections among people, with Karin Korb initiating the conversation on how individuals with disabilities are often overlooked, even in major events.
Jennifer Marie Rizzotti, President of Connecticut Sun, concluded the session by acknowledging that events like this and panel discussions have the power to educate “You’ve won me over, and opened my eyes” she admitted, as the panel unanimously agreed that it is all about changing the narrative”.
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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: [email protected].
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