The Summit on Female Leadership in Sport has ended on a high note, confirming that the number of people aligned with SIGA’s vision and mission of a sports world governed by the highest standards of integrity is ever-growing.
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On a day dedicated to celebrating and promoting female leadership in sport, in anticipation of International Women’s Day, the afternoon was as vibrant as the morning at the Mastercard Technology Hub in New York: right after a break for a light meal, Jasmine Ray, Director of the New York Mayor’s Office of Sports, Wellness, and Recreation, took the stage to discuss the impact of Sport on the New York community. With the central idea that “sports must be a force for good…”, she shared a testimony of how the city views sports and gender equity.
Click to watch: Guy Laurent Epstein & Session
The launch of the panel “Freakonomics: The Explosion of the Commercialization of the Women’s Game” saw Guy Laurent Epstein, Marketing Director at UEFA, join live from Switzerland to share insights on how the European Football regulatory body is committed to developing women’s football.
Guy Laurent Epstein elaborated on the long-standing close relationship between SIGA and UEFA, and how both organizations are aligned under the same principles of integrity and good governance.
The panel on the same theme, moderated by journalist Asli Pelit from Sportico, featured Casey Blossom, Director of Marketing & Communications at NESN; Jess Smith, President of the WNBA Golden State Warriors Team; Juliet Slot, Chief Commercial Officer at Arsenal FC; and Samantha Holland, Director of Sales & Marketing at Play Fly.
The speakers shared the vision that women’s sports are growing, have more fans, are relevant for more and more sponsors, and are getting increasing investment from major brands, revolutionizing the organization of leagues, media coverage, and even marketing policies.
They pointed out challenges facing women’s sport, and pointed out solutions.
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The involvement of women in sports is not limited to women’s competitions. There are increasingly more women in leadership positions within sports organizations and leagues, but it is still evident that the current numbers are far from ideal.
If men continue to dominate sports, then how can we pave the way for women? Only with the support of… men!
The panel “Reframing the Gender Debate Dynamic: Male Allies” was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the day. Alison Giordano, Senior Vice President of Global Sponsorships & Consumer Marketing at Mastercard; Bill Moseley, Director of Sponsorships & Experiential Marketing at AT&T; Kevin Demoff, COO of the LA RAMS; and Tim Pernetti, President of IMG Academy, gathered to share their organizations’ practices and their visions for the future, under the moderation of Bonnie Bernstein, Founder & CEO of Walk Swiftly Productions. Unanimously, the panellists admitted that it is fundamental to open the doors of decision-making to women, ensuring they must assume real leadership positions through which they can make an impact.
Kevin Demoff cited the example of the LA RAMS, which, upon returning to Los Angeles, had “the opportunity” to reinvent themselves, and made a conscious decision to be diverse and inclusive. After all, Demoff said, “diversity is essential”. Today, he is proud that about 50 percent of leadership positions are held by women. Tim Pernetti agreed, and revealed that for a sports academy like IMG Academy, ensuring gender equity is fundamental.
The participants shared solutions to promote the presence of women in sports structures. One of them, is simple and effective: if leaders receive 10 resumes and few are from women, then they should ask for more…
Click to watch: Sabrina Perel keynote & Session
After a break for coffee and networking, the summit entered its final stretch. On the table, a topic of recognized global importance, that is currently on the agenda of governments and leagues around the world.
“Navigating Uncharted Territories: Sport Betting Integrity,” a panel sponsored by EPIC Global Solutions, sparked a groundbreaking conversation.
Sabrina Perel, Chief Compliance Officer of the NFL, paved the way for the discussion with a keynote on how the league addresses the issue of betting, especially since the repeal of PASPA in the USA.
She then joined a panel with Alex Roth, Vice-President & Assistant General Counsel – League Governance & Policy at the NBA; Liz Thielen, Former Amateur Boxer and Program Facilitator at EPIC Global Solutions; Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, Global CEO of SIGA; and Teresa Fiore, VP of Partnerships also at EPIC Global Solutions.
Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros shared his personal experience of leading football European Leagues, how at the dawn of the XXI century, while working for the Portuguese League, he encountered a first approach for sponsorship from a betting house and how he ran to Brussels to raise the relevant questions to European authorities. From the American Leagues’ side, NBA and NFL, it became clear how sports organizations view an issue that, on one hand, significantly increases financial revenues, but on the other, can represent a danger if not properly regulated. An important voice in the conversation was that of Liz Thielen, a former athlete, who spoke about her case of gambling addiction, from which she has been free for 12 years. Now committed to helping those who face the same problem, she also revealed that today many athletes secretly bet and need assistance.
This panel was followed by the presentation of an agreement signed by SIGA, through its commercial arm SIGA Solutions, and EPIC Global Solutions, to prevent gambling harm.
Click to watch: Messages & Session
The last session of the day, dedicated to debating the importance of mentorship – and specifically the SIGA Women Mentorship Programme – proceeded after video messages from three mentors (Latoya da Costa, Ytannia Wiggins, and Carole Oglesby). The summit continued with an inspiring panel, in which Haley Price, Head of Sport Sponsorships North America at TCS and SIGAWomen Global Mentor; Kelly Gately, Coach Development Coordinator at USTA New England and SIGA Women Mentee; Richa Sharma, Sponsorship and Marketing Manager at Oman Cricket and SIGA Women Mentee; Sandra Lopez, Deputy Chair of SIGA AMERICA Advisory Board and SIGA Women Global Mentor shared experiences, under the moderation of former mentee and now mentor, Cassandra Brownstein, Product Manager at Mastercard.
The participants revealed how their careers were impacted by mentors who opened doors for them, and discussed the benefits of the SIGA mentorship program. Cassandra Brownstein shared how she transitioned from mentee to mentor within a year, and how the transformation process helped her grow personally and professionally.
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The closing session began with a highly applauded keynote from Lynn Casey, CEO and Founder of Shinescout. Casey shared a study on the impact of sports on the lives of young women. “I heard today what needs to be done. The question, however, is why?”, she challenged. Speaking of the importance of diversity of thought, Lynn Casey said that sport is a lever in the lives of women, and highlighted the way in which mentorship sometimes manifests in imperceptible ways in sport: cyclists who in races assume a leading position to allow others to shine thanks to their support. Because, after all, life is a bicycle race, says Casey, it is from this joint effort that true gender equity will be fully achieved.
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Katie Simmonds, COO of SIGA and Managing Director of the SIGAWomen Programme, returned to the stage for the final notes. With enthusiasm, she referred to 8 hours of thought leadership, with more than 50 speakers from 50 organizations, to the 7 partners who supported the initiative and to those people who made it a point to be present. All to conclude: “The SIGA Women Summit has come of age”.
Katie then highlighted as conclusion that Brands and sports properties care about gender equity and that good governance drives revenue. “This is a community, not a monologue. And those who were here today did not just say yes to being here. You said yes to be part of our global movement, initiate cultural change, and you said yes to our mission to close the gender gap; you said yes to leaving a legacy for the next generation of female leaders,” Simmonds added.
“I call on more brands to support SIGA and SIGA women’s agenda – partner with us. Aspiring female leaders: show up, talk to us, and apply to the mentorship program, and to the next Masterclass. Sports organizations and leagues: follow the footsteps of organizations and go through SIRVS. Male allies: it has been great to have so many of you here today.”
Driven by ambition, the SIGA Women managing director made a call to action to all in-person and virtual attendees to recommend, apply or send someone for the next SIGA Women mentorship programme, whose slots open in September. SIGA’s goal is to increase the number of connected women from 150: “Next year I don’t want to say we have 150 women connected. I want to say 300, 400, 1000. We can do it. There are enough of us who walked into this room today to make that happen”.
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The last speech of the day before the champagne toast, a tradition that stands, belonged to Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, Global CEO of SIGA, who began his intervention by stating that he has written in his heart, in large letters, the word PRIDE. Pride for such an engaging Summit, pride for the high-level and meaningful participation, and pride for seeing SIGA leading the way in such a key topic.
“Shoulder with us, stand with us, create a pathway to let other women feel that they too can achieve. It is within our reach, it is the time. It is needed now more than ever.” Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros emphasized that what happened in the 4th SIGA Women Summit is a lesson of what can happen if we unite our voices and if we give everything we’ve got, and promised to double the efforts to support female leadership. “We will not stop”, he promised.
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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.
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