The 96 successful recipients of the 2022-23 Change our Game Professional Development Scholarships Program were announced today.

This exciting new Program helps women access professional development opportunities to develop and strengthen the specialist skills needed for their roles in the sport and active recreation sector, helping place them in the best position to obtain and thrive in leadership roles.

It is the first time that the Program has been structured to cover every phase of the career life cycle, with such tailored offerings to successful recipients.

Sarah Styles, Director of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, said “Prioritising yourself and your learning, in a tailored manner that addresses the areas you want to develop the most, is crucial to continual career development, and this Program enables exactly that.”

One of the recipients is Suzanne Henderson, General Manager - Game Development at Hockey Victoria. She is hoping her Champions grant, which will support her attendance at the upcoming IWG World Conference on Women and Sport, will lead to greater insights and collaborations to help advance the equality and inclusion programs she oversees in hockey throughout Victoria.

Ms Henderson said “This is a fantastic opportunity, and I’m really looking forward to taking back what I learn to help broaden our initiatives to make hockey even more inclusive.”

“I look forward to building new networks, listening and learning from world leaders in gender equity and coming back to Victoria with key actions we can take to advance gender equity within hockey and more broadly within Victorian Sport.”

There are five categories of scholarships, supporting women at every stage of their career:

The Learning Phase scholarships provide grants of up to $5000 for women who have less than five years paid experience in the sector, or are returning after a career break. 28 women have been selected to receive support enabling them to attend specialist training or development programs based on their individual needs.

Next Generation Leaders scholarships are for women who have paid experience in the sector for greater than five years and have leadership aspirations. 20 women will receive a series of one-on-one and small group sessions with a leading career coach.

To be eligible for the Champions grant, women had to have more than five years’ paid experience, with their current role relating to women’s sport and/or inclusion in sport and active recreation. The Champions grants will allow for 12 women to travel to Auckland, New Zealand in November to attend the 8th IWG World Conference on Women and Sport.

Executive scholarships are for women with more than 10 years paid experience in the sector who hold a Chief Executive Officer position or report to the CEO. 12 women will receive professional development grants of up to $10,000, putting them in the driver’s seat to direct their learning based on identified individual needs.

Finally, the Governance scholarships are providing 24 new or aspiring directors in the sport and active recreation sector with an enrolment into the Australian Institute of Company Directors Foundations of Directorship Course.

Congratulations to this cohort of women who have been successful in obtaining a Change Our Game Professional Development Scholarship. We trust these opportunities will boost their skills and knowledge to further their careers in the sport and active recreation industry.

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The full list of successful recipients are below:

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Learning Stream

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Executive Stream

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Next Generation Leaders Stream

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Governance Stream

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Champions Stream

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Friday 21 October, 2022