Supporting Women to Excel as Sporting Leaders

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

Name

Nominating Organisation

Varshana Kumara Swamy

The Centre for Continuing Education Inc. - Sport North East

Marnie Fontana

HAWTHORN FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED

Zoe Rohrer

VICTORIAN CRICKET ASSOCIATION

Amellia Wood

Netball Australia

Emily Stewart

Cricket Victoria

Katherine Sangster

Hockey Australia Ltd

Alyce Fogarty-Burgess

Mornington Peninsula Shire Council

Lydia Schneider

Wimmera Regional Sports Assembly

Tahlee Van Roosmalen

WestVic Academy of Sport Inc

Amy Welsh

Hockey Victoria

Stephanie Moorhouse

Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS)

Ruby Bone

Gymnastics Australia

Claire McKendry

HAWTHORN FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED

Jessica Oliver

Tennis Australia

Ashlee Clark

Golf Australia

Adelaid Hawkins

Motorsport Australia

Lucy Hunt

Bicycle Network Inc

Hayley McKinnon

Hockey Australia Ltd

Alexandra O'Brien

T20 Cricket World Cup

Jacqueline Napolitano

Valley Sport (Goulburn Valley RSA)

Michelle Hart

Tennis Victoria

Sarah Condon

Essendon Football Club

Alex Morcom

Essendon Football Club

Maddie Owens

HAWTHORN FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED

Gabrielle Mabilia

St Kilda Football Club

Sheia Luo

Golf Australia

Lara Bester

Gymnastics Victoria Inc

Nardelle Legge

Triathlon Australia

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Executive Stream

Name

Nominating Organisation

Elise Rechichi

Paralympics Australia

Kirstan Corben

ST. KILDA FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED

Lauren LeQuire

Bicycle Network Inc

Kaitlin Mason

Australian Baseball Federation Limited

Yamile Monsalve

South East Leisure

Carly Goodrich

Golf Australia

Fiona Baker

Western Bulldogs

Nicky Lennon

Motorsport Australia

Fiona Young

Tennis Victoria

Lauren Watt

Hockey Australia Ltd

Lisa Comben

Cricket Victoria

Rachel Mitrione

Melbourne Rebels Rugby Union Pty Limited

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Next Generation Leaders Stream

Name

Nominating Organisation

Emily Shears

Australian Football League (AFL)

Joella Hanson

Ice Sports Victoria

Shenae Beus

Netball Australia

Karen Ferguson

GippSport Inc

Michaela Berry

Melbourne Storm

Tiffany Cherry

Golf Australia

Sarah Venning

Melbourne City Council

Ashleigh Humphries

Richmond Football Club

Hannah Charman

City of Whittlesea

Allana Sharman

Netball Victoria

Rebecca McCue

HAWTHORN FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED

Erin Dooley

Collingwood Football Club

Phoebe Torrence

Golf Australia

Stephanie Leondidis

Football Victoria Inc

Elizabeth Campbell

Australian Football League (AFL)

Loren Hazelwood

Motorsport Australia

Therese Magdulski

Golf Australia

Shenae Keleher

WestVic Academy of Sport Inc

Belinda Stevenson

Tennis Australia

Kylie Hitchiner

National Basketball League (NBL)

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Governance Stream

Name

Nominating Organisation

Chantella Perera

Table Tennis Victoria Inc

Sophie Ootes

Athletics Victoria Inc

Suzan Andrews

Rowing Victoria Inc

Belinda Conna

Valley Sport

Laura Cora

Australian Sailing

Emma Cox

Field & Game Australia

Gwen Young

Biathlon Australia Limited

Pat (Patricia) Schram

Bowls Victoria Inc

Sofia Kranjec

Victorian Weightlifting Association Inc

Petrina Astbury

Motorsport Australia

Katie O'Halloran

Bowls Victoria Inc

Kaz (Karen) Rothwell

Bowls Victoria Inc

Julie Green

Little Athletics Victoria

Felicity Wilkeson

Blind Sports Australia

Jennifer Mclntyre

Calisthenics Victoria Inc

Karen Burns

Lacrosse Victoria Inc

Heather Callahan

Mannigham City Council

Cherie Nicholl

Table Tennis Victoria Inc

Pamela Stone

Lacrosse Victoria Inc

Cassie Lindsey

Geelong Football Club

Lydia McCloskey

Victorian Weightlifting Association Inc

Le-Ing Ong

Motorsport Australia

Xiaole Cui

Victorian Weightlifting Association Inc

Casey Price

Netball Australia

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Champions Stream

Name

Nominating Organisation

Sue Phillips

Australian Sailing

Anuya Ketkar

City of Casey

Suzanne Henderson

Hockey Victoria

Michelle Harris

GippSport Inc

Emma Moneghetti

Netball Australia

Anna Cleland

Australian Football League (AFL)

Elizabeth Campbell

Australian Football League (AFL)

Lauren Watt

Hockey Australia Ltd

Sarah Last

Netball Victoria

Megan Carr

Golf Australia

Christy Collier-Hill

Basketball Australia

Felicity Wilkeson

Blind Sport Australia

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Friday 21 October, 2022

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