You can’t be what you can’t see! That’s why the Victorian Government is determined to lead the way when it comes to gender equality across the board including sport and recreation.
We’ve already established the new Office for Women in Sport and Recreation.
We’ve kicked in a record breaking $14 million for the female-friendly facilities fund towards building modern, new women’s change rooms across Victoria.
We’ve injected an extra $6.2 million to realise the recommendations of the game-changing Inquiry into Women and Girls in Sport and Recreation including the new Change our Game campaign.
We’re already seeing some great results including the first successful 16 graduates from the Victorian Government backed Vicsport female leadership development program LEAP and LEAD who are ready to take on the world.
LEAP and LEAD graduate, Rachel Murphy who’s a project coordinator at Sports Central said working in a male dominated industry she loved the idea of sharing the three month experience with other females, networking and finding out where they’ve come from, what career directions they’ve taken and what their ambitions and future plans are.
Ms Murphy added she didn’t know what to expect when she first began the program, but now is blown away by the personal development and empowerment she’s gained from connecting with other female leaders from the Victorian sport sector.
LEAP and LEAD graduate, Renata Farah who’s a marketing and business development coordinator at Cycling Victoria, said through mentoring and networking opportunities through the program she was able to start moving out of her comfort zone and challenge herself to become a better leader.
A key aspect of the program is mentoring, where emerging or new female leaders (LEAPs) are connected with experienced female leaders (LEADs).
Over the three month period of the course, LEAP and LEAD mentors and course facilitators including Telstra Businesswomen of the Year finalist Allison Crab and Australia's most experienced transformational facilitator Lyndall Russell, provided advice about overcoming barriers to success in a male dominated industry.
LEAP and LEAD graduates have been offered advanced standing and fee reduction into the Masters of Management (Sport Management) by La Trobe University, which opens another pathway in the graduates’ leadership journey.
The next round of applications will open for LEAP and LEAD in early 2018.