Today’s guest has just returned from America after spending the best part of 6 years working and studying in New York City. From travelling over there to study her MBA Emily Walkerden landed a role as the Manager of Partnership Development for the NBA. 

During her time at the NBA Emily worked to her way up to what she considers her dream role as the Director of Partnership Development where she marketed the NBA to the world's best marketers. As the senior member of the Partnership Development team, Emily led the go-to-market B2B marketing strategy and brand positioning of the NBA and WNBA, as well as customized multiyear, sports marketing programs for the world’s most recognizable brands.

Today’s guest sits on both sides of the fence in sport, by day Gen Simmons is the General Manager of Marketing and Industry Development at Gymnastics Victoria and during her spare time serves as the current President of Women Sport Australia. 

Gen has spent the last ten years working for numerous sports organisations such as Netball Australia, racing.com, the Melbourne Rebels and now Gymnastics Victoria. 

Through her roles as President of Women Sport Australia Gen is tasked with driving the vision to make sport equitable for all and offering program and advocacy support to females in sport. 

Imagine sitting in a press conference where the media report that you are the mother of the player, but in fact you are the CEO! 

Well this happened to our next guest during the fallout of the sandpaper scandal that rocked Cricket, this week we welcome Christina Matthews to this weeks podcast! Christina has been involved in cricket ever since the age of 12 and represented Australia for 11 years before moving into administration. 

As a volunteer committee member from the age of 14 Christina was always on the path to success within sports management and in this episode she shares her journey and the skills she has developed along the way. Enjoy listening to this weeks episode! 

Today we have the pleasure of welcoming Sonya Thompson to the podcast. Sonya is the current Leadership and Culture Manager at the Australian Institute of Sport and is responsible for building capability within the High Performance sport system by supporting the development of individual and collective leadership and holistic high performance cultures. Prior to joining the AIS Sonya was Head of Women’s Cricket for Cricket Victoria, and held senior roles within Cricket Australia, one of those being the Women’s Big Bash League Manager. With a career spanning over 20 years within the sports industry we are very excited to have Sonya join us

Today’s guest is one that has lived and breathed sport for as long as she can remember. In addition to her successful career in the corporate world as a lawyer Mary Konstantopoulos runs a media company called 'Ladies who' which encourages women to get involved in conversations about sport through various spin-offs including 'Ladies who League', 'Ladies who Legspin', 'Ladies who Lineout', 'Ladies who W-League' and 'Ladies who Leap'. As an advocate for women  in sport Mary writes for several major publications including NRL.com and the Roar, and if that isn’t enough she also sits on the Board of Hockey Australia. Mary’s passion and advocacy for women’s sport is truly inspiring

When we think of inspiring women in Australian sport, today’s guest is definitely one of the first that come to mind. Chyloe Kurdas is the current National Female Participation Manager for Golf Australia, and is leading the implementation of Vision 2025, Golf Australia’s long-term strategy to enhance the engagement of women and girls in golf.

Prior to this Chyloe spent the best part of a decade leading the development of women’s Aussie Rules football. Widely known as one of the catalysts for Australia’s first-ever national women’s professional competition, AFLW, through her role as AFL Victoria’s Female Football Development Manager.

With a passion for cultural change and gender equality Chyloe also spends her spare time presenting to Department of Defence leadership programs.  Chyloe had so many great insights during our chat we have split her episode over two weeks.

When we think of inspiring women in Australian sport, today’s guest is definitely one of the first that come to mind. Chyloe Kurdas is the current National Female Participation Manager for Golf Australia, and is leading the implementation of Vision 2025, Golf Australia’s long-term strategy to enhance the engagement of women and girls in golf.

Prior to this Chyloe spent the best part of a decade leading the development of women’s Aussie Rules football. Widely known as one of the catalysts for Australia’s first-ever national women’s professional competition, AFLW, through her role as AFL Victoria’s Female Football Development Manager.

With a passion for cultural change and gender equality Chyloe also spends her spare time presenting to Department of Defence leadership programs.  Chyloe had so many great insights during our chat we have split her episode over two weeks.

Linley is the current Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement Manager at Swimming Australia. In what has been a year like no other Linley’s role has been pivotal in supporting our Athletes as they adjust and prepare for the Tokyo Olympics. Linley has been able to draw on her own experiences as a professional athlete representing Australia and winning a gold medal in the 100-metre breaststroke at the 1991 FINA World Aquatic Championships, and representing Australia at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Today’s guest is one that carries many hats within the sporting landscape. As the current General  Manager of Government Partnerships at the NRL, Cassandra Lawry also volunteers as a board member of Touch Football Australia and sits on the steering committee of the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports. With a background in politics and history, Cass is the perfect example of someone who has been able to use previous experience in different industries to become a leader within the sports industry.  In her current role Cass works with all levels of government to support game-wide initiatives, including grassroots participation, and community and Indigenous programs.

Today’s guest is one of the most experience event managers that you will find. Ingrid Proud has worked across numerous industries and a variety of sports. From working at her first event at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane, to the Rugby World Cup, Commonwealth Games, NBA, the Asian Games, concerts, Olympic swimming trials and the ultimate sporting event – the Olympics, Ingrid has a lot of experience under her belt. But it’s not only her experience that has everyone in awe, it’s also the way she goes about her work.