The Leading Edge: Good Practices for Creating Gender-Equitable Boards in Sport

Research tells a compelling story of the impact that women have when serving as directors. While most of the research is based on for-profit organizations, it is nonetheless relevant to the non-profit sector, including sport and physical activity. Board gender diversity is a matter of good business as much as it is an issue of fairness according to the Canadian Gender and Good Governance Alliance.

This resource provides sport leaders with information and tips to enhance good practices or dial up efforts to support gender-equitable boards.

The recommendations shared in this resource were informed and inspired by:

• Insights shared by Canadian sport leaders whose organizations have women representing 40-60% of the board directors
• Canadian Women & Sport documents and comparative analysis of our research looking at the number of female directors and executive directors/CEOs between 2015 and 2018
• Promising practices from other organizations with expertise on inclusive governance
• A review of relevant literature

If you’re looking for a quick summary of why diverse boards are important and some suggestions on how to recruit women to the boardroom table, review and share our infographic (PDF / JPG)!