Daniela Gomes, ITTF Development, Education and Training Projects Officer
In March 2016, in co-operation with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the ITTF successfully supported the first two female leaders, Kazakhstan’s Yelena Druzkhova and Australia’s Sue Stevenson to participate in the first ever International Federation Women in Leadership Forum.
The Forum was jointly organised by Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Overall, the purpose was to explore ways to bring more women into leadership positions at all levels of sport by expanding the women-in-sport network and by providing a unique opportunity for sports federations to share best practices and effective strategies.
The ITTF is proud to announce that Latvia’s Ina Jozepsone and Marguerita Felix from Barbados are the selected leaders for the 2017 Forum scheduled for Monday 6th to Wednesday 8th March in Lausanne, Switzerland.
A major priority of the Olympic movement is to improve the situation regarding the recruitment of women and create channels in order to assume leadership roles. The IOC Executive Board presented a recommendation in November 2016 for members of the Olympic Movement to set a minimum target of 30 per cent for women’s representation in their governing bodies by 2020.
During the Forum, participants will learn more about how to best reach their maximum potential as leaders within the Olympic Movement.
The initiative is one more step to promote leadership pathways for women who choose to make sport their careers and highlights the need to create awareness and promote sustainable development policies towards gender equity to its membership.
