Activating the true potential of your workforce means understanding and championing the individual situations of every employee. More and more companies are looking to add neurodiversity inclusion to their DEI strategy to combat the talent shortage and create more equitable workplaces so women—and everyone—can thrive. 

Join this webinar to hear our panel of experts discuss: 

• How senior leaders can model empathetic leadership and authenticity to encourage, 

• The invaluable role of people managers in creating safe and supportive dialogues for neurodiverse employees, and 

• Why workplaces that actively support neurodiversity inclusion are more productive. 

Note: Please log in to the website with your Catalyst Supporter organization email to access registration. If you are NOT a Catalyst Supporter, please email us to proceed with payment and registration. For questions, please contact catalystevents@catalyst.org.

Speakers

Hilary McVey, Partner, Deloitte Canada

Samantha Schilling, Human Resources Director for the Engineering Function and Enterprise Centers of Excellence, Eaton

Moderator

Simona Fontanella, Senior Associate, Catalyst

The post Webinar Recording: Neurodiversity at Work: Recognizing and Welcoming This Aspect of Identity for Women and Everyone appeared first on Catalyst.

Catalyst research shows that workplaces where manliness is “policed” and hypercompetitive behaviors are encouraged can take a negative toll on men’s emotional and mental health. This in turn impacts the organization’s overall health, increasing turnover and quiet quitting.

The challenge: Men are under immense pressure to be tough, confident, and aggressive at work — at the expense of other traits and behaviors.¹

Why is this happening?
Masculine stereotypes set the expectation that men are stoic, competitive, and take risks, which creates a narrow set of acceptable behaviors. The fear of losing status from not conforming leads to masculine anxiety, which is the distress men feel when they don’t think they’re living up to society’s rigid standards of masculinity.²

How big is this issue?
Workplaces with high levels of masculine stereotypes can also contribute to burnout, sleep issues, and poor psychological well-being. Men want change ─ 87% of men would prefer to work in environments that allow them to express empathy and kindness.³

Take action

Recognizing International Men’s Day can be a positive first step for HR and DEI leaders looking to create inclusive environments that promote mental well-being and equality for everyone. Here are three actions to take:

1. Promote mental health resources
   Use this day to highlight challenges men face and share the mental health resources and benefits available. Invite ERGs and other teams to have open discussions about mental health and to normalize seeking help.
2. Challenge harmful gender stereotypes and behaviors
   Share this research with leaders and host conversations that explore healthy examples of masculinity and inclusive behavior. Invite everyone to use this day to challenge stereotypes and encourage senior leaders to tackle negative workplace climates head-on.
3. Promote gender partnership
   Gender partnership is when people of all genders work together to create a more inclusive culture that benefits everyone. Discussion groups, cross-gender mentorship programs, cross-ERG events, and gender partnership trainings are all ways to begin to shift workplace norms.

Endnotes

1. DiMuccio, S. H., Yost, M. R., & Helweg-Larsen, M. (2017). A qualitative analysis of perceptions of precarious manhood in US and Danish men. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 18(4), 331–340; Cejka, M. A. & Eagly, A. H. (1999). Gender-stereotypic images of occupations correspond to the sex segregation of employment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25(4), 413-423; Prentice, D. A. & Carranza, E. (2002). What women and men should be, shouldn’t be, are allowed to be, and don’t have to be: The contents of prescriptive gender stereotypes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26(4), 269-281; Vandello, J. A. & Bosson, J. K. (2012). Hard won and easily lost: A review and synthesis of theory and research on precarious manhood. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 14(2), 101-113.
2. DiMuccio, S., Sattari, N., Shaffer, E., & Cline, J. (2021). Masculine anxiety and interrupting sexism at work. Catalyst.
3. Brassel, S. (2024). How to reduce hostile, sexist behavior in frontline workplace. workplaces. Catalyst

The post Men’s mental health is suffering at work appeared first on Catalyst.

Welcome to season 1, episode 7 of Breaking with Tradition, Catalyst’s podcast that explores trends and ideas that will impact the future of the global workplace. This episode is called AI and the Future of Pink-Collar Jobs.

As AI technology rapidly evolves, a troubling new gender gap has emerged, especially among younger workers: 71% of men ages 18-24 say they use generative AI weekly, compared with 59% of women. This gap threatens to widen existing disparities, especially frontline women in “pink-collar” sectors such as customer service, healthcare, and education.

Join host Victoria Kuketz as she chats with Ana Kreacic, Partner and Chief Knowledge Officer of Oliver Wyman Group and COO of the Oliver Wyman Forum, and Terry Stone, Managing Partner Global Health and Life Sciences and Former Managing Director, Americas, Oliver Wyman to discuss the urgent and important need for inclusive upskilling initiatives, incorporating AI into companies’ future vision, and tapping the leadership of Gen Z.

Tune in as we unpack how generative AI could both displace and empower, and what steps companies can take to create a more equitable future of work for all.

Host and guest

Victoria Kuketz, Director, Corporate Engagement, Canada, Catalyst

LinkedIn | Bio

Ana Kreacic is a Partner and Chief Knowledge Officer of Oliver Wyman and COO of the Oliver Wyman Forum – the think tank and platform for engaging business, public policy, and societal leaders to act on shared challenges. With over 20 years of consulting and operating experience, Ana is known for her ability to blend customer insight with business strategy and leadership effectiveness. A frequent speaker and author, Ana’s work has been featured in the World Economic Forum, Wall Street Journal, and MIT Sloan, to name a few. Ana is passionate about empowering women and youth.

LinkedIn | Website

Terry Stone is Vice Chair and Interim Global Lead taking on two strategic priorities for Oliver Wyman. One is as interim Global Leader for Health and Life Sciences focused on accelerating the growth of our Life Sciences businesses in the US and Europe. A second critical firm priority which Terry leads is a project for our CEO to accelerate the transformation of OW’s own business and operating model in response to Artificial Intelligence. Our priority is to identify how consulting overall, and our OW’s business is likely to be impacted by the opportunity and threats that AI creates for strategic advisory businesses.

LinkedIn | Website

In this episode

• 1:41 | Tell us about yourselves! Ana and Terry fill us in on what excites them as AI practitioners.
• 4:29 | The AI gender gap. Our guests break down the emerging AI usage gap between men and woman.
• 8:22 | “Pink-collar” sectors and AI. Terry defines what a “pink-collar” job is and how they’re perceiving new AI technology.
• 14:49 | Performing at the top of your license. How can we convince reticent AI users of its huge potential for positive change?
• 20:11 | AI tips & tricks. Terry reflects on her experience and what works on implementing AI policies at work. Ana brings in the “pink-collar” specificity.

Favorite moments

• 2:17 | Ana: For me, [the exciting part about AI] is the opportunity for positive change… It’s a time that requires a lot of reflection if we’re going to get it right.
• 3:21 | Terry: AI is going to be the single biggest, disruptive force or catalyst for change in business in my entire career.
• 11:50 | Terry: When [AI use is] done well, you can easily see 15-20% productivity improvements in key areas.
• 12:19 | Terry: There’s still a lot of fixation on AI as “driving efficiency.” I think the best companies are thinking about “How does AI serve as a catalyst for me to reimagine everything we do?”
• 15:25 | Ana: When ChatGPT was launched, all of the assessments said it was a very smart eight-year-old… Now we’re getting in the realm of it being an average, maybe C-level PhD student.
• 16:22 | Ana: If you look by gender, women on average will say that they are less aware, in the same company, of AI initiatives. They are less aware of changes their company has made. They are less likely to participate in trainings.
• 18:44 | Terry: The truth of the matter is, AI is going to impact your job. So, you getting smarter about AI will enable you to use it to do your job better… The more you lean in, the more you’ll get out of it.
• 22:02 | Terry: [When it comes to AI implementation], you have to think about both breakthrough business impact and things that are broad-based and easy but that make everyday users’ lives’ easier.
• 25:46 | Ana: How is it that 40% of Gen Z prefer an AI manager? Part of the reason is because they have no fear of asking any question to AI. And the way they ask the question, they know they’re not going to be judged for how they’re asking the question or what they’re asking about. Also, it’s available any time.

Mentioned on the Pod

• World Economic Forum: How to stop women falling behind on generative AI in the workplace
• Oliver Wyman Forum: How generative AI is transforming business and society
• Forbes: 46% of Gen Z leans more on AI than their managers, says new study

Research you can use

• Blog: Global CEOs share insights on AI implementation
• Blog: What is ‘responsible AI’? Panelists weigh in
• Blog: Leverage AI while avoiding its risks and biases
• Webinar recording: How to use generative AI free of gender and racial bias (Supporter Only)
• Explainer: Responsible artificial intelligence for inclusive workplaces (Supporter Only)
• Tool: Use AI to attract a more diverse candidate pool (Supporter Only)

Get the Latest Episodes

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The post Episode 107: AI and the Future of Pink-Collar Jobs appeared first on Catalyst.

Foster inclusion 

Vivian Yoanidis, Senior Manager of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Hydro One, highlighted a program on inclusion, respect, and psychological safety that more than 7,000 operations employees have experienced. “It’s all-day training and it really allows people to really have vulnerable conversations in brave spaces. …. And I’m very proud to say that we’re going to be working with our operations, our health and safety folks, and with HR to put a sustainable plan in place so that we can continue this work. So, it’s not just a one-and-done training session where we tick that box off, but we’re going to continue that journey and really integrate it into our day-to-day operations,” she explained. 

Invest in psychological safety  

Research demonstrates that DEI can lead to increased revenue, reduced costs, greater innovation, and increased employee engagement, productivity, and commitment. Debb Hurlock, Director, Inclusion, Culture & Leadership, Pembina Pipeline Corporation, discussed a powerful teambuilding event – a Women in the Field Summit – in the male-dominated power and gas industry.  

“And you know what I love about this experience is that we weren’t looking at business outcomes — it wasn’t framed in that way. We had the support of our business to do this, and what we focused on is let’s just create a space for women to connect to feel seen, to feel that they’re developing a sense of community, and let’s invest in them. That was it. So, we brought speakers. We held learning sessions. But the primary reason was for women to come together and feel connected and to really invest in their sense of safety: emotional, psychological, and physical safety.” 

Cultivate talent  

Simone Alleyne, Senior Director of Change & Strategic Alignment at McDonald’s Canada, began her career at McDonald’s on the front line in a restaurant 38 years ago. She said that their company phrase “from the crew room to the board room” summarizes not only her own experience but that of many others. “Our current president was a frontline worker. We have many people on our corporate staff who were frontline workers.” 

When pathways from the front line to other areas of the business are clear and encouraged through training and mentorship, workers are more likely to stay, according to the Catalyst research report 3 Ways Frontline Managers Can Improve Workplace Culture. “We have actually extended membership to our corporate WLN [Women’s Leadership Network] to our female restaurant managers. So, it now created this really tight bond between corporate women and restaurant women,” she said. In addition, “Our female owner-operators have also come together and created a women’s operator network. And this is their way of also creating a community mentoring new female operators as they’re coming into the system…Then the last thing I want to share is … 60% of our restaurants are actually run by women.”   

The audience broke into a round of applause at that statistic. They continued to robustly show appreciation for the three outstanding DEI professionals and their work sparking change and setting new standards for creating environments where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to thrive. 

Want to know about next year’s Catalyst Honours? Sign up now and we’ll email you when registration goes live.  

The post 3 strategies to improve frontline workplaces appeared first on Catalyst.

Whatever the general public may think of AI, businesses are on board, seeing the great potential of AI for optimizing existing systems and creating new ones. AI is no longer viewed as simply an option for most industries, but as an inevitability.

As businesses with the agility and budgets lead the charge on the development and implementation of AI, and others begin to follow, it can be easy to move at the speed of innovation without viewing AI through a human lens. In this spirit, panelists convened at the 2024 Catalyst Honours in Toronto on 7 October 2024 to discuss “Shaping an Inclusive Future Through Generative AI.”

Kathleen Taylor, Chair, Element Fleet Management, Altas Partners, and The Hospital for Sick Children, spoke about the portfolio of organizations she works with, saying they are generally optimistic about an AI-enhanced future of work. “There’s such enormous opportunity associated with all of this,” she said.

This sentiment was echoed by discussion moderator David Morgenstern, President, Accenture Canada, who said, “We published a paper at Microsoft this spring that said even traditional Canadian adoption [of AI] would add the equivalent of an insurance or retail sector to Canada.” That translates to an annual economic windfall of $180 billion in labor productivity gains by 2030.

AI can assist in innovation for good

Panelists then shifted their focus to implementation. Jennifer Freeman, CEO of PeaceGeeks,  highlighted AI’s impact on bridging the gaps between users and government. “We’re really utilizing AI in our digital tools as an equalizer,” she said.

For immigrants, there are many barriers (like language and technology) to accessing resources. PeaceGeeks partnered with Accenture to create an AI virtual career coaching platform that can help people practice interviewing, soft skills, and job matching for permanent residency.

As of 7 October 2024, the platform, which rolled out in June, has already had over 100,000 unique users.

AI can perpetuate current biases

Panelists agreed that a healthy dose of caution is needed when creating platforms that rely on AI. Pamela Pelletier, Country Leader & Managing Director, Canada, Dell Technologies, said, “It’s all about the data. Garbage in, garbage out. If you have data that is skewed or that is biased, then you’re going to have a problem.”

She gave the example of AI chatbots, which can “hallucinate”. “Where does ChatGPT get their information from? Twitter, whatever, all these places. So, the data itself is potentially biased.”

Aneela Zaib, Founder & CEO, emergiTEL, said, “The fact is that the LLM (large language model) models that we have on our hands currently, we don’t know how they’re trained or which data they are trained on.”

AI must be fed the right data

What can be done to combat this issue? How can we prevent the same blind spots in the future?

Zaib is already working on solutions. “One of the ways we have tried to overcome [this] is we have fine-tuned these models based on the dataset that are inclusive in nature already. So, when you give a dataset to this tool which is already inclusive and you define set prompts (and there’s a lot of detail…that we can go crazy over), the bottom line is that you have to be very careful in using these systems, giving them the guardrails, and at the same time auditing these systems at the end with the results that you are getting.”

Her company’s tools deliver diverse job candidates to client companies, and AI is part of those tools. When they audit the results that AI delivers, if they find a job or a skillset that isn’t being filled by candidates in certain communities, they analyze those results, fine-tune them, and run the AI model again. Ongoing stewardship of these AI tools and models is part of the process, especially when the work is so important. Zaib said, “Diversity is a practice that we have to do every day.”

DEI and AI can work together

Pelletier echoed this sentiment, saying, “We have the opportunity with the tech that exists now to actually bring people in who have been historically forgotten or left behind.”

Organizations that use AI must do their part. Pelletier said, “As an organization, we have the responsibility when we’re training models to have that data reflect the values we have as an organization. So, it is really important that we take that data and we curate the data to reflect those values… and then we’ll have a very positive outcome.”

She added that DEI and AI can and should work together to further humanity’s best interests. “We need to have our DE&I representation, those folks, at the table at the beginning as we implement the AI projects. And they need to have the ability or authority to hit that pause button or that stop button. If one were analyzing the data, if something is inappropriate, they can pause that and go and correct it,” she said.

Be intentional with AI

As organizations rush to add AI to various aspects of their businesses, it’s important to take the time to do it correctly. If a company doesn’t have high customer service traffic, it probably doesn’t need an AI chatbot. If a company has a large marketing department, it probably doesn’t need to train AI to write articles. And if a company cares deeply about its values, it shouldn’t license an LLM trained on biased datasets.

Taylor summed it up perfectly: “We can make this work, as long as we’re building capably, testing well, utilizing but then coming back around and making sure that what comes out the other end is exactly the outcome we would have hoped for, whether that’s a new recruit, a system that’s delivering a new customer offering, whatever it may be.”

Want to know about next year’s Catalyst Honours? Sign up now and we’ll email you when registration opens.

The post Global CEOs share insights on AI implementation appeared first on Catalyst.

1. “We have an opportunity and I think we have a responsibility, quite frankly, to look to young people who are coming into our businesses now because they are the ones that are going to really drive the change next.” – Shaina Riley, Partner Growth Lead & Lead Black Googler Network, Google Canada
2. “We know when employees feel psychologically safe, not only do they thrive, but they actually increase their output, and there is also the added benefit to society as a whole.” – Karlyn Percil-Mercieca, Founder & CEO, KDPM Equity Institute
3. “Recognize that while reconciliation is important, it’s also integral because it’s going to help us solve the problems that we have today so that we can all have a tomorrow.” – Richel Davies, Director, Inclusion of Indigenous Peoples, Scotiabank
4. “When you support and uplift one group, you just naturally support and uplift other groups and other individuals so as an organization, when we’re talking about diversity, equity and inclusion, all boats rise.” – Simone Alleyne, Senior Director of DEI, Culture & Change, McDonald’s Canada
5. “What became very, very clear is when you have women and people with diverse mindsets impacting your decision making, that elevated your performance.” – Teresa Resch, President, WNBA Toronto
6. “I know for myself for so long growing up, I didn’t feel welcome in a lot of sporting events and even talking about sports because I always got really talked down to, and I know what I’m talking about when I talk about hockey, but a lot of men don’t think so.” – Sarah Nurse, Professional Hockey Player, PWHL Toronto & Canadian National Team
7. “If it’s truly mission critical, if giving our employees the opportunity to express themselves, to be part of something, to make change, to lead the grassroots movement, then it has to be in the same category as everything else that we do that is mission critical – to delivering the best value for our customers, delivering the best value for our shareholders.” – Jodie Wallis, Global Chief Analytics Officer, Manulife
8. “Diversity in general breeds creativity, breeds innovation, breeds productivity.” – Valeriya Yesypenko, VP, Global Data Governance, Manulife
9. “We need to have our DE&I representation, those folks at the table at the beginning as we implement the AI projects.” – Pamela Pelletier, Country Leader & Managing Director, Canada, Dell Technologies
10. “When we get this right, when organizations support associates to navigate the complexities of caregiving in ways that are supportive and humane, it builds loyalty, it builds capability. It’s win-win.” – Moira Klein-Swormink, Principal, Branch Development, Edward Jones Canada

The post Top 10 Quotes from Catalyst Honours 2024 appeared first on Catalyst.

At our recent enERGize virtual event, nearly all of our speakers, regardless of the subject of their particular session, mentioned that securing the buy-in of senior leaders is crucial for employee resource groups (ERGs) to thrive. And since much of the corporate world’s leadership is still made up of White men, this group of potential allies, advocates, gender partners, champions, and sponsors, is crucial to connect with.

Read on to learn why White men and other dominant culture groups are falling through the cracks and how your ERG can send the right messages.

Affinity is important, but so are allies.

Catalyst works to create resources for the betterment of ERGs because they can be invaluable to their members. When done well, ERGs can provide community, a space for grassroots organizing, and a structure for sharing resources, knowledge, and advice. ERGs are places where members can be themselves, where they look out for one another, and where they work for the collective good of the group.

But they can always do bigger and better things with the help of others:

• With an executive sponsor, an ERG can secure funding that will help members create or sustain programming and events. Executives don’t always belong to affinity groups.
• With champions, the accomplishments of the group can be mentioned in the right places at the right times. Their voices can be amplified and their impact widened.
• Advocates can devote time to you and your members. They may help you set up programs, mentor one or more of your leaders, and use whatever influence they have to represent the interests of your ERG in their business area.
• Allies at all levels of the organization can actively recruit new members and help bring in new allies. They can also begin conversations in spaces where they otherwise might not take place.

Sponsors, champions, advocates, and allies can uplift your ERG. You can do without them, but you’ll do a whole lot more with them.

Empathize with the feeling of exclusion.

We shouldn’t be surprised at the current backlash against DEI. For so long, inclusion efforts have been focused on women, LGBTQ+ communities, and people from diverse racial and ethnic groups, leaving straight White men out entirely. While some understood that their presence as allies was needed and joined DEI spaces, others felt excluded, alienated, and even vilified.

It’s an unfortunate fallacy that if efforts are put into helping some groups of people, anyone else must therefore be at a disadvantage. If members of an ERG are special, what about everyone else? Are they now less than?

And since DEI teachings include terms like “privilege” and it is generally agreed that White men have most of it, they may feel specifically not welcome in spaces meant to create safety and community for groups that have suffered historical oppression and disadvantages. They may want to get involved but it might feel wrong. Just as many women have historically felt excluded from the “boys’ club” and “frat house” cultures of workplaces dominated by men, many White men feel unsure of themselves in ERGs whose members are exclusively women or exclusively Latine or exclusively Indigenous.

Everyone knows this feeling. Ever gone to meet your significant other’s whole family for a holiday dinner or reunion? Or been the plus one at a wedding?

On an individual basis, we can feel each other’s discomfort and our empathy kicks in. We take our partner’s hand and introduce them to everyone. We sit a single person at a table with people who we think they’ll get along with.

Even if a given coworker isn’t in the best possible mindset to be an ally yet, they certainly won’t get there if they continue to feel like they’re not allowed to be part of DEI efforts or that your ERG doesn’t want their help.

Let allies know they are welcome and needed.

Brian DeMartino wouldn’t have volunteered on his own to join a women’s ERG. He didn’t know that he could or should. But when he was invited, it changed his career for the better. At Catalyst’s enERGize session “Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges: ERGs as the Impetus for Gender Partnership,” DeMartino, now Global HR Operations Manager at Bechtel Corporation, told the story of how he became involved with a women’s ERG there early in his career. Though they are now known as business resource groups (BRGs) at Bechtel, at the time they were ERGs, and he was approached about becoming cochair of the newly forming Glendale, Arizona chapter of the “Women at Bechtel” ERG.

He now encourages others to explicitly invite people who don’t identify with their affinity group to join as allies. DeMartino said, “It wasn’t just a resource group focused for literally what the name implied, which is women at Bechtel, but really a group that was also meant to bring in our male allies as well, to help with some of this conversation around equity and inclusion and knowing that all of us play a role. I’m very aware sitting here today, looking at myself in the camera, that I’m not the face of diversity and inclusion from the standpoint of, I don’t meet the qualifiers of being a part of an underrepresented group. That said, everybody has a role in this conversation.”

Provide ample opportunities for allies to engage.

Speaking at enERGize, Justin Banninga, Planning Manager, Stations Work Program Management at Hydro One, gave his unique perspective as cochair of a men’s ERG called “Men as Allies.” Hydro One empowered the men in the organization to identify and act as allies to other groups. He confirms that a lot of men are still on the outside looking in at ERGs and other diversity and inclusion efforts. He gave an example: men working out in the field.

He said, “They don’t really get the messaging, right? Like, a lot of them don’t even have access to email all the time. And a lot of this stuff comes out through…email communications or big, corporate-wide telecast or online telecast.”

DeMartino offered a solution, saying, “Not everybody’s going to be able to attend every one of the lunch-and-learn programs that you have, but if you tailor them at times that are going to be accessible, again, not only from thinking about it from a geographic difference perspective but also just from being able to attend and access this material.”

Banninga added, “I think, you know, meet people where they are and try to connect them to the human stories. And I think it brings those folks, those men in the field especially, into those conversations in a way that they feel included as well. And I think you’ll find that they are doing a lot of these things anyway, because it’s the right thing to do.”

Once allies have come in, keep them steady on common ground.

Connecting people seems to be the simplest way to drive out fear of the unknown about each other. Once your ERGs have brought men into women’s groups, or White men into ERGs for different racial and ethnic groups, making them stay and engage comes down to what we all have in common. What do we all want? What can we all work toward together? What do we all struggle with? In what ways do we all need each other?

Often, that’s all any of us needs to thrive in unfamiliar territory. Banninga said, “What I encourage [men] to do is just listen to the stories of others, and listen to the stories of women that are attending these sessions with you and people from diverse backgrounds that are attending, and start to see that there are a lot of common threads outside of the more theoretical DEI language that connects you. […] We’re all human beings. We all want to be able to be ourselves in a safe place at work, a psychologically safe space.”

Moving the needle on your company’s culture takes the whole company, not just the underrepresented groups that usually make up ERG memberships. White men can be a great resource for allyship, advocacy, and gender partnership, so long as they are made to feel that they are welcome, too.

Download the full checklist

The post ERG leader’s guide to gender partnership appeared first on Catalyst.

Today, Resch is the inaugural President of the Women’s National Basketball Association Toronto franchise, which will begin playing in the 2026 season. Previously, she was a senior leader at the Toronto Raptors men’s basketball team for 11 seasons, programmed basketball for 104 locations of Life Time Fitness, and began her career in International Basketball Operations at the NBA League Office.

“If you can see it, you can be it,” said Vanessa Lewerentz, moderator of the afternoon keynote panel at Catalyst Honours on 7 October 2024 in Toronto. Chief Inclusion Officer for BMO Financial Group, Lewerentz interviewed Teresa Resch and Sarah Nurse, two trailblazing women working for equal opportunities and reshaping Canadian athletics in the session “Leveling the Playing Field: Canadian Women’s Sports and the Pursuit of Equity.”

For Resch, this was true. She discussed a college experience at a national tournament when she became aware of a career path in sports organizations. “It was the first time I ever saw a job in sports that wasn’t a coach or a player and it really opened my eyes to the opportunity to work in sports,” she said. Unlike [Sarah] Nurse, Resch knew she wasn’t going to be a professional athlete but before that experience she didn’t know the options.

Equity in women’s sports is improving and diversity is good for business, Resch explained. “People in sports are looking for any sort of competitive advantage. And what became very, very clear is when you have women and people with diverse mindsets impacting your decision-making, that elevated your performance.”

Creating safe spaces and increasing visibility

To achieve gender diversity and gender equality in sports, you need to create workplaces that support them, according to Sarah Nurse, a record-breaking ice hockey Olympic Gold and Silver medalist who plays for the Canadian Women’s National Team and the Professional Women’s Hockey League Toronto Franchise. A champion of change, she was integral in developing a single, viable professional women’s ice hockey league in North America.

Nurse spoke about “creating spaces in sports where women actually feel comfortable and safe. Because I know for myself for so long growing up, I didn’t feel welcome in a lot of sporting events and even talking about sports because I always got really talked down to. And I know what I’m talking about when I talk about hockey, but a lot of men don’t think so.”

She doesn’t want girls and female athletes today to experience that. “If they want a career in sports, if they want to be athletes, they should be respected and they should feel lifted up.” Nurse spoke about both creating safe spaces and accessibility, which she described as “being able to actually watch the product.” So even if women’s sports programs exist but aren’t broadcast or visible via marketing, public relations, and advertising, they are at a disadvantage.

“There’s a stat that basically says in women’s sports in totality, you have to invest three times as much to just be even with men’s since women’s sports are about 100 years behind,” Resch said. “Three times just to get even, not even progress.”

Investment, participation, impact

“I think for women’s sports professionally, specifically commercially in Canada, in order to succeed, we need two things: We need investment and participation. And that’s across the entire funnel,” Resch said. She then asked the audience, “Where are you spending your time and energy? Are you going to games? Are you buying tickets? Are you buying league passes? WNBA league passes are $30.”

“I’m a firm believer that no impact is small, and even just showing up, buying a league pass, buying a jersey, talking about it on social media, that makes an impact, and that’s huge, especially with startups, with things that are just getting off of the ground,” Nurse said.

Speaking about the sports industry, which was created around men’s sports, Nurse said, “If I had my way, I would rebuild the whole system.” She discussed how women’s sports could benefit from different media, storytelling, marketing, and ticket sales methods. “If we lean into that, I think women’s sports are going to be even more successful than we already are.”

“There’s still a long way to go, but it’s been great to see the trajectory change, even just during my tenure,” Resch said.

Looking out into the audience, Nurse uplifted attendees: “So, just know the work that you’re doing impacts the greater society and that ultimately uplifts us and makes these things possible.”

Want to know about next year’s Catalyst Honours? Sign up now and we’ll email you when registration goes live!

The post Taking strides toward equity in Canadian women’s sports appeared first on Catalyst.