January 2023 – December 2026
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Directors
Professor Toni Bruce (University of Auckland New Zealand)
Prof. Toni Bruce believes strongly in an academic’s role as a public intellectual. She is a regular media columnist and interviewee on issues in women’s sport, both in New Zealand and globally. She draws on her practitioner experience in journalism and her interdisciplinary media and sociology research background to provide research-informed perspectives to the public. She writes regularly for New Zealand’s women-sport-only news section: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/lockerroom/profile/tonibruce/posts
Toni has been involved with women’s sport in many capacities: as athlete, referee, fan, academic, board member and public commentator. She has contributed to WomenSport International since 2014, as both secretary (2015-2019) and as an extended board member (2012-2014, 2020 to present). She also interned in communications for a year at the Women’s Sports Foundation in New York. As a member the board of Women’s Sport and Recreation ACT in Australia (1999-2001), she wrote a weekly column on women’s sport for the Canberra Times newspaper. Most recently, she was a foundation board member of Women in Sport Aotearoa (2016-2018).
Toni has worked at four universities in the USA, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. She regularly reviews for multiple journals and is an Associate Editor for the Communication & Sport journal. She has 90 publications that primarily focus on how sports media represent sport, with a particular emphasis on how ‘difference’ (gender, nationalism, disability and race/ethnicity) is produced in media coverage. She also recently published a novel based on 25 years of research into women’s sport, Terra Ludus: A Novel about Media, Gender and Sport (2016), and has been focusing on media spaces where positive change is happening.
Toni is excited to continue to help WSI grow over the next four years and contribute research-informed policy and recommendations on women’s sport.
Andrea Carska-Sheppard (Slovakia/USA)
Andrea is a Lawyer, Arbitrator, and General Counsel for the world largest independent employee wellbeing and mental health provider serving 75 million employees across 200+ countries and territories including 30% of Fortune 500 companies. Further to this she is a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Working Group on Prevention of Harassment and Abuse in Sports and the Women in Sports Commission (2020-2021). She is internationally recognized as one of a few legal practitioners licensed in four most
prestigious bars, a recognized speaker and author, and recognized for her leadership in sports and integrity. Andrea is multilingual and daily works in many cultural and regions of the world.
Andrea is familiar with the WSI through her global work in the safe sport and global mental wellbeing in sports, especially with global academic research on gender
conducted by WSI members. She became involved with WSI two years ago as the member of the Legal and Ethics Committee and served as the representative of the Legal and Ethics Committee on the Executive Board working with the President Diane Huffman and the Board of Directors members on various tasks and projects.
Andrea is happy to continue the bring her expert legal advice as a Board Director and assist WSI to promote its global goals.
Dr. Gretchen Kerr (Canada)
Dr. Gretchen Kerr is currently a Professor and Vice-Dean, Academic Affairs in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses broadly on athlete maltreatment with a specific interest on emotional abuse within the coach-athlete relationship. Gretchen also conducts studies of coach education with a focus on advancing developmentally appropriate methods of enhancing the psychosocial health of young people in sport. She is a member of the Safe Sport Committee for Gymnastics Canada, as well as a volunteer athlete welfare officer for various sport organizations, a role that involves managing and investigating complaints of athlete maltreatment.
Gretchen has been an active member of WSI for over eight years and is a member of the Harassment and Abuse Task Force. She works with Dr. Stiliani Chroni representing WSI with UNESCO and CIGIPS.
Gretchen hopes to continue her support as a representative and advocate for gender equity and a safe sport environment for all.
Clemencia Anaya Maya (Colombia)
Clemencia is a Physical Education teacher and Journalist, with Postgraduate Degrees in Computer Science for the Educative Management, Sport Management and an Executive Master in Management of Sport Organizations.
Clemencia has extensive experience to bring to WSI, starting her active career as a national team basketball player leading to being the national team trainer in the 1970’s to Chef of Mission of the Colombian delegations re: Ocean Pacific Sea Games Cali 1995, Pan-American Games, Mar del Plata,1995, Bolivarian Games – Armenia – Colombia, August 2005. She also was the General Director of the Centro-American and Caribbean Games Cartagena, 2005 & the IX South American Games, Medellin 2010. Acknowledged for her expertise she was the Senior Advisor to Medellin City Mayor, bidding process for the Youth Olympic Games 2018.
Within her career Clemencia has held a number of positions including Dean of the Columbia Olympic Dean of the Colombian Olympic Academy from 1992 – 2009; the National Director of Olympic Solidarity Courses in Sport Administration, since 1994; President and founder of the Colombian Association of Women and Sport, 1995 – 2009; was a member of the Global Executive Board of the International Working Group on Woman and Sport, as representative of the South America from 2004 – 2013 Director of Post Graduate Program in Sport Management, University of Bogotá,1998 – 2006; President and founder of the Colombian Orienteering Federation, 2003 – 2005; President of the Women Sport Commission of the Colombian NOC, 2005 – 2009 and founder of the Iberoamerican Sport Network on Women Sport 2009.
Clemencia intends to ensure the South and Central Americas are represented in WSI’s efforts over the next four years.
Dr. Margo Mountjoy (Canada)
Dr. Mountjoy (MD, PhD) is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University Medical School and Regional Assistant Dean of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University.
She is also a clinician scientist – the Chief Medical Officer of the sport medicine department at the Health + Performance Centre at the University of Guelph, for 30 years. Dr. Mountjoy works for several International Sports organizations in the field of sports medicine including the International Olympic Committee (Games Group), the International Federations of Golf, Rugby and FIFA, the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations and for the World Anti-Doping Agency. She is a retired elite artistic swimmer.
Her areas of clinical expertise and research interests are in the field of female athlete health, safeguarding in sport, and mental health. She has worked in these fields for the International Olympic Committee as a member of various Expert Working Groups. Through her role on ASOIF, she also has expertise in event medical planning. She is an active advocate of the promotion of holistic athlete-centred health care.
Margo is keen to bring her experience and expertise to assist in guiding WSI advocacy efforts.
Muditambi “Ntambi” Elizabeth Ravele (South Africa)
Muditambi has many years of experience in serving on boards of sport organisations in South Africa and internationally. She is currently an Independent Board Member of Cricket South Africa, Laureus Sport for Good Foundation (South Africa) and Brand South Africa. Prior to that, she served on the Board of Tennis South Africa, Wheelchair Tennis South Africa (Chair), Boxing South Africa (Chair),International Federation of Netball Associations Board, Mayoral Advisory Sports Forum of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, Ministerial Task Team on Sport and Recreation (South Africa), Netball South Africa (President), and many more.
Muditambi’s areas of expertise are, and not limited to governance, leadership and management knowledge, transformation/change management, financial and business acumen relating to board activities, strategic thinking and decision making, integrity and high ethical standards, ability to comply with a board’s code of conduct, demonstrated ability to think independently, ability to work collaboratively.
Muditambi Ravele is the founder and current Chairperson of the South African Women and Sport. From around 2008 when SAWASF was founded, Muditambi and SAWASF have been the only effective Women and Sport voice in South Africa that is able to speak to Ministers, Members of Executive Council of Sport in South African provinces, heads of sport governing bodies, heads of broadcasters such as MultiChoice, and has led SAWASF in its advocacy work to influence amendments to existing laws as well in efforts to draft a Women in Sport policy for South African Women and Sport.
Muditambi is. Looking forward to share with WSI her wealth of knowledge and experience in advocacy – an important contribution to WSI’s efforts over the next years.
Dr. Junko Tahara (Japan)
Dr. Junko Tahara is a Professor of Sport History in the Faculty of Physical Education, Kokushikan University, Tokyo, Japan and was also a Visiting Professor at Koblenz-Landau University, Germany (2014-2015) and a Visiting Academic at the University of Queensland, Australia in 2002.
She is one of the founding members of the Japan Society for Sport and Gender Studies (JSSGS) and a board member of the JSSGS from 2002 to 2017 and since 2020. She received the 2022 Award of Merit from the JSSGS for her contributions to academic research and international exchange in sport and gender over the years.
Junko has been an advisory board member of the WomenSport International (WSI) since 2019 and serves as an active member of the Communication and Membership Committee. She is interested in initiatives for gender equality in physical education at schools and sports organizations and sports policies for this purpose.
She has been engaged in the Olympic Movement for many years both domestically and internationally. She has been the Vice-president of the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee since 2014, a board member of the International Fair Play Committee since 2018 and the chair of Japan Pierre de Coubertin Committee since 2007. In 2021, she was awarded the Vikelas Plaque by the International Society of Olympic Historians.
She participated as a player representing Japan in the Women’s World Bowls Championships 1996 in England as well as a player and manager in the Women’s World Bowls Championships 2004 in England.
Junko is excited about continuing in her role as a Director with WSI and will continue to provide her expertise and experience to ensure girls and women have equitable opportunities to participate in physical education and sport.
Emeritus Directors
Dr. Carole Oglesby (United States)
Dr. Carole Oglesby is a Professor Emeritus in sport psychology (2001) from Temple University and was Chairperson in Kinesiology at California State University Northridge from 2003-2009. Her scholarship focused on re-imagining gender identity through publications such as Women and sport: from myth to reality (1978 and Encyclopedia of American women in sport (1998).
Carole served on a number of important Boards and Committees but special mention goes to her being the first president of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), and the first president of WomenSport International in 1994 serving two four year terms. In 2014-2018 Carole was the International Working Group (IWG) Conference for Women in Sport Cochair 2014-2018. She served as president of the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS), and as Trustee for the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF). She organized WSF’s “The New Agenda” conference, which set the research agenda for women in sport in the early 1980s, including homophobia in sport.
Carole has received numerous awards including not limited to Women’s Sports Foundation Billie Jean King Contribution Award, AAHPERD R. Tait McKinzie Award, ICSSPE Phillip Noel Baker Research Award, AASP 2021 Distinguished Professional Practice Award, Purdue University Title IX Distinguished Service Award, IOC Women and Sport Award for the Americas 2018.
Carole is an inspirational ground breaker for equality for women in sport and continues to be so after contributing many years to this effort. She continues to be an innovator and responsive to the challenges facing women in sport. Her continued efforts to mentor women of all ages as witnessed by those of us who have had the opportunity to work with her. A key to Carole efforts has been her drive to ensure women’s groups work together and not in isolation. She believes we can make a difference if we work together. Always inclusive of all.
As an Emeritus Director on the board of WSI Carole intends to continue to provide strong guidance and ensure the WSI remains a strong and active organization fighting for the rights of women in sport around the world.
WSI is proud and honoured that Carole has accepted to continue to advice and guide us in our future endeavours.
Dr. Kari Fasting (Norway)
Kari Fasting, another inspirational leader starting as an athlete she was elected to and was the only women of the Executive Board of the Norwegian Amateur Track and Field Association (1976-1980). As a member of the Women’s Committee in the Norwegian Confederation of Sports, she was instrumental in the advocacy delegations resulting in changing the law on gender representation in Norway’s sport organisations. She was the first women Dean of Sport Sciences at the Norwegian School of Sport Science from 1989 to 1994.
Kari contributed to establishing the European Women Sport Conference, and the European Working Group for Women in Sport, a commitment that ended up forming the International Women’s Group Conference for Women in Sport (IWG).
Kari is a founding and on-going Board member of WomenSport International (1994), president from 2003-2010. Through her efforts, WSI gained advisory status to the United Nations, where Kari has advised and prepared articles in collaboration with UNESCO, UNICEF and UN Women on gender equity and gender-based violence in sport. More recently she is one of the founders of Safe Sport International and more recently was appointed to the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Equality Working Group in 2020.
She has complete openness, and valuing, to all races, ethnicities, religions, genders and gender identities, languages. Her only standard is the quality of ideas no matter who it is that expresses them.
WomenSport International is honoured that she is willing to continue to contribute to our efforts as a Director Emeritus.
Co-oped Board of Director
Emily Cameron-Blake (Canada)
A former genetics researcher at the University of Toronto, Emily went on to row professionally for Canada for seven years (2010-2016), winning silver medals at the World Championships in 2013 and World Cup III in 2014. She was also awarded an Oxford Blue for stroking the Oxford Women’s Blue Boat in the 2017 Boat Race. In 2018 she won gold, silver, and bronze medals for Canada at the inaugural Commonwealth Beach Sprints Rowing Championships.
Following retirement from the Canadian National Rowing team, Emily completed a Master of Public Policy at The University of Oxford, specialising in sport and health policy. She then went on to work with the UK Government in sport policy as part of the UK Anti-Doping Tailored Review Team, and with the 2022 Commonwealth Games Delivery Unit within the ministry of sport. Recruited to EY to lead on strategy, research and curriculum, Emily worked with elite and professional sport organisations on assisting athletes in post career transitions and personal development.
Emily is a part-time doctoral candidate at the University of Edinburgh, researching the duty of care and care experiences of elite and professional athletes. She currently advises both the Canadian and UK sport systems on best practice in safe sport programming for elite athletes and works with international and national governing bodies of sport to develop policies and programmes that focus on the safeguarding and wellbeing of athletes. As a consultant to the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, Emily is part of a small expert team developing national educational modules on safe sport for all athletes and athlete support personnel. She has worked with UNESCO on peer reviewing the Handbook on Tackling Violence against Women and Girls in Sport, and she is currently developing the world’s first international sport policy tracker – focusing on gender equality and safeguarding policies and frameworks.
In 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Emily was recruited by the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford to work on what would become the world’s largest and most cited database and tracker of government COVID-19 policies in 187 countries. As part of this role, she headed the development of the database and indicators for the Canadian sub-national dataset, the development of global COVID-19 vaccine policy indicators and dataset, as well as the coordination and training of 1700+ international volunteer data contributors. She worked with the UN Development Program on the development and launch of the Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity, presented at the UN World Data Forum, and has been cited as a policy tracking expert in over 20 media outlets including Aljazeera, Bloomberg, The Globe and Mail, The Guardian, Financial Times, The New York Times, The Times, Wall Street Journal, WHO, OCHA, OECD and the CDC.