The Gender Equality in Sports Leadership Seminar by IBU – the International Biathlon Union focused on how to enable women with the ambition and the capacity to lead to start developing mechanisms for achieving their career goals in biathlon through a higher level of gender equality.
Brief outline of the initiative
The Seminar was organised for the first time un May 2019.
Over 40 participants from 34 countries participated in the three-day Seminar which combined presentations from expert speakers with interactive discussions.
The Seminar participants postulated that to move towards greater equality in biathlon’s leadership the number of female delegates at the IBU Congress needs to be increased. in addition a gender equality policy has to be developed. Last but not least a platform of communication, which will help monitor the progress, needs to be created. Both President Dahlin and Gerasimuk emphasized their support to continue to organize Gender Equality Seminars.
During the Gender Equality in Sports Leadership Seminar by IBU, participants heard an update on the implementation of the IOC Gender Equality Review Project. The update was presented by Irina Gladkikh, Associate Director of Winter & Recognised Sports and IF Relations.
The female National Biathlon Federation Presidents then discussed ways forward. in particular they exchanged on nd how they could use their positions as a platform to empower and inspire others. There were also speakers from other International Federations, the academic world and business. All of them presented different aspects towards diversifying leadership in sport.
© IBU website
Duration
3 days
Frequency
Once a year
Funding
IBU
Budget
N/A
Key elements
Target
Women and men
Country of origin
Austria (Where IBU headquarters are located)
Country/Region of implementation
International
Number of participants
Over 40 participants
(from 34 countries)
Core objective of the Programme
☒ Women empowerment (identifying barriers and working on strengths, creating a community)
☐ Supporting organizational change (strategy for developing diversity, implementation of specific policies, support to change makers)
☐ Allies buy-in and support (mentors, men championing)
☐ External Scrutiny (Pledge board, Indicators, celebration of success…)
☐ Other => Please specify:
Actions implemented
☐ Internal Diversity & Inclusion Strategy for a safe workplace with equal rights (please specify)
☐ Commitment of men:
☐ Personal development training:
☐ Role model highlighted
☒ Networking (women network, men network or mixed)
☐ Mentoring (experienced & wise guide)
☐ Coaching (ability to inspire and grow people/Foster emulation/ Being influential)
☐ Events (sharing with other companies):
☐ Other - please specify:
Format
☐ Online e-learning Module
☐ Online seminar
☐ Workshops
☒ Conference
☐ Self-Assessment tool
☐ Consolidated educational/training programme
☐ Other - Please specify:
Identified Key Success Factors
- Commitment for further seminar by the leaders
- Various stakeholders involved (ie not only from the biathlon world)
Transferable bites/elements
- Coss-sectoral approach
Testimonials
Source of information: Online documentation
An initiative selected as a case study of the SWinG library of leadership development initiatives.
