EY has a very clear purpose behind its support as an official sponsor of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017.
It is bound inextricably to a company-wide commitment to diversity and integration and a long-term goal of building leadership programs for women inside and outside the organisation.
“EY shares common values with rugby and has long been a proponent of the sport worldwide,” said Nancy Altobello, Global Vice Chair – Talent for EY speaking to Sport for Business.
“Building on previous partnerships with World Rugby World Cup 2015, the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games and The British & Irish Lions Tour to New Zealand, EY will be continuing to forge closer relationships with world-class athletes.”
“The leadership skills, motivation and resilience developed through playing rugby are incredibly beneficial in a business environment. At EY we’re thrilled to harness the leadership potential of elite female athletes and help them seamlessly transition to new careers in business.”
In Rio, the company identified eight Olympic and one Paralympic athletes to whom they were able to offer placements at EY offices around the world.
Identifying those who want to transition from an elite level of performance in sport to a similar position in business works well from both a company point of view and for those who are making the transition.
EY is contributing to the World Rugby two-day Leadership Forum in Belfast, which takes place as the tournament draws towards a close on the field but a wide range of new opportunities begin to emerge off it.
“They have also presented a Captain’s Breakfast at University College Dublin and introduced the Women Athletes Business Network Mentoring Program for those present to enrol in its selection process.
“We’ve seen firsthand the tremendous value that WABN and our mentoring program provides our women athletes transitioning from careers in sport to careers in business,” added Beth Brooke-Marciniak, EY Global Vice Chair of Public Policy.
“By pairing them with top female executives, we’re able to nurture their professional development and help them understand how they can apply the unique leadership skills and experiences they’ve gained through sport and thrive in a business setting.”
This is the third year of this 12 month program run in conjunction with the International Women’s Forum,
There is a competitive process for becoming one of the 25 athletes each year that go onto the programme.
“There have been five rugby players in the first three cohorts and four of those are competing in this year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, Andrea Burk, Meaghan Howat and Maria Cristina Samson for Canada and Shannon Manry Willoughby for New Zealand.
EY is engaging with the partnership at every level from senior management through to external suppliers and will be portraying the work undertaken in and around Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 here in Dublin to its worldwide network building a better working world through sports.
It is using the partnership to bolster an already very strong position in leadership on the issue of women in sport.
A recent report commissioned by the company through the Women Athletes Business Network Mentoring Program in partnership with espnW in the US highlighted key reasons why women who have participated in sport make winning entrepreneurs.
It is great to see an organisation put real heft behind a sponsorship and that is exactly what is happening between EY and Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017.
WRWC Sponsor Spotlight – Dublin City Council
