5 March 2019 | Tennis Victoria

Highly credentialed gender equality campaigner Dr Ruth Holdaway is set to lead and provide direction for Tennis Victoria as Chief Executive Officer.

Currently the Chief Executive Officer of Women in Sport UK since 2013, Dr Holdaway has been appointed to the role by the Tennis Victoria Board.

Named by national UK media as one of the 50 most influential women in sport in the UK and awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of East London for services to sport, Ruth brings a strong track record of innovation and leadership across the sport sector.  Ruth’s achievements at Women in Sport include: increasing women and girls’ participation in sport through initiatives such as This Girl Can, #StrongIsNotASize and a national Women’s Sport Week; changing national policy in the UK to mandate sports boards have a minimum 30% women on the board; and driving change and collaboration in sport through leadership of national events such as the Transforming Sport and Empower Conferences.

Before joining Women in Sport in 2013, Ruth enjoyed a 15-year career in the not-for-profit sector with senior leadership roles in communications, service delivery and business development for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer UK and Women’s Aid.  Prior to her charity career, Ruth was a Health Service Manager, delivering paediatric, cancer and older people’s services.

“We are extremely pleased to appoint Ruth to the role of Tennis Victoria CEO. Ruth will be the first female CEO to lead Tennis Victoria,” Tennis Victoria President Dr Emma Sherry said.

“An extensive recruitment process was initiated in December last year and we received many applications from highly credentialed candidates. Ruth was selected because she brings with her a wealth of experience in leadership, sport and gender equality.”

Ms Holdaway welcomes the exciting opportunity ahead.

“I would like to thank the Tennis Victoria Board for appointing me to this role. I believe we will do great things for tennis players in Victoria to improve the health, wellbeing and enjoyment of the many and varied communities across the state, as well as be a leading example of sports provision globally. I’m looking forward to now becoming a female leader in an international sporting arena, and I’ll do everything I can to keep campaigning for women and girls to have equal access to sport and to play leading roles in the sector.”

Ms Holdaway will relocate from England to Melbourne in the coming months and commence the role in June.