After five years as the President of Women Sport Australia (WSA) Board Carol Fox is passing the leadership baton to Gen Simmons.
Simmons was elected as new WSA President after the WSA AGM on 30 September 2020 and steps into the President’s role at an exciting time for WSA with the organisation having gone from strength to strength under Fox’s leadership, establishing itself as the lead voice on gender equity for women in sport in Australia.
With the second successful year of Women in Sport Photo Action Awards (WISPAA) adding to WSA’s well established advocacy skills, mentoring and leadership programs and many partnerships with key state and national sporting bodies, the organisation is well placed to advocate for women’s sport in the COVID-19 world where sporting organisations will need to be more discerning about what they invest in, potentially jeopardising the gains made for women’s sport in recent years.
“After 5 years as President it is time to step aside to concentrate on things closer to home. Now is the right time for me to move on with our Deputy Chair Gen Simmons ready to take on the leadership role with a group of talented, dedicated and professional directors.” Fox said.
“Gen was one of the original mentees in our female sports administrators mentoring program and really stood out as a star – so much so that we invited her onto the board so WSA could benefit from her enthusiasm and skillset. I have the utmost confidence that the organisation will thrive with her at the helm”.
“Gen has been gradually stepping into the role over the past 12 months, taking on more of the media responsibilities and managing the strategic actions. Her energy, excitement, passion, strategic vision and leadership is exactly what WSA needs now”.
With a strong and diverse career history working in traditionally female sports like gymnastics and netball as well as traditionally male sports like horse-racing and rugby union, Simmons is eager to leverage these experiences for sport at a collective level “ I’ve seen how important it is to have strategies that open sport to everyone no matter your gender, age, background or ability.”
“It’s a huge honour to be elected WSA President. Carol has been an amazing mentor to me and I am excited to follow in her footsteps and see what I can achieve at the helm of WSA. We have some very talented people on the WSA Board so I know it’s going to be an exciting few years ahead.”
“The entire Women Sport Australia community thanks Carol for her passionate and dedicated support for WSA and women’s sport in Australia over many years. We know she will still be involved in various capacities and wish her well with her plans to do more work in the mental health and coaching space.” said fellow WSA Board member Iain Roy.
Fox has also recently taken on the role of Director of Sport at Quality Mind Global which will enable her to help many more athletes and coaches understand the mind body connection and its role in injury prevention.
Gen Simmons Bio
Gen has always had a passion for sport and has enjoyed a myriad of different roles working in the sports industry. She started her career with Netball Australia as Digital Communications Manager and has also held positions with Racing Victoria as Racing.com Social Media Strategist and the Melbourne Rebels as Senior Associate of Marketing. She is currently the General Manager of Marketing and Commercial at Gymnastics Victoria where she’s proud to work in an industry where three-quarters of the workforce is female.
