World Rugby extends Women's Executive Leadership Scholarships programme after global success

--12 new scholarships will be granted in 2020

--37 Executive Leadership Scholarships have been awarded worldwide since 2018

--World Rugby announce 10 scholarship recipients from Africa, Oceania, South America, Europe and North America

--Scholarships programme is a key strand of the Accelerating the global development of women in rugby 2017-25 strategy

Ahead of International Women’s Day, World Rugby has announced an extension of its Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarship programme, following game-changing outcomes in its first two years.

An additional 12 new scholarships will be awarded in 2020 with 12 recipients coming from across the globe in Africa, Asia, Oceania, South America, Europe and North America.

Originally launched in 2018 as a two-year strategy to accelerate the normalisation of women in key leadership roles on and off the field, the game-changing scholarship programme aligns with World Rugby’s transformational governance reform, which has resulted in women comprising more than a third of the international federation’s 50-strong Council.

The programme offers opportunities for professional and leadership development for women in its member unions and regional associations. It is open to women who are currently involved in rugby at governance or senior management level or have the potential to be a senior manager within the sport or on a union or region board within two years.

Notable scholarship recipient successes:

Maha Zaoui (Tunisia) – Former Manager of the Fédération Tunisienne de Rugby, has now been appointed as the new Women's Rugby Manager at Rugby Africa, with responsibility of growing women’s rugby across the African continent

Rolande Boro (Burkina Faso) – President of Burkina Faso in 2019 who has been elected to the board of Rugby Africa and also appointed as a World Rugby Council member

Dr Araba "Roo" Chintoh (Canada) – Appointed chairperson of the first transgender working group review undertaken by World Rugby

World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: "Ahead of International Women’s Day, I am delighted to confirm that we are extending our game-changing Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarship programme, a key strand of the 2017-25 women in rugby strategy, into 2020 with 12 deserving recipients of great potential.

"World Rugby is committed to driving gender balance and ensuring women have equal opportunities in all areas of the game, from the playing field through to the boardroom. We have seen first-hand the significant impact the Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarships have had among past recipients in accelerating their professional development forward in ways that simply wouldn’t have been possible without the programme."

As part of the programme, scholarship recipients can benefit from informal mentoring with recipients being connected with leaders, both male and female, from the wider global rugby family.

2020 World Rugby Executive Leadership Scholarship programme:

Beth Onesemo (Samoa) – Board Member, Board of Directors, Samoa Rugby Union

Nicki Nicol (New Zealand) – Chief Operating Officer, New Zealand Rugby

Angela del Pan (Spain) – High Performance Operations Manager, Spanish Rugby Union (FER)

Su Carty (Ireland) – IRFU committee member and World Rugby Council Member

Vanessa Doble (South Africa) – Head of Legal and Compliance and Company Secretary of SARU and World Rugby Council Member

Ando Niaina Herimahefa (Madagascar) – Women's Referee Manager and Girls' School Rugby Manager, Malagasy Rugby

Keisha-Ann Down (Jamaica) – Vice-Chairman, Jamaica Rugby Football Union

Jenn Heinrich (USA) – President and CEO of Rugby Oregon, CEO and Co-Founder Girls Rugby, Inc

Sisy Quiroz (Peru) – CEO, Peruvian Rugby Football Union

Nitzia Formoso (Uruguay) – National women’s team manager, Uruguay Rugby Union

World Rugby Women’s Advisory Committee Chairman Serge Simon said: "The Executive Leadership Scholarships have been a real success story since they were first launched in 2018. It’s an exciting time in the programme as we are now starting to see a direct impact at a global level with talented scholarship recipients moving into decision-making positions at the highest level across the game."

World Rugby General Manager for Women's Rugby Katie Sadleir added: "Over the past two years we have seen incredible success stories of scholarship recipients being appointed into leadership positions across the game. Through the programme we have created a truly global and connected network of women, within the wider rugby family, who are leading by example within their respective unions and regional associations. For successful and sustained gender balance, we need to ensure that women have the correct professional opportunities for development and the scholarships enable them to attain this."

Editors' Notes

Asia will announce two 2020 scholarships along with an additional two scholarships having deferred their allocation from 2019.

2018 World Rugby Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarship recipients

Ada Milby (Philippines) – Member of World Rugby Council and the Asia Rugby Executive Committee, Secretary General of the Philippine Rugby Football Union and former captain of Philippines in sevens and 15s

Samantha Feausi (Hong Kong) – Head of Women’s Rugby Development for Hong Kong Rugby Union and former Hong Kong captain in sevens and 15s

Maha Zaoui (Tunisia) – General Manager of the Fédération Tunisienne de Rugby and member of the Executive Board, responsible for women’s rugby

Rolande Boro (Burkina Faso) – President of the Fédération Burkinabe de Rugby and former Burkina Faso player

Dr Araba "Roo" Chintoh (Canada) – Provincial Director and member of Rugby Canada’s Board of Directors who played for Canada at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2002

Jillion Potter (USA) – A player for USA for nearly 10 years, who played at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014 in 15s and led Team USA to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in sevens

Maria Thomas (Trinidad and Tobago) – Honorary Secretary and member of the Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Football Union Executive Committee, a sevens player for Trinidad and Tobago

Marjorie Enya (Brazil) – Confederação Brasileira de Rugby Board Member, representative of women’s rugby community, member of the Development Committee, Women’s Rugby Director for Paulisata Rugby Federation (São Paulo) and former manager of the Brazil women’s sevens team and Services Manager for Rugby at the Olympic Games at Rio 2016

Maria Catalina Palacio Gaviria (Colombia) – CEO of Federación Colombiana and President of the Antioquian Rugby Federation

2019 World Rugby Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarship recipients:

Cate Sexton (New Zealand) – Head of Women’s Rugby Development at New Zealand Rugby

Vela Naucukidi (Fiji) – Women’s Development Manager for Fiji Rugby Union, former President of the Fiji Women’s Rugby Union (2007-12) and current Secretary since 2013

Jane Schmitt (Australia) – Director and board member of Queensland Rugby Union

Cybele Druma (Papua New Guinea) – Former CEO of Papua New Guinea Rugby Football Union and President of the National Capital District Rugby Union

Gemma Fay (Scotland) – Head of Girl’s and Women's Rugby with Scottish Rugby

Katharina Kueß (Austria) – Vice-President and head of women’s rugby in Austria, a player and coach

Annelies Acda (Netherlands) – Rugby Nederland Board member and Rugby Europe Women’s Rugby Committee member

Irina Arkhytska (Ukraine) – Secretary General for Ukraine Rugby Union

Regina Lunyolo (Uganda) – Chairperson of the Uganda Women’s Rugby Advisory Committee and committee member for the Gender Equality and Diversity commission of the Uganda Olympic Committee

Edvige Manga (Senegal) – Deputy Secretary General of Senegal Rugby Union

María Fernanda Vázquez Villatoro (Mexico) – Manager and Board member at Wallabies Rugby Football Club Mexico

Lauren Rothwell (Bermuda) – Board Member and Public Relations Officer for Bermuda Rugby Union and national team player

Lettizia Alcaraz (Argentina) – Women's Rugby Development Manager of the Northeast Rugby Union and former international player

Soledad Galleguillos (Chile) – Development Manager of Women's Rugby and former international player for Chile, coach and educator

About World Rugby: World Rugby is committed to the global advancement of rugby and its character-building values to build a better, stronger game for all. The global rugby community comprises 9.6 million players and 338 million fans affiliated via 124 national member unions in six regions and driven by the commercial success of Rugby World Cup, World Rugby is planning to invest GBP £620 million at all levels of the game between 2020 and 2023, eclipsing the previous four-year cycle by 28 per cent, to ensure strong and sustainable growth. www.world.rugby.

SUZI MURRAY

Communications Manager, World Rugby

T: +353-87-9130-308

E: suzi.murray@worldrugby.org

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