Sports Management Speaker Series: Women In Sports Business Leadership

Meghan Chayka is an entrepreneur and the co-founder of Stathletes, a sports analytics and insights business that provides industry-leading data precision within the sport of hockey. Meghan has built a team in Niagara, Waterloo, and Toronto working on creating the new era of sports technology. Having a wide variety of clients, Meghan was named in the 2018/19 season Top Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Ontario Chamber of Commerce), Top 40 under 40 (The Athletic NHL), and on the Top 100 of Power & Influence (The Hockey News). At Rotman, she plays a key role in shaping the data science education and research through her work at the TD Management Data and Analytics Lab, including involvement in external, internal, and student-led events focused on data science. 

Perdita Felicien is a two-time Olympian, two-time World Champion, and 10-time National Champion in the 100m hurdles. She retired from sport in 2013 and is now an author, television host, public speaker, and sports broadcaster. She hosts the new television series, All Round Champion, which airs on TVO in Canada and on BYUtv in the United States. Perdita has covered multiple international sports events for the CBC, including the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, 2016 Summer Olympics, and 2015 Pan American Games. One of Canada’s most decorated track and field athletes, she has been named Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year, and was given the keys to her hometown of Pickering, Ontario. A recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal for her charitable work, Perdita is a supporter of many initiatives including those that work to end violence against women. Her first book, My Mother’s Daughter, will be published by Doubleday Canada in March 2021. Perdita’s memoir chronicles her experience as a child witness to domestic abuse, homelessness, and the highs and lows of her illustrious racing career. 

Allison Sandmeyer-Graves, CEO of Canadian Women & Sport, is an experienced non-profit leader with a passion for social innovation that challenges the status quo. She is committed to achieving gender equity in society through the power of sport. She works extensively with organizations, governments, and leaders to build knowledge, change attitudes, and develop capacity to create an equitable and inclusive Canadian sport and physical activity system. Previously, Allison spent a decade as a senior leader in a global youth empowerment organization where she helped to rapidly scale the organization’s impact around the world. Allison lives by the motto that our greatest potential lives just outside our comfort zone.

Nancy Lee, International Olympic Committee (IOC) Gender Equality Advisor and former head of CBC Sports, began her career as a radio news reporter, leading to subsequent producing and management roles. Her CBC work culminated as Head of Sport for CBC English TV and Chef de Mission for the English and French networks at the Olympic Games. She was the first woman in Canada, and globally, to have held the joint role of sports production and sports business leader. As Head of Sport, Nancy was responsible for 200 staff and freelancers, an annual budget of $80 million, and lead negotiator for the Corporation for all of its sports broadcasting rights, which covered the NHL, Blue Jays, Olympics, CFL, Commonwealth and Pan American Games, and over 50 different World Championships. In 2006, Nancy was hired by the IOC to oversee the host broadcasting services for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Four years of planning ended with 1,000 hours of live coverage with a staff of 2,000. To date, Nancy has worked at 14 Olympic Games. Since 2016, Nancy has worked as an advisor to the IOC on gender equality. Nancy is a graduate of Victoria College at the University of Toronto and recently served on U of T’’s Governing Council. As a Governor, Nancy served on the U of T Scarborough Campus Council as Chair during Professor Kidd’s tenure as Principal of U of T Scarborough.

Kristine Drakich, a Varsity Blues alumna and Toronto native, has been the head coach of the women's volleyball program at U of T since 1989/90. Under her direction, the Blues qualified for 22 consecutive OUA final four appearances from 1990–2010, winning the OUA championship banner seven times. She led the Blues to an 25-0 perfect season in 2015/16, claiming their second straight OUA banner, and first-ever national championship in program history. Kristine earned her first U SPORTS national coach of the year honours in 2014/15. Kristine is a highly qualified NCCP coach with a Level 4 certification indoor and a Level 3 certification on the beach. She has coached internationally in both indoor and beach, having coached Team Canada at 19U & 21U world beach volleyball championships, and the Canadian junior national indoor team at the NORCECA championship. Kristine has also coached Team Ontario’s provincial indoor and beach teams at the Canada Games. Named Ontario Volleyball and 3M National High Performance coach of the year as well as OUA coach of the year nine times, Kristine has received a Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport (CAAWS) "Breakthrough Award - Individual Category" and the CAAWS Marion Lay ”Herstorical” Breakthrough Award for her positive contributions to equity at the local, national and international level for over 10 years. A former captain and all-Canadian with the Varsity Blues, Kristine was a member of Canada's national volleyball and beach volleyball teams and was a 2001 inductee into the University of Toronto's Sports Hall of Fame. She has volunteered at almost every level of the sport, internationally and nationally, with the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), International University Sports Federation (FISU), USports (formerly CIS), Volleyball Canada, Ontario Volleyball Association, and she was the Sport Organizing Chair for indoor volleyball at the 2015 Pan American Games.

6–7pm (Eastern): Expert Panel Discussion with Open Q&A 

7–8pm (Eastern): Networking and Fireside Chats 

Attention students! A new course, MGEC45H3: Sports Data, Analysis and Economics, is offered by the Department of Management in the Winter 2021 term.

• Pre-requisite: MGEB12H3
• Class time: Wednesday, 3:00–5:00p.m.