
Company website
Industry: Sports
Company Size: 52 - 200 employees
Headquarters: East Perth, WA
Type: Non-profit
From the pitch to the boardroom; how Christina put women’s cricket on the agenda
Christina Matthews, CEO of Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA), has dedicated her life to the game she loves. Having played cricket throughout her entire life, including 11 years representing Australia from 1984-1995, Christina is the country's most capped female test player and is one of only two women in the world to hold the position of CEO of a first-class cricket association.
From a sporting team leader to a business director, the former cricketer has always seen similarities between the sporting world and the corporate sector.
Christina’s mission is to get the business of cricket right by ensuring everyone has equal opportunities to enjoy the game, regardless of gender. Her thinking is simple; if a commercial business only catered for 50% of the population, it would be out of business very quickly.
Having never felt fully embraced by the sport as a female, she has an unrelenting drive for gender equality and challenges stereotypes to overcome barriers to female participation in sport and leadership.
Since her appointment as CEO in 2011, Christina has ensured the WACA has equal gender representation in leadership positions, as well as calling for male-centric cricketing terms such as ‘batsman’ and ‘12th man’ to be dropped.
TEC supports members to make transformative decisions
'In business and in sport, it comes down to the idea that you can’t be what you can’t see. Organisations and associations must actively ensure they are culturally diverse and promote gender equality if people are going to see that there is a place for them.'
TEC’s peer-to-peer groups offer leaders support and perspective
'My TEC group is a team, and what I love about being in a team is that everybody has a role that’s intrinsic to ensuring success. I like to think that as part of a CEO network, my experience and contributions are also, in some form or another, ensuring the success of my fellow executives, particularly regarding equality in the workplace.'
TEC holds leaders accountable for creating goals and a path to achieve them
'When you consider that up until four years ago there was no effort put into marketing, promoting or supporting women’s sport, it’s not surprising there’s an assumption that women don't deserve to be paid as much as men; because they don't bring the crowds and the dollars in.'