The event was attended by over 200 representatives from national governing bodies of sports and sports equity stakeholders. Speakers included CEOs from all five national sports councils, ‘race’ equity campaigners and academics, including Loughborough University’s Dr Steven Bradbury, Senior Lecturer in Sport, Equality and Diversity, SSEHS.
Dr Bradbury addressed the audience as part of a workshop organised by Sport England, Sport Scotland, and Sporting Equals, focusing on ‘race’ representation and diversifying talent within the Leaderboard academy. The workshop built on the prior ‘knowledge exchange’ event hosted at Loughborough University by Dr Bradbury in collaboration with Sporting Equals in October 2023.
At the TRARIIS event, Dr Bradbury presented some emerging findings from his ongoing research to examine racial diversity and inclusion in sports leadership. He also outlined how sports bodies might draw on a suite of complementary positive action measures to ensure a more equitable approach to the recruitment and development of ethnically diverse leaders at board and senior leadership team level in sports.
Dr Bradbury’s ongoing research around racial diversity and inclusion in sports leadership is supported directly by the Loughborough University’s Vice Chancellors office, as part of a broader commitment to establish and promote inclusive policies and practices across all aspects of its operations, including with its sports stakeholder bodies.
The research sits within the Sport, Business, and Society research theme within the SSEHS, and is supported by a wider research team consisting of Dr Steven Bradbury (SSEHS), Martin Foster (SSEHS), Professor Dominic Malcolm (SSEHS), Dr Comille Bandura (SSEHS), and Professor James Esson (University of East London).
The research is expected to be completed and a final report published in May 2024. Key findings from the research are expected to be presented at a Loughborough based launch event to a range of national governing bodies of sports and sports equity stakeholders in May 2024.