A passion for sport
On 28 July 2009, Women on Boards members, Denise Aldous and Jenny Reynolds, were appointed to the two boards of the Cronulla Sharks Football and League Clubs. Denise and Jenny are the two first female directors of the club in its 42 year history.
How the opportunity unfolded
The situation at the Cronulla Sharks had been played out in the media for some time. Very poor governance and a deteriorating financial position precipitated a change at board level following the May 2009 AGM. A great deal of speculation in the media continued after that date as the new President of the Club, Damian Irvine, worked to re-invigorate the board so that he could start on the task of turning the club around.
Denise had been following the Sharks’ predicament for a while and when she returned from a holiday to discover that things had worsened at the Club. She contacted Ruth Medd at WOB to suggest a strategy for improving governance on NRL boards. WOB was already on the case and Ruth suggested she contact Jenny Reynolds who had been approached by Damian Irvine after he saw her name on the WOB website. Denise and Jenny met and Denise then suggested Jenny contact Damian to see if he was interested in meeting them both. He was and the meeting went well.
Denise then decided that to properly evaluate the opportunity and to get a good understanding of exactly what she might be letting herself in for, she needed to undertake a comprehensive due diligence. This had some sensitivity but Damian organised it and both Denise and Jenny were able to spend time at the club going through as much information as possible.
This assessment allowed Denise to make a decision to commit provided a number of conditions could be met with a critical one being a refreshed board committed to working together to get the club on to an even keel. She was also keen to test the appetite for real change at the club from the top down.
However, media speculation and pressure from parties outside of the board continued to be of concern as the President worked his way through transition at board level and sought guidance from key interested parties at the club. While this took place, Denise took a step back to see what would happen. She did this knowing that at the end of it there might not be a role. This was preferable to being caught up in the media maelstrom that might have ensued.
By late July Damian had finalised the make-up of his new board and was ready to offer two board roles to Denise and Jenny. Their positions and that of the rest of the board are to be ratified at a special General Meeting on 6 August 2009.
Denise’s profile
Denise is a professional company director holding a number of board and committee positions after a long career domestically and internationally in financial and professional services. She has been building her career as a company director for nearly three years. Her last executive role was that of CEO of the International Finance Corporation, Sydney leading the private sector activities of The World Bank Group.
One of her passions in life is sport and she has followed most football codes for many years. It was therefore no surprise to find a sport board role as an objective in her director plan.
Because sport is such an important part of Australian life, positive role modelling by elite sportspeople is really critical in Denise’s view. The events that unfolded at the Cronulla Sharks and a number of other NRL clubs was an incentive for Denise to combine her extensive business and finance skills and her passion for sport and seek a role on the Sharks board. She believes strongly in having the courage to make a commitment for change and then working hard to achieve it despite the challenges there may be along the way.
Denise has many years experience in governance and risk and after working in more than 50 different industries, has well honed skills in understanding how business works and when it doesn’t work well, how to fix it. She has also been a commercial and retail banker for more than thirty years so brings finance, compliance and audit skills to the board.
As a strong believer in taking challenges head-on, not sitting on the sidelines, Denise is in an ideal position to make a difference.
Denise is a non-executive director and chairman holding board and committee positions with KEA Australia, UnitingCare NSW/ACT, Enterprise Challenge Fund and the NSW Bar Association. In addition she runs her own business delivering
practical solutions to individuals and businesses in the areas of governance and leadership.
Jenny's Profile
Jenny has been an executive at ANZ within the Payments and Cash Management business since 2004. Jenny has over 27 years experience in International Banking and is a passionate promoter and developer of talent and diversity at ANZ.
In 1994, Jenny joined JPMorgan as a Vice President working in Australia and eventually Asia where she specialised in Product Innovation and eCommerce responsible for Cash Management and Working Capital Solutions for Global Multi-National Corporations. Whilst in Asia she was the Engagement Manager responsible for the design, build and implementation of the first commercial Web-based global ePayment system which was rolled out globally for major global Oil Company and eventually became a major line of business for JPMorgan.
Prior to JPMorgan Jenny worked at Westpac for 14 years in various businesses including the Institutional Transactional Business in Sydney, Financial Markets/ Treasury Operations in Sydney and Melbourne and retail across the Illawarra area where she grew up and her family still reside.
Jenny is on the Board of the Melanoma Institute of Australia and a member of the Board Finance Committee of the NSW Girl Guides. Jenny is also a keen sports person, and is currently Treasurer of the Blues Point Yacht Club Ltd.
Jenny is a graduate of The University of Technology Sydney in Master of Business Administration (Management). She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
A sample of the feedback
1. As a League lover and lifelong supporter of the Sharkies I can't telly you how happy I am about this Ruth.
You women go!! Cheers Nareen
2. Firstly congratulations on getting 2 women on to the Sharks board! What a huge breakthrough and great to know that they are listening and want to make a difference. I have no doubt that you had to be incredibly tenacious. Suzanne
3. UNIFEM Australia is delighted with this news – and trusts that other NRL Boards will follow this good example.
Sue Conde AM
President, UNIFEM Australia
UNIFEM is the UN Development Fund for Women
www.unifem.org.au
4. Tweed Daily News - http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2009/07/31/lets-bring-back-the-perv-to-the-pool/
THE Cronulla Sharks should be applauded for appointing two women to their club board.
They virtually had to do something drastic to try and help shake off all the bad publicity the Sharks had attracted this year and this is a positive move in many ways.
Apart from showing Cronulla is serious about improving its position and image; I think by having two knowledgeable women from the business sector onboard may help the club financially in terms of money management and attracting sponsorship.
Who cares whether these women come from league backgrounds. If they can turn around the club's huge financial misfortunes and get Cronulla back in the black, it can only be a good thing.
Besides, the Sharks have had people in charge with league backgrounds and look where that has got them?
5. Congratulations! Such great news! As a sport management academic researching in this area and with a PhD in high performance sport I'm so pleased to hear this great news.
One of my colleagues is working on the management and governance roles for women on sport boards so this is timely.
Keep up the great work. I'm now involved in a board mentoring program with Womensport Queensland. It's called "Onboard and Upward" if you're interested.
Caroline Ringuet PhD
Lecturer in Sport Management
Griffith Business School, Griffith University
