With the practice rounds underway on a sunny Tuesday afternoon at Magna Golf Club, the inspirational CP Women’s Leadership Summit is also taking place.
The Summit’s mission is geared towards empowering women in the workplace, providing a platform for networking, and giving back to the community, a task of which title sponsor CP is going above and beyond with this year.
Hosted by Sportsnet Anchor Evanka Osmak, the day has been a mixture of networking and speeches from successful women figures in business and sports, including RBC CAO Jennifer Tory, and Assistant VP of Investor Relations for tournament sponsor Canada Pacific, Maeghan Albiston. On the sports side, Team Canada Olympians Karina Leblanc (soccer), and Natalie Spooner (hockey) both spoke to their journeys, and what has made them successful both in sports and in life.
The afternoon capped off with a keynote address from Roberta Bowman, the Chief Brand and Communications Officer for the LPGA TOUR, and creator of their #DriveOn campaign. The LPGA product is a fantastic one, the fan experience, the player engagement, and the quality of golf and golf courses is second to none, but it is Bowmans’s job to engage that product with fans, and grow that fanbase while at the same time, inspiring young female golfers to play and compete. The overall goal of this “Series of Summits” is to inspire women to succeed in their chosen field; sport, business and beyond.
“84% of people are interested in women’s sports worldwide,” opens Bowman, “but only 5% of corporate global investment in sports worldwide goes to women’s leagues and teams, something doesn’t make sense there.”
The LPGA’s mission is to change this paradigm for the benefit of all women and women sports, and they hold summits like this one at more than half of LPGA event sites to generate that change. “Sports are an incubator for character and leadership,” says Bowman, “96% of women CEO’s played competitive sports. Where better than in sports than to watch women lead?”
This mission inspired Bowman to the task of rebranding the entire LPGA marketing strategy, which she did with an all-female creative team. The #DriveOn campaign that emerged is truly bigger than golf. “It’s for all the drivers out there, drivers of change, progress, opportunities and optimism. At the LPGA we drive on with passion, courage, and we do it in our very own way.”
“The centrepiece of the campaign,” says Bowman, “is our 45-second video I’m sure you’ve all seen by now.” (But here’s the link if you haven’t.