Former U.S. Open Tournament Director on empowering women in tennis and in business

Athletes like Billie Jean King or Serena and Venus Williams are known to even non-sports fans as iconic trailblazers when it comes to women’s tennis. But there’s another name, a Canadian, who spent a career off the court helping advance women in the sport and beyond: Stacey Allaster. Among her many accomplishments, she was instrumental in securing equal prize money for women, paving the way for the boom in professional women’s sports we’re seeing now. In partnership with the Scotiabank Women Initiative, Stacey is our guest this episode. She tells us the story behind getting that equal prize money, her insights on what it was like being a woman in a male-dominated industry and why it’s important to empower women on the tennis court, in the boardroom and beyond. 

For legal disclosures, please visit http://bit.ly/socialdisclaim and www.gbm.scotiabank.com/disclosures 

Key moments this episode: 

1:57 – What it was like navigating male-dominated spaces throughout her career 
4:36 – The significance of getting equal prize money for women in tournaments like Wimbledon and Roland-Garros 
10:12 – What this historic accomplishment taught Stacey about leadership 
11:51 – With the expansion of leagues like the PWHL and the WNBA, is women’s sports having a moment right now?  
15:26 – Why people still have to go the extra mile to make the business case for women’s sports despite the success we’ve seen 
17:38 – Why Stacey also finds it important to empower women off the court in fields like finance and business leadership 
21:09 – Stacey talks about her early days at Tennis Canada and the impact it had on her 
23:35 – The key factor Stacey learned that can help women succeed in business 
24:25 – Stacey tells us what’s next for her as she plans to ‘hang up her full-time racket’ 27:00 – Stacey highlights some of her favourite tennis moments from her career