Join us at 12.30pm on Wednesday 23rd October for our Annual General Meeting.
Hear latest updates and key information from the Women in Racing committee, and look ahead to future plans.
To include a panel discussion with the theme “On equal terms: women in racing through time”
An interactive exploration of the roles of women in British horseracing. Charting successes, changes over time, and opportunities for improvement.
Broadcaster Aly Vance will host the panel, including:
Ali Donnelly
Ali Donnelly is the CEO of More than Equal, an organisation dedicated to finding the first female Formula 1 world champion. She joined More than Equal with wide experience in sport, communications and marketing.
At Sport England she was an Executive Director, looking after marketing, communications, digital and innovation. In her time there, she led communications for some of the most high-profile moments in UK sport including the publication of the Whyte Review, which explored abuse in British Gymnastics, while she also oversaw major campaigns including the award winning This Girl Can which encourages women and girls to be more active.
Prior to this she held senior communications roles for the UK Government, where her positions included Deputy Official Spokesperson and Head of News for Prime Minister Theresa May at Downing Street and Head of News at HM Treasury.She has also held senior communications and marketing roles at Premiership rugby club Wasps and BBC.
She is heavily involved in women’s rugby in a variety of roles, including founding the award-winning website Scrumqueens.com and she has recently published the first book exploring the 100 years + history of the game. Ali started her career after graduating with a degree in politics, as a journalist at the Evening Echo newspaper in Ireland.
Dr Kate Clayton Hathway
Dr Kate Clayton-Hathway, is an Associate Researcher with the Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice at Oxford Brookes Business School. She led both the 2017 diversity project for the horseracing industry and the 2020 Racing Home study. Kate’s research specialism is in gender equality within organisational structures, and she is particularly interested in promoting progressive institutional change. She is also an activist, and supports a women’s educational charity in Oxfordshire.
Lyndon Roberts
Lyndon Roberts is a seasoned professional with over a decade of experience advancing diversity and inclusion within the sports industry. Throughout his career, he has championed initiatives that foster equity, representation, and inclusivity, particularly for women in sports. His insights have contributed to creating more inclusive environments across various sports governing bodies including football, rugby, netball and currently in motorsport. Lyndon brings an experience of Horseracing having been Head of D&I for 12 months at the BHA and a strong commitment to driving positive change in the sector.
Tara Warren
Tara is an Independent Non-Executive Director, at the British Horseracing Authority. Tara formally took up her appointment on 1 December 2023, having been acting in an observer capacity on the BHA Board since May 2023. Tara is an Executive Director and Board member at West Ham United Football Club. She has a strong commercial background and extensive experience in digital marketing. Tara leads the delivery of the club’s strategic and commercial priorities, including its broadcast rights, stadium and stakeholder management, domestic and international growth and digital and data functions. She is also the Director responsible for the club’s equality, diversity, and inclusion strategy. Tara is the BHA Board’s Diversity & Inclusion Champion.
A regular racegoer, prior to joining West Ham, Tara held a number of marketing, commercial and business development roles, including with estates management company, Savills UK, Romford-based shopping and leisure centre, The Brewery, and Morgan Stanley.
Panel discussion:
As a sport where female jockeys compete on equal terms with their male counterparts, British racing has been ahead of many other sports in terms of participation. Women are trailblazing at the highest levels competitively and in the boardroom and circa 70% of racing school intake is female. We ask – how can we better support and retain our female workforce, and strive to lead the sport industry in enabling women to succeed?
During the discussion our expert panellists will cover: progress and areas to celebrate, what are the gaps, how can the sport retain more of its female workforce and what are the issues? The panel will also explore Dr Eleanor Boden’s PhD research summary ‘Where did all the girls go?’, published in December 2023.
This free webinar is available to all, regardless of gender or WiR membership. Book your place here.