I am a Olympian, educator, sport scientist and researcher who has worked in the area of athlete safeguarding since the early 1990s. My first TV interview on sexual harassment and abuse in sport as it was called then, was for the national FIfth Estate Investigative Report called “Crossing the Line” which aired May 2, 1993. With Lorraine Greaves, I conducted a national survey of Canada’s high performance and recently retired high performance athletes (1995-96) – the first national survey on the topic. Still in the 1990s, I was part of the WomenSport International Committee on Sexual Harassment chaired by Celia Brackenridge and from that the roots of Safe Sport International (SSI) grew. It has been an honour to have worked with a great team of scholars/advocats such as Celia Brackenridge, Kari Fasting, Trisha Leahy, Malia Arrington, Daniel Rhind, Anne Tiivas and Margo Mountjoy on the IOC on the two Consensus papers on sexual violence in sport (2006 and 2016) and with UNICEF on Protecting Children from Violence in Sport (2010) and the Place of Sport in the UN Study on Violence Against Children (2009). In the last decade, work has increased exponentially in the world of athletes safeguarding. My contributions to the founding and nurturing of Safe Sport International’s work in the international realm of athlete protection has been my focus. Along with various research projects, I have also been instrumental in organizing the two SSI International Safeguarding Conferences (2018, 2021). On the SSI pathway, I have worked with FIFA and with FISA (World Rowing) on the education and research. In Canada I was part of the large scale consultation in 2019 led by Drs. Guylaine Demers and Bruce Kidd that has revolutionized athlete protection across the country. My home base is Winnipeg, Canada and the University of Winnipeg. In my spare time I row competitively and cross country ski.
