Hawthorn has appointed former Olympic cyclist Tracey Gaudry as their new chief executive, where she becomes the AFL’s first female chief executive.
She takes over the role from the club’s interim CEO Tim Silvers who has been promoted to chief operating officer.
Gaudry represented Australia at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games before moving into management and administration, most recently holding the post as general manager of commercial and growth at Athletics Australia (AA). Her other roles included being vice president of world cycling’s governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and a contributor to the International Olympic Committee on gender inclusion.
In her role at AA, Gaudry helped launch the Nitro Athletics series, which debuted earlier this year in Melbourne.
Prior to her role at Athletics Australia, Gaudry was the chief executive at the Amy Gillett Foundation for five years.
Hawthorn President, Richard Garvey, said in a statement: “We are delighted to welcome Tracey to the Hawthorn family.
“She is a highly-respected figure in the national and international sporting industry and her passion, strong vision and intimate understanding of elite sports make her the perfect CEO for our football club.
“From the outset we have been clear about ensuring our new CEO was someone who could drive Hawthorn into the future.
“We are excited to have a CEO who comes from outside of the football world, someone with a different perspective who can drive innovation and change.”
On her appointment, Gaudry added: “It is a privilege to have built a career in sport over two decades, and to have the opportunity to bring all of my knowledge and experience in national, international, sport-specific and whole-of-sport roles to Hawthorn Football Club.
“As and strong and successful club in the AFL, Hawthorn is not resting on its laurels as it strives to advance across all aspects of the club including the planned new home at Dingley, women’s football, youth academies and its contribution to the community.”
Gaudry will officially begin her role at the club on May 29.
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