Holden and the Collingwood Football Club (CFC) have announced the continuation of their partnership, with both Holden and CFC working together to champion diversity and equality.
Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Mark Bernhard, said this was a very difficult decision but Holden and Collingwood had worked closely to restructure the partnership and, ultimately, Eddie McGuire’s comments do not reflect the values and work undertaken by the Collingwood Football Club in the community and around diversity.
“The easy thing to do would be to walk away from Collingwood, the hard road is to stick together and work side-by-side to champion diversity and continue to drive meaningful change. That is what we have decided to do; we sponsor Collingwood, not an individual,” said Mr Bernhard.
“Industries like automotive and sporting codes like the AFL are often viewed as ‘blokey’ and behind the times when it comes to social issues. We now have a chance to take a stronger leadership position. Large organisations such as Holden and Collingwood have an important role to play in reinforcing the values of diversity, equality and inclusion. We can be a stronger force working together.
“Myself, and the entire Holden team, remain firm in categorically rejecting the comments made by Mr McGuire. This was a difficult decision and I sought counsel from friends, family and colleagues. Ultimately, however, our partnership is with Collingwood and the club has a strong record of championing diversity and inclusion. We want to continue to work together because this partnership is about more than just footy.”
Holden and Collingwood’s partnership has been restructured to drive closer cultural alignment between club and company and ensure championing diversity is just as important as football. This includes more than 50 percent of Holden’s funding now being channeled to the CFC women’s AFL team and community programs, including the iconic Holden Centre which provides safe training, bathroom and change facilities for women in the Melbourne Park precinct.
Holden will become a Major Partner of the CFC women’s team a Major Partner of the CFC women’s ambassador program and a Partner of CFC’s women’s grassroots program.
Holden will also leverage CFC’s existing diversity programs to champion further diversity awareness and training within the company, including launching a development platform for the empowerment and professional development of women, including Holden Inspirational Women seminars with CFC board members Alisa Camplin and Christine Holgate and a professional development program for women in Holden’s national dealer network.
“Collingwood has a strong record of championing change and diversity. The club runs a number of fantastic internal and external diversity, equality and community programs, and club CEO Gary Pert is a founding member of the Australian Elite Sports Male Champions of Change Program. These are the values Holden is supporting,” said Mr Bernhard.
“Holden is proud of its stance and position on diversity, equality and inclusion. We still have work to do but we have made big strides in recent years. For example, we have a paid leave policy for people who are impacted by domestic or family violence, we are introducing a ‘blind CV’ hiring policy to tackle unconscious bias and Holden ranks in the top two for gender diversity across the automotive industry. This is an integral part of what Holden stands for and we believe Collingwood shares these values. We can be a stronger force for change together.”
