While working at the AFL as Head of Partnerships, Jo Gilbert began to have conversations with the business about how best to make a commitment on sustainability.
“As a business, we were seeing the necessity to really focus and put energy into a full-time role to head up a sustainability strategy and implementation for our environmental sustainability process,” Gilbert told Women’s Agenda recently.
The need for someone to step up and lead the organisation’s sustainability arm was evident, and Gilbert was more than ready to take on the purpose-driven role she helped create – Head of Sustainability.
The AFL Commission and the AFL Executive have been supportive of expanding the AFL’s own approach to sustainability, given the real impact of climate change events on all levels of football.
More than 500 community clubs across the country have been impacted by climate change events such as floods, bushfires and storms and when the AFL spoke to all 18 clubs all were keen to share information and initiatives which led to the AFL creating Gilbert’s position of AFL Head of Sustainability within the Corporate Affairs, Government and Communications department.
Gilbert already had an extensive professional background working with sponsorships and some of the biggest brands in Australia, coupled with her network and other experience at the AFL.
As Head of Partnerships previously, Gilbert had helped successfully steer her team through the challenges brought about by Covid-19, navigating alternative solutions for partners to maintain investment levels. And now, she’s prepared to drive impact in the organisation’s climate action.
“The real trick is to not get too overwhelmed by the enormity of the task that we’ve got, but just treat every day as an opportunity to put one foot in front of the other on our sustainability journey,” she says.
Gilbert’s role is to also work closely with AFL and AFLW players who have formed the Players for Climate and also the representatives of the 18 clubs and our partners to help drive the conversation and share information across the industry.
Having begun her new role a few months ago, Gilbert is already working to capture what she calls “quick wins” on climate action, as well as maintaining broader focus on developing specific sustainability goals for the AFL.
“We’re definitely very much at the beginning of it, but there’s been some great work that’s already occurred throughout the business just by people choosing to do the right things and choosing climate positive options in their area,” she says.
An example she gives is that at Marvel Stadium, water tanks have been installed as well as glass disposal units. And during round 5 of the AFL season, fans were encouraged to make climate-friendly choices like taking public transport or carpooling to the game.
“My role now is really focusing on taking a lot of that great work and progressing it and collaborating with all different areas of not only AFL but the broader industry to start to make some real, positive change for the climate.”
At the moment, Gilbert is also gathering an understanding of the AFL’s baseline and mission in order to best develop their sustainability targets.
“That’s the big part of getting our own house in order and understanding what that looks like before we go to the next stage of making targets and external public commitments,” she says.
It’s a massive effort that she’s determined to do right by gaining a clear picture of the current business landscape and validating the sustainability process with external experts in the climate space.
While the timeline to gather this information looks to be about 3 to 6 months, Gilbert is also making moves in the meantime to further the sustainability process in other areas.
Some of her key focus has been establishing working groups and stakeholder engagement strategies, and she notes that implementing action to “do better operationally, behaviourally and procedurally across the business is a collective effort”.
“I always say I feel my role is as a collaborator, not a crusader,” says Gilbert. “So, really leaning on my fundamental skill set of people engagement, finding solutions, and being results focused has been huge.”
This collaborative mindset blends into the importance of having climate conversations within the business and Gilbert says she wants to apply a green lens wherever possible.
“The opportunities exist everyday when I come to work,” she says, adding that the AFL has “an extraordinary group of passionate environmentalists”.
For any other women thinking of going into the sporting sector, as Gilbert has done, she points out that now is the perfect time.
“We’ve got the focus for more females at all levels of sport, from participation to administration– there’s so much diversity of opportunity.”
Feature Image by Michael Willson/AFL Photos.
Read our profile on the AFL’s Head of Data and Analytics, Elisa Koch, here and the AFL’s Head of Strategy Marija Simich, here.