International Tennis Federation President David Haggerty has been named as a HeForShe Champion as part of the UN Women’s new HeForShe Alliance for 2021-2026, bringing together global leaders across business, non-profit and academia determined to stand up and accelerate progress towards gender equality.

Against a global landscape where it will take 257 years to achieve economic equality and where 90% of all Heads of State and Fortune 500 CEOs are male, the launch of the HeForShe Alliance signifies the beginning of a new era with a commitment to action following in the footsteps of the UN Women's Generation Equality Forum earlier this year.

“I am delighted to welcome this new cohort of HeForShe Champions that we hope will reach new audiences on issues that are increasingly critical to gender equality,” said Ms Pramila Patten, Under-Secretary-General, Acting Executive Director of UN Women and Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict.

“Their strong, carefully crafted commitments on balanced leadership, ending different forms of violence, and changing corporate and social norms are needed now more than ever. We hope these actions set by key influencers to eliminate some of the most stubborn barriers facing women today will serve as inspiration to countless others.”

Haggerty will be among the HeForShe Champions speaking at the UN Women’s Global HeForShe Summit today at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, which can be watched live from 10:00 EST (15:00 BST).

“We know there are 87 million tennis players worldwide, 41 per cent are women and 59 per cent are men,” he said. “I know that we can only fulfil our mission of delivering tennis for future generations if we address the need for a lasting change in culture across our sport that sees women on an equal footing with men at all levels.

“I truly believe that building this alliance with UN Women and the global HeForShe movement will be a game changer. It will transform the ITF’s ability to deliver tangible change, taking the level of engagement and accountability to a new level in every nation where we have a presence. We know that by working together we can fuel a global movement.

“I am immensely proud and honoured to become a HeForShe Champion and I stand for the commitments that we, the ITF, and tennis, make as part of this to support change for the betterment of society. Equality is a collective obligation; it is not an option.”

Equality was at the core of Haggerty’s ITF2024 strategic agenda upon his election in 2015, after which the ITF launched its gender equality initiative, Advantage All, and formed the Gender Equality in Tennis Committee with ITF vice president, former USTA president and professional player, Katrina Adams, as Chair.

Since 2018, Advantage All provides the ITF with a global platform and has embarked on a long-term journey to implement a tangible roadmap with measurable targets across five pillars: Empowerment, Culture, Balance, Value and Voice.

Specifically, Advantage All aims to increase the number of women represented in decision-making and professional roles on and off the court in tennis across Leadership, Officiating and Coaching, and to provide equal opportunity and investment in the women’s professional pathway.

The ITF’s Advantage All programme can be scaled and implemented locally by the ITF’s membership of 210 nations and six affiliated Regional Associations. Progress is measured on an annual basis. The goal is to reach and inspire male leaders all over the world to build a coalition of national advocates who drive gender equality strategy and policy locally, evolve systems that empower women and create equal opportunity, eliminating barriers based on gender in their country.

Recognised as trailblazers in their field, Haggerty and his fellow HeForShe Champions will form a new Alliance that aims to develop the largest set of scalable and shareable solutions for gender equality’s most pressing challenges. Together they will spearhead transformative change across countries, companies, campuses, and communities, inspiring many other to follow suit and demonstrate the value of allyship in accelerating progress.

The new members of the HeForShe Alliance are:

Business
Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group
Yannick Bolloré, Chairman of Vivendi’s Supervisory Board and CEO and Chairman of Havas Group
John A. Zecca, Global Chief Legal & Regulatory Officer, Nasdaq
Bob Sternfels, Global Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company
Bob Moritz, Global Chairman, PwC International Limited
Nick Read, CEO, Vodafone

Non-profit
Robert Mardini, Director-General, International Committee of the Red Cross
David Miliband, CEO & President, International Rescue Committee
David Haggerty, President, International Tennis Federation
Kate Robertson and David Jones, Founders, One Young World

Academia
Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, President, Howard University
Ilian Mihov, Dean, INSEAD

Created by UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, HeForShe is a solidarity movement for gender equality. Top down, HeForShe partners with over 30 global leaders to develop tangible solutions that aim to eliminate some of today’s most pressing gender issues. Bottom up, the HeForShe community spans over 3 million global supporters and innovative campaigns generate 3 billion impressions annually.

For more information, visit http://www.HeForShe.org/en.