Paula Ward – Appointment of Director

The Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Paula Ward as a Director of the Club. Paula fills the casual vacancy which was created by the tragic passing of Dan Vickerman.

Paula possesses the valued combination of business and sports administration experience, and has a proven track record of successfully transforming businesses grappling with a significant change in agenda.

A registered psychologist, Paula is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Equestrian Australia. Prior to this, she was the Chief Executive Officer for the Judo Federation of Australia and Founder and Managing Director of the niche consultancy, Know The Game. Before immersing herself in the sporting sector, Paula held HR executive roles with Goldman Sachs, JBWere, PKF Chartered Accountants & Business Advisers and Atlassian.

Paula has previously served two terms on the Board of The Rugby Club, from April 2013 to August 2015, fulfilling roles on the Finance Committee and Marketing & Operations Committee. She was a member of the Board during the period when many of the defining decisions were being made in relation to the sale of the Club’s property and the establishment of The Rugby Club Foundation. As a director of the Club she was a member of the organising committee which established the Sydney chapter of The Rugby Business Network. More recently, and having returned to Sydney after a stint in Canberra, Paula has re-joined The Rugby Club Board and been appointed to its Grants and Sponsorship Committee.

Other non-executive roles Paula has undertaken include being appointed in 2011 to the inaugural Cricket Australia Multicultural Reference Group, serving until October 2013. She was also on the Executive Committee of the NSW Equal Employment Opportunity Practitioners’ Association from 2010 to 2014, fulfilling the role of Vice President in her last year. Paula was also a Non-Executive Director of the Australian Womensport & Recreation Association from 2014 to 2016 and led their Commercial & Business Development Committee.