Commissioner Val Ackerman
Ackerman Participates In First Global Conference On Faith And Sport
Vatican City -- BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman recently participated in the first Global Conference on Faith and Sport hosted by the Vatican on October 5-7 in Rome. Ackerman served on an advisory committee assembled in 2015 to develop a framework and content for the event, which was organized by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture and built around the themes of Inclusion, Involvement and Inspiration. Ackerman also led a breakout session on the opening day of the conference on the inclusion of women in sport globally. The International Olympic Committee and the United Nations joined the Vatican as supporters of the event.
Select media clip from the Vatican Conference:
Associated Press - The Big Story
By Andrew Dampf, Oct. 7, 2016
Female sports pioneers carry message to Vatican conference
"VATICAN CITY (AP) — One in four IOC members are women, but only three are on the 14-member IOC executive board.
Two out of 211 soccer federation presidents are female, and women are allotted only six quota seats on the 37-member FIFA council. A mere one of 17 are on UEFA's executive committee. When female sports pioneer Val Ackerman looks at the numbers of women in leadership roles in world sports organizations, she cringes...."
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