Earlier this fall, Katherine Henderson became the first female president and CEO of Hockey Canada. But can the beleaguered institution be saved? Last summer the ugly news broke that Hockey Canada had been using funds raised from player registration fees to settle the case of an alleged sexual assault involving members of Canada’s 2018 men’s world junior team. The fallout was swift: loyal sponsors like Canadian Tire and Tim Hortons walked away, the entire board of directors stepped down, and Sport Canada temporarily froze federal funding.
Henderson, interestingly, isn’t a hockey player. But she is a devoted hockey mom and a high-level sports exec, who previously worked at the Pan and Parapan American Games. In her most recent gig as CEO of Curling Canada, Henderson fought for (and won) pay equity for the sport’s female players. In this wide-ranging Maclean’s interview she talks about the skills required for her new job, her strategies for implementing change, and why she was drawn to try to fix Hockey Canada in the first place, despite the enormity of the challenge. “I’ve always been attracted to building things from the ground up,” she says. “Some people walk toward a burning building and some people run away from it.”
—Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief
