FIRESIDE CHAT 1 & 2
PANELISTS
BIOGRAPHIES
NATALIE ACHONWA [ KEYNOTE SPEAKER ]
Former Canadian National Basketball Athlete, University of Michigan Asst Coach, WNBA Seattle Sonics Asst Coach
Natalie Achonwa, born just west of Toronto, is one of Canada's most accomplished basketball players and a pioneer for Canadian athletes. She made history at age 16 as the youngest player ever selected to the Canadian Senior National Team and later became the first international player to compete for Notre Dame's women's basketball program. After leading Notre Dame to four straight Final Fours, she was selected 9th overall in the 2014 WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever and became the first Canadian to score 1,000 points in the league. A four-time Olympian with Canada, Achonwa holds the record for the most Olympic appearances by a Canadian basketball player and later transitioned into coaching and leadership roles, including with Michigan and the Seattle Storm. Off the court, she is a mother, community leader, and advocate for equality, youth development, racial justice, and mental health awareness.
ALIX KRAHN [ FIRESIDE CHAT 1 ]
Post Doctoral Researcher, York University
Alix is a feminist sport scholar whose research examines sport at the intersection of work and gender, also known as the sport-work-gender nexus. Her scholarship is an extension of her own personal experience navigating the contested terrain of high-performance sport coaching, where women remain underrepresented. Her work is dedicated to addressing issues of access and opportunity particularly for under-represented and/or marginalized groups in sport broadly and in sport coaching specifically. Alix is also a passionate and dedicated community member who serves her community in a variety of ways, most notably as a sport coach. Her current scholarship examines the additional and often invisible forms of labour (i.e., emotional labour, socially reproductive labour etc.) that women with multiple and intersecting identities are required to take on in their respective sport coaching work environments.
MELODY DAVIDSON [ FIRESIDE CHAT 2 ]
Director of League and Hockey Operations, Premier Hockey Federation
Melody Davidson is one of the most influential figures in Canadian women's hockey, known for building strong relationships and creating winning team cultures. Over a 27-year career with Hockey Canada, she helped lead national teams to numerous medals, including four Olympic golds and five world championship titles. She served in multiple roles—head coach, assistant coach, general manager, and head scout—participating in 36 international events with Canada women's national ice hockey team, each resulting in a medal. Beyond the national program, she coached at Connecticut College and Cornell University and contributed to the development of hockey and other sports organizations across Canada. Now a High Performance Advisor with Own the Podium, Davidson continues to support multiple national sport organizations while advocating for the advancement of women in sport.
SAM EYLES-FRAYNE [ PANELIST ]
Manager of Sport Medicine & High Performance, Wildfred Laurier University
Sam Eyles-Frayne is a high-performance sport professional with over 15 years of experience supporting elite athletes. She broke barriers as the first female Head Strength and Conditioning Coach in U SPORTS at York University and previously served as the pioneering female strength and conditioning coach at Canadian Sport Institute Ontario, helping athletes achieve provincial, national, World Cup medals and Olympic participation. She currently works as Manager of Sport Medicine and Athlete Performance at Wilfrid Laurier University. A former varsity rugby athlete and graduate of University of Waterloo and University of Guelph, she has also co-founded Elite Combine Prep to support Canadian Football League Combine athletes. In addition, she serves as an Executive Director with the Canadian Strength and Conditioning Association and co-founded intHERsections, advocating for greater gender equity and inclusion in sport and science.
ERIN McALEENAN [ PANELIST ]
Head Coach, Women's Basketball, University of New Brunswick
Erin McAleenan is the head coach of the UNB REDS women's basketball and, in 2025–26, in her third season leading the program at University of New Brunswick captured the AUS title. Since being hired in 2023, she has guided the REDS to a strong 15–5 season and a conference championship appearance in Atlantic University Sport, marking the program's first finals berth in over a decade. McAleenan previously served as head coach at University of Lethbridge, York University, and University of British Columbia, earning Coach of the Year honors at York in 2019. Internationally, she coached Canada's women's team to gold in 3x3 basketball at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and has held multiple coaching roles with Canadian national teams. A former player at Acadia University, McAleenan remains active in coach development through mentorship with the Coaching Association of Canada.
SARAH GATES [ PANELIST ]
Professional Basketball Athlete, Founder She's the Moment
Sarah Gates is a professional basketball player and founder of She's the Moment, a platform dedicated to building female leaders through the power of sport. A graduate of McMaster University with an Honors degree in Human Behavior and minors in Mental Health & Addictions and Sociology, she was also a standout member of the McMaster Marauders women's basketball team. One of the most decorated athletes in school history, Gates was named Female Athlete of the Year in both Ontario University Athletics and U SPORTS in 2023 while earning multiple All-Canadian and conference all-star honors. She also founded and served as president of the McMaster Women's Athletic Leadership Council, creating mentorship opportunities to help young women stay involved in sport and develop their leadership voices. Alongside her professional playing career overseas, Gates continues to advance her mission through She's the Moment, empowering female athletes to translate the skills they gain in sport into leadership and professional success.
SYDNEY PAYNE [ PANELIST ]
Olympian, Rowing
Sydney Payne is an Olympic gold and silver medallist in rowing who represented Canada for 10 years at the highest level and competed collegiately for UC Berkeley for 4 years. Following her athletic career, she has remained deeply involved in sport through her work in community sport programming with the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and her involvement with the Canadian Olympic Committee Athlete Commission, and coaches youth athletes in both rowing and skiing. She is passionate about using sport to build stronger communities and support the next generation of athletes.
