Alida Shanks, PhD
Researcher, writer, and advocate for gender equity in sport
I research belonging and gender equity in sport in Aotearoa New Zealand, and I help organisations act on it. I work across three roles: General Manager Operations at WaiBOP Football, a board seat with Women in Sport Aotearoa, and my own research and writing practice, HerStory.
Be curious.
Walt Whitman, via Ted Lasso
What I do
Research and consulting
I bring historical training, a doctorate, and twenty years inside sport organisations to questions of gender equity, belonging, and organisational culture. My framework, Te Poukapa, gives organisations a practical way to move from intention to accountability.
Writing and speaking
I write for public audiences and academic ones, on women’s sport, equity, and the history behind both. I have spoken to audiences from club committees to 1,800 delegates at a world conference.
Selected work
- Te Poukapa: The Belonging and Equity Matrix. A framework for equity and belonging in organisations, developed through my doctoral research and now used across community and national sport.
- National gender equity measurement tool for New Zealand’s National Sports Organisations. Developed, piloted and now being applied for Women in Sport Aotearoa, scoring all 45 NSOs on public data.
- Transgender Inclusion in Community Sport Toolkit. Collaboration between Women in Sport Aotearoa and InsideOUT Kōaro, supported by the Clare Foundation, released 2026.
- Boots on the Ground: what it is really like working in football during a FIFA Women’s World Cup. Book chapter, Routledge, 2026.
If you are working on gender equity in sport and think I can help, or you want to talk about research, writing or speaking, get in touch.