Debra Gassewitz 
President & Chief Executive Officer

For over 20 years Debra has been the CEO of Canada’s national Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC).  During that time she has had the privilege of engaging with all sectors, levels and participants within sport. A bilingual sport leader, coach and volunteer, who embraces the concept to never stop learning, she championed SIRC’s evolution from library to innovative knowledge broker.  Whether it was digitizing millions of pages of sport research, negotiating a multi-million dollar database sale or establishing an international network of sport partners her focus has been to facilitate engagement and empower the sport system with knowledge.  

Debra played a key role in the development of the new Canadian sport policy.  She is a Member of the Canadian Olympic Committee and sits on several federal-provincial-territorial policy, inclusion, data monitoring, research and governance committees working to enhance alignment and advance sport in Canada.  Her background in stakeholder communications and digital technology has been a driving force in assisting sport organizations with HR and recruitment.  Her commitment to research (high performance and practical), education and ensuring sport leaders, their Boards and program developers are well informed has led to both the development of numerous resources, conferences and innovative delivery methods