Swans appoints Aboriginal and Multicultural Development Officer

Swan Districts Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Gemma Houghton as the club’s new Aboriginal and Multicultural Development Officer.

Gemma joins the Swans Community team, led by General Manager - Kara Donnellan. Gemma will provide a valuable resource to help deliver strategies in the club’s Aboriginal and Multicultural community outreach programs. Gemma will assist with community consultation and engagement, creating partnerships, developing and delivering programs and promoting the club’s values, working closely with Shane Beros, Swans Community Program Manager. Shane has worked extremely hard over the last eighteen months to grow and develop this space in the Perth metropolitan area, after five years working in our V Swans programs in Hedland.

Gemma brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in mentoring and supporting youth, in metropolitan and regional Western Australia.

Gemma is a proud Yindijibarndi women, one of our senior Swans players, 2018 Mandy McSherry Best and Fairest medallist and a 2017 inaugural member of the Fremantle Dockers AFLW team, selected in the 2019 AFL Women’s All-Australian team.  

The club continues to transform from a traditional focussed football club to a more outward looking and engaged community enabler. This will create a reciprocal sense of belonging between the community and Swans and in so doing increase the club’s relevance and financial sustainability.

The club’s purpose is to build community and develop people. Its values are to act with integrity, everyone matters, raise the bar to be the best you can, and we fly together.

While football is its DNA, the club will no longer only be defined by participation, pathways and premierships. Our community programs use football as a language to connect with communities and improve peoples’ lives. This includes Aboriginal, disability, youth at risk and multicultural communities.

Swans has an Aboriginal Advisory Committee including club and community representatives responsible for consulting and engaging with Aboriginal people and organisations in the Swans community to help deliver the club’s Reconciliation Action Plan.

A similar committee is now being created helping the club connect with multicultural communities to provide inclusion programs in the Swans community.

“Gemma is an important new addition to the club. She’ll be an enormous help connecting the club with our community. Gemma will bring to life many of our Aboriginal and multicultural outreach strategies”, says club Chief Executive Officer Jeff Dennis.