The GIANTS are delighted to announce that defender Chloe Dalton has been named a finalist for the 2024 Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award for her outstanding work with The Female Athlete Project.
Dalton is one of four finalists named by the AFL on Tuesday morning for the prestigious award.
The 2024 Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award will be presented to the AFLW player who has best demonstrated the values of late Melbourne champion and former Demons President, Jim Stynes. From their commitment to helping others and making a difference in the community, to the way they represent the game on and off the field, this award goes to the heart of the sport.
Proudly supported by Telstra and the Jim Stynes Foundation, the winner will receive $40,000 to be donated to the charity or community program of their choice.
Dalton’s fellow finalists are Darcy Vescio (Carlton), Madeleine Scanlon (Fremantle) and Bella Eddey (North Melbourne).
This year is the first time that the Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award will be presented to both an AFL and AFLW player in the same year, following Adelaide’s Reilly O’Brien, who received the honour at the 2024 Brownlow Medal.
One of Australia’s few triple sport elite athletes, Dalton has been recognised as a finalist for her amazing commitment to elevating the profile of women in elite sport through her work with The Female Athlete Project (TFAP).
Created by Dalton during the 2020 lockdown, TFAP is a platform used to address the gender inequalities that exist within the sports media space, largely by spotlighting incredible stories and achievements of women in sport.
Now the fastest growing women’s sport platform in the country, the vision of TFAP is to create a world where female athletes receive the same recognition, resources, and opportunities as their male counterparts, and to foster an inclusive environment that empowers the next generation of women in sport.
As well as helping promote elite female athletes and showing young girls who they can aspire to be, Chloe also made donations from sales of her book, ‘The A-Z of Who I Could Be’ to the Nova Peris Foundation, a not-for-profit that is committed to empowering First Nations people to achieve life excellence through opportunities to participate in sport, education, health.
Through TFAP, Chloe has also supported Paralympics Australia through donations from TFAP’s ‘equal’ t-shirts, ahead of the Paris Paralympics.
AFL Chief Executive, Andrew Dillon, commended all the players who were nominated by their clubs for the exceptional work they do in the community, especially the four finalists.
“We had a terrific number of applications for the Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award among our AFLW players and I’d like to acknowledge all the nominees for the work they do in the community and the positive contributions they make through their charities and ambassador roles,” Dillon said.
“Among all the entrants there were four that stood out and I’d like to congratulate Darcy, Madeleine, Chloe and Bella for being named as the finalists for the 2024 Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award.
“All four players have displayed great compassion, leadership and commitment in their volunteer work – all values that go to the heart of this award. We are very lucky to have them as role models within the AFLW and wider community.”
The AFLW winner of the 2024 Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award will be announced at the W Awards on Monday, November 25.
Nominations for the award are submitted from AFLW Clubs and the AFL Players’ Association before the judging panel selects the finalists.
The 2024 Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award selection panel includes:
- (Chair) Trisha Squires – Head of AFL Queensland & International (non-voting member)
- Luke Darcy – Western Bulldogs Great (226 games), Director and media personality
- Andrew Dillon – AFL CEO
- Jude Donnelly – AFL, Executive Manager Government and Stakeholder Relations
- Sarah Fair – AFL Executive General Manager – People
- Don McLardy – CEO McLardy McShane Insurance & Financial Services
- Neil Mitchell – Melbourne Broadcaster
- Brett Murphy – AFLPA Representative
- Sam Stynes – Jim Stynes Foundation Founder
- Kim Williams – ABC Chair and Former AFL Commissioner
