Led by ambassador and Hockey Hall of Famer Willie O'Ree, Hockey Is For Everyone (HIFE) has provided opportunities for more than 120,000 children of all backgrounds across North America to play hockey. There currently are 26 HIFE programs committed to offering youth an opportunity to play hockey, leveraging the sport to build character, foster positive values and develop important life skills.
G.O.A.L. is a diverse community of employees helping each other to develop the skills, form the connections and build the experience they need to achieve personal and professional goals. It hosts events and develops projects that serve the needs of active members in four distinct areas: Growth, Opportunity, Achievement and Leadership.
Hockey In Color is a safe, supportive and inclusive space intent on building community and careers. It strives to create an equitable work environment for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) employees through action in service to one another, with emphasis on opportunity, leadership development and education.
Mental Health + Wellness aims to support, educate and be an advocate for both its members and all NHL employees. Members discover how to better take care of their physical, mental and emotional health by discussing ways to deal with the stressors of life, sharing experiences with a community, and learning about the NHL's benefits geared toward improved physical and mental health.
PRIDE provides a forum for members of the LGBTQ+ community and supporters to be heard, with a focus on fostering an environment of inclusion, acceptance and recognition. It looks to celebrate people being their true, authentic selves at work, paving the way for a workplace that allows employees to be more productive, less stressed, and more willing to share their ideas without worry of rejection based on their orientation or gender identity.
Women aims to inspire the professional and personal growth of NHL women and their supporters by providing learning opportunities in an environment built on positivity and inclusion.
The Executive Inclusion Council, made up of team owners, presidents, general managers and other senior leaders, listens to and learns from the experiences of diverse members of the hockey community - at all levels - and explores the attitudes and behaviors affecting the NHL's ability to grow. Areas of focus include improving League-wide ability to recruit, hire, develop and retain a multicultural workforce as well as providing resources and support for the following three committees.
The Fan Inclusion Committee, made up of team CMOs and a cross-section of multicultural marketing and branding experts, takes an unprecedented commitment to inclusion, with the goal of building the most diverse fanbase in professional sports. Areas of focus include normalizing female and BIPOC faces, voices and experiences in hockey; expanding hockey's cultural availability; and improving NHL arena environments to be more inclusive.
The NHL Player Inclusion Coalition, a group of current and former NHL players as well as professional women's players, works to advance equality and inclusion in hockey. Co-chaired by NHL Alumni Anson Carter and P.K. Subban and featuring 20 members with a range of perspectives and backgrounds, the group first was formed in 2020 to inform and develop recommendations to the Executive Inclusion Council on how to improve experiences for diverse players in elite hockey. Ongoing work has sparked its evolution to a coalition, representing the group's transformation from a recommendations-based body to a team now focused on action.
The Youth Hockey Inclusion Committee, made up of representatives from youth hockey governing bodies and organizations (including youth participants and their parents), aims to make youth hockey a safe, supportive, accessible and culturally relevant experience for BIPOC youth and other underrepresented groups. Areas of focus include actively recruiting more diverse players, developing model programs, and reforming policies and systems for greater inclusion.
