Creating a Tide of Change 

The Seattle Kraken are in the business of hockey. But that is not their sole focus. When it comes to how the business operates, the organization has consistently tried to make sure the community inside its four walls looks like the world outside of them. Launching employee resource groups (ERGs) has been an intentional step in that process of fostering a diverse, inclusive workspace, and SeaChange, an ERG centered around supporting women.

In 2023, when the Kraken, Climate Pledge Arena (CPA), and the Kraken Community Iceplex’s (KCI) leadership launched ERGs, Rachel Hanna, who serves as the team’s marketing automation manager, applied and was selected to be one of the co-leads, a role she maintains today.

Hanna’s professional journey transitioned into hockey in 2018. Moving into an industry that had been historically male-dominated, Hanna’s introduction mirrors that of a lot of women in hockey. She was told in previous roles that as a woman, she would need to be working harder and twice as many hours to prove that she was good enough to belong.

“I think that's fair for everyone across the board, but I don't think it's right that the responsibility is so much heavier (for women),” Hanna said. “So having people that are committed to making the sports industry better for women and girls was something that was really, really important to me. It’s something that I've carried with me through my whole adult life. When there was an opportunity to step into a role where I could facilitate that for more folks and continue to help our young organization develop our policies and develop our strategies around gender equity, I was super excited to do that.”

One of Hanna’s co-leads, Katie Derpak, who serves as the senior accounting manager at CPA, had a similar motivation to build space to support and grow women within sports.

“I wanted to be involved in the Sea-Change ERG to have a voice for women’s equity in the workplace. Sports and the world in general have come a long way since I was a kid in this respect, but both growing up playing sports and entering the workplace, I found there were many times being a girl or woman was something I needed to overcome or justify as opposed to being seen as a benefit.

“I have a daughter who is turning three this year, which makes it even more relevant to me why it is important to continue to be the voice for her and the next generation(s). I feel so lucky to have a workplace that gives us this opportunity and sees the benefit of promoting ERGs and wanted to be a part of that.”

With the support of executive sponsors, the group’s co-leads, which also include Delaney Berreth, senior manager of marketing and corporate communications for the Kraken and Kraken Community Iceplex, got to work building an identity.

First came the name. Discussion centered around embodying the constant ebb and flow of sports and the mindset that nothing is set in stone – that if something isn’t right, it can be made better. The group also wanted to represent the diversity in the work at KCI, CPA, and within the Kraken.

They decided on SeaChange.

Next came a mission statement: “Through opportunities for professional development, advocacy and community connection, SeaChange works to advance gender equity in the workplace and to do our part to better the sports and entertainment industry for future generations of women and girls.”

And then it was time to hit the ground running.

Hanna, Derpak, and Berreth meet monthly with their two executive sponsors, Denise Russell, CPA’s vice-president of finance, and Katie Townsend, senior vice president and CCO, to plan and oversee a timeline of events for SeaChange members. That schedule has evolved over time into four keystone events per year, supported by more informal gatherings every month.

Keystone events focus on topics such as mentorship, education, professional development, or advocacy. Often, executive sponsors will help bring in speakers, including Kraken owner Samantha Holloway or Lisa Brummel, owner of the Seattle Storm (WNBA), for a Q&A or fireside chat.

Monthly get-togethers are meant more to foster connection and community and can be everything from a coffee break to a self-defense class or going to a movie.

“(Our monthly events) are much more community-driven,” Hanna said. “They’re not necessarily professional development or advancement driven as much as they are just building that strong sense of belonging.

“These have been really nice to keep folks feeling engaged, and especially to open those doors to folks that don't identify as women. We've had male colleagues who probably wouldn't come to a women's professional development course, but are more than welcome to come get coffee with us and foster that community. The fellowship and the friendship and the camaraderie and people talking with each other…it does give me goosebumps a little bit just to see it and to be able to help facilitate that is really special.”

And SeaChange’s leadership constantly checks in on itself to ensure it's going in the right direction. They monitor their schedule to see if there were opportunities missed; they look at why an event fails or succeeds to course correct everything from topic to timing to location. They survey their membership a couple of times a year for any and all kinds of feedback on an anonymous basis. Additionally, members have gotten more and more comfortable giving direct feedback when they have it.

As Hanna discusses the importance of staying on track to fulfill SeaChange’s mission, her voice fills with emotion.

“We have regular meetings to check in and readjust our direction and realign ourselves with what our true compass is, which is advancing gender equity and making our industries better for ourselves and for the women and girls that will come after us. The work means the world to me, because what else are we doing here, if not that?”

And doing that, they are.

SeaChange is currently around 70 members strong, including people like Emelē Chaddock, manager of group and inside sales for the Kraken. When she found out that SeaChange existed, she immediately joined and found a place where she feels genuinely empowered.

“Being part of Sea Change reminds me why representation and support systems matter in life and sports,” Chaddock said. “My path from the Washington youth soccer system to playing in college shaped my confidence and grit, but it also showed me how much women supporting women, access, and advocacy can impact opportunity. SeaChange helps create that support system at work. Throughout shared stories, mentorship, and celebrating women’s achievements, more women can and should feel empowered to take up space in this industry.”

That kind of impact is what SeaChange is all about. Step by intentional step, the spaces for and connections between women within hockey get bigger and stronger, and that, as Hanna says, “balloons my heart…too big for my ribs.”