Head coach Chantal Vallée and guard Chidera Ifearulundu (No. 9) watch the action intently during the Windsor Lancers’ game vs. the Aquinas Saints on Dec. 28, 2014. (EDWIN TAM/University of Windsor)
By Kate Hargreaves
Celebrated Lancers women’s basketball head coach and faculty member Chantal Vallée has added another honour to her long list of accomplishments and awards: being featured alongside top global executives in the Brunswick Review.
Her profile appears in the magazine’s August 2025 Navigation issue, which highlights inspirational leaders in business, art and sport navigating uncertain times.
A publication of the prestigious Brunswick Group, a London, UK-based advisory firm, the Review profiles Vallée amongst top executives at AT&T and IBM, the CEO of the Grammys and the first female President-Director of the Louvre.
Vallée described being featured in such elite company as both profoundly humbling and a shared achievement.
“This recognition isn’t personal,” she said. “It’s a reflection of a shared story—a moment in time that connects me forever to the University of Windsor and to all the fans, donors, colleagues, staff, and student-athletes who helped build something extraordinary together.”
In the profile, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Brunswick Review editor-in-chief Kevin Helliker details Vallée’s legendary turnaround of the Lancers women’s basketball squad from a 50-year dry spell without a trophy to five-time national champions.
Central to this success, Helliker notes, is Vallée’s transformational leadership style, vision and drive.
“Like many people, my path began with ambition and the desire to succeed,” explained Vallée. “Over time, I learned that success fades quickly compared to the pursuit of inner peace and the gift of contributing to collective growth.”
Her leadership insights have led to keynote speaking opportunities as far afield as Australia for an audience of 14,000 at the Rotary International Convention as well as the publication of her recent book, Dare to Win, which combines her experiences as a coach and academic into a blueprint for building successful teams.
For Vallée, leadership is based in empathy rather than position and power.
“It’s about love and truth,” she explained. “It’s an inner journey of personal transformation, rooted in vulnerability, courage and the willingness to evolve for the greater good of oneself and others.”
This drive to uplift others is also central to Vallée’s initiatives outside of coaching.
Helliker highlights her efforts in support of equity for women athletes through her business venture SheSports, which invests in women’s sports and pushes for fair compensation.
“I feel called to create opportunities for women to experience the same kind of full-time, fulfilling career in sport that the University of Windsor made possible for me,” Vallée said.
“How many women have had the chance to spend over 30 years in leadership—learning to manage teams, develop people, and grow themselves in the process? That’s how we help women become stronger leaders and better managers. If I can use my platform to make women’s sports more visible, valued and equitable—and in turn help more women gain that kind of leadership experience—we’ll build stronger communities for it.
“That’s the real victory. Growth that uplifts others will always outlast trophies and titles.”
With a readership of over 50,000 executives and government leaders across 68 countries, the Brunswick Review spotlights the centrality of the University of Windsor and the region to Vallée’s leadership journey.
“To be recognized globally as a coach, author, leader, and businesswoman would never have been possible without the University of Windsor,” she said. “To see our university mentioned in the same space as IBM, AT&T, PayPal, and the Louvre says something powerful about what community can achieve.”
Those community achievements are part of what brings Vallée pride in building her home and career in Windsor: “We are a region blessed with creativity, resilience and the courage to do extraordinary things,” she said.
“In our own way, we contributed by shaping a culture that empowers women to become Olympians, professionals and changemakers—and every person who has worn the Windsor blue and gold or supported our team is part of this global moment. This story belongs to all of us.”
On the home front, Vallée and the 2025-26 Lancer women’s basketball team are looking to repeat their success on the court. Catch them next at home at the Toldo Lancer Centre against Queen’s on Oct. 31.
To read the full profile of Vallée, visit the Brunswick Review.
Dare to Win: The Blueprint to Building and Leading High Performance and Championship Teams, published by ECW Press, is available wherever books are sold.
Chantal Vallée is the celebrated head coach of the Lancers women's basketball team (EDWIN TAM/University of Windsor)