The Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) is proud to announce that Mary-Kay Messier has officially come on board as a Senior Advisor. Mary-Kay is a member of the Bauer Hockey senior leadership team as Vice President, Global Marketing. Leading the global marketing team, Mary-Kay oversees creative, digital, social, paid media, consumer experience, sports marketing and strategic partnerships, including international federations, the NHL and the NHLPA.

Mary-Kay’s advisory role with the PWHPA will focus on business development and facilitating stakeholder relationships.

Mary-Kay’s full biography can be found below.

Mary-Kay Messier is a member of the Bauer Hockey senior leadership team as Vice President, Global Marketing. Leading the global marketing team, Mary-Kay oversees creative, digital, social, paid media, consumer experience, sports marketing and strategic partnerships, including international federations, the NHL and the NHLPA. In this role, Mary-Kay and her team develop marketing initiatives in alignment with commercial opportunities to further establish the company’s brand and products as No. 1 in the industry.

Within marketing, Mary-Kay built an in-house creative department, which enables the team to produce more authentic content based on consumer expectations, build competitive differentiation and strengthen brand loyalty. Mary-Kay and her team revamped pro athlete partnerships, including those with NHL players and the women’s game. While solidifying the brand’s investment with a few of the world’s best players, Mary-Kay increased the focus on the game’s young stars to elevate the brand and enhance consumer engagement on social media and in regional and global marketing.

Mary-Kay is a passionate advocate for the game with the goal of making it more accessible, inclusive, diverse and focused on fun. This required first and foremost a brand positioning review to establish the company’s purpose and values, and as a result, brand initiatives are now rooted in new and revamped cause-related programs. In 2013, under Mary-Kay’s leadership her team created the internationally-successful First Shift program. The First Shift is a Bauer grow the game initiative supported by the NHL, NHLPA and founding partner Hockey Canada.

Mary-Kay is most passionate about growing female hockey at the grass roots level and advancing equity for the best women players in the world through the establishment of a sustainable professional league. Mary-Kay ensured the First Shift’s strategic goal included targeted initiatives to grow female hockey with all-girl programs and dedicated resources. As part of the initiative to revamp pro athlete partnerships, Mary-Kay significantly expanded the company’s roster of paid female athletes, which now includes top women from the U.S., Canada, Germany, Sweden and Russia.

She set the direction for and guided the launch of a global campaign – #WomensMovementNeverStops – that promotes the world’s top women hockey players and how hockey helps young girls build confidence. With a more balanced roster, the world’s No. 1 hockey equipment brand now regularly features female athletes in marketing campaigns alongside their male counterparts. Advancing diversity and inclusion is also a passion for Mary-Kay, as she plays a leading role in shaping the culture at Bauer. This year with families facing financial hardship, together with the NHL, NHLPA and Hockey Canada, Bauer launched an equipment relief program to help the most underserved communities get kids on the ice.

An athlete herself, Mary-Kay grew up immersed in hockey and believes in the power of the game to bring families together, develop character and teach valuable life lessons. She has four children, all athletic at various competitive levels, and lives in Massachusetts. She is an advisor for the advocacy group Play like a Girl.