Monique Choudhuri has been on the board of Brentford FC since 2017.

As part of her broad responsibilities as a non-executive director, she has overseen the club’s work in equality, diversity and inclusion, culminating in the club achieving the PLEDIS accreditation award in its first season following promotion to the top-flight.

With Monique stepping down from the board in the summer, we spoke to her to kick off our new Women at Brentford series, which will shine a light on some of our colleagues at the club.

Football has always been a part of Monique’s life.

While it was never in her career plans to work in football, she recalls spending quality time with her father going to football matches from the age of seven.

Monique also sits on the board of Women in Football, an organisation which is helping to improve women’s representation at all levels of the game and celebrates the successes of females in the industry.

Monique’s experience in the corporate world and as a football fan has been invaluable to her current roles. Her career so far has been vast and varied.

Her background includes working as a fashion buyer, running her own leadership and strategy consultancy and leading, and delivering a range of leadership, performance and cultural change programmes.

And it was through delivering a management and leadership course for Smartodds where she would later meet Matthew Benham, Brentford’s owner. After successfully applying to join the club’s board, she became the first-ever woman to sit on Brentford’s board in 2017.

“Entering into the football world was like an evolution of what I was already doing, despite it being a very different sector to what I had previously worked in," says Monique.

“In football, the language used is different, as is the governance. You must be very agile in football. You have to be both responsive and reactive."

A clear difference in the football industry compared to the corporate sector was the gender imbalance, she admits: “In the corporate sector there is a better balance of women and men than football, and that hasn’t always been easy."

The importance of allies

“The business of football isn’t that different from the corporate world, but the environment and culture is," Monique says. "But, fortunately, that adjustment has been helped by having some good allies on the board."

As well as at Brentford, Monique also explains how being on the club’s board has allowed her to make connections with some allies in the wider football industry: “It’s great to see how organisations such as Women in Football are working hard to make the landscape better for women.”

Monique also emphasises the support that male allies can give to women: “I have some really good friends, such as Sanjay Bhandari and Troy Townsend from Kick It Out and Anwar Uddin from The FA. They’re people I can speak to and go to, and I have so much respect for them, as I hope they would have they do for me.”

Ensuring all voices are heard

Throughout Monique’s career, she has been most passionate about helping others: “The four key skills that I specialise in are leadership, people, performance, and culture.

"Equality, diversity, and inclusion has been a specialism of mine for the last 10 years as a result of these areas.”

Monique acknowledges that there are still barriers in the football industry that can mean minority communities can often not feel seen or heard, something she’s passionate about changing: “The aim in my career has always been how do you get people to be the best they can be? At Brentford, it has been no different. I want to ensure that everyone has a voice.

“At Brentford, we’re working hard to create an environment where people can be the best they can be," she states.

"We are using our key principles of using understanding data to make decisions to exclude bias. We are trying to put inclusivity at the heart of our thinking, and we want to raise the bar on what’s possible.

"It’s a privilege to be part of an organisation that has those aspirations which also align so well with my key skills.”

Most of all, Monique wants to inspire the women of Brentford: “I want to be a role model for women at Brentford. I want them to see that I’ve become a board member, that they can aspire to great things, and they can do it and get into senior positions too.”

Dispelling myths in football

There is often a myth that working in football means that you need to be on the field or in a coaching position - this is something that Monique is keen to dispel.

She says: “There are many careers in football, both on and off the pitch. As I learnt about the world of football, I discovered just how many careers there are.

"People are a little short-sighted that it’s all about the players, player care or physiotherapy. The skills of running a football club are varied and extremely interesting.”

Both in her own career and with Brentford’s journey, Monique speaks highly of how being a board member has challenged her to grow and develop.

“Football, for me, has been my greatest challenge and my biggest pride," she adds.

"It’s a privilege to be a board member having seen Brentford move up from League One, to the Championship, and to the Premier League. I have had to use every single skill I’ve ever learnt to be successful in this role.”

For women hesitant to join football boards, Monique’s message is clear: “It is definitely a job for women.”

And her advice for aspiring board members?

“Be clear on your ambitions and what you want to achieve - there is a place for you at the top table.”