2024

Jasmin Paris is a mother, long distance fell runner, small animal vet and research scientist, who was launched into the media spotlight in January 2019 when she won the 268-mile Montane Spine race outright, breaking the overall record by 12 hours, and beating her nearest rival by 15 hours. This year, she became the first woman to finish the infamous Barkley Marathons in Tennessee, something many had previously considered impossible for a woman.

The Barkley Marathons race is widely regarded as the world’s toughest ultramarathon and has been completed by only 20 people in the last 35 years. Consisting of five 20-mile loops through the wilderness of Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee, with more than 20 000m ascent, the race has a 60-hour time limit. In March 2022, Jasmin Paris became the first female in 9 years to complete a Barkley Marathon ‘Fun Run’ (3 loops in 40 hours), and in 2023 she reached the furthest point (on loop 4) of any woman in the history of the race. In 2024, on her third attempt, Jasmin became the first woman to finish the race, completing the 5 loops with only 99 seconds to spare, in a dramatic finish which delighted onlookers around the world.

Michele Uva is UEFA Director of Social and Environmental Sustainability, appointed in January 2021.

He has dedicated an entire career to professional sport in several contexts, disciplines and environments. He has performed the role of CEO in sports organisations such as the Italian Football Association (FIGC), the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), professional football clubs (Parma and Lazio), basketball club (Lottomatica Roma) and volleyball clubs (Bologna, Treviso and Matera), as well as Deputy Commissioner in Italian Serie A football league.

Between 2017 and 2020 he was UEFA Vice-president, Chairman of Club Licensing Committee and member of several UEFA Committee: Finance, Club Competition SA, Strategic Steering, Professional Football Strategic, Women.

Author of six books on sport and football industry, he is currently a lecturer for several masters organised by international and Italian universities.

Already a two times World and European Champion, Imogen became Olympic Champion at Paris 2024, in the Lightweight Women’s double sculls with Emily Craig.

Imogen is a qualified doctor, having completed her medical degree in 2023, and is an Ambassador for the Rivers Trust. Sustainability is incredibly important to her, and she is working to improve sustainability within rowing, but also more widely among sport. After participating in Veganuary in 2022 she is now vegan.

Imogen started rowing at First and Third Trinity Boat Club during her first year of university, signing up for a taster session in exchange for two free drinks in Freshers Week. Rapidly falling in love with the sport, she won the Beginner eights at BUCS in her first year before going on to win the Blondie-Osiris race in her second.

Imogen is a triple Cambridge Blue, winning three Boat Races (two in record time), and she also has a Blue in cycling, winning the BUCS team time trial while at Cambridge. While at Cambridge, she met her fiancé at First and Third.

Chris started his Professional cycling career in late 1993. Over the following 8yrs Chris held the Yellow Jersey in the Tour de France on three separate occasions, took three World titles on track and road and broke several world records.

As Chair of Sport England, Chris oversaw an organisation that administers approximately 200 million pounds of funding to enable everyone in the country to access sport and be physically active. The innovative strategy involves working in and with communities to empower them to make the changes needed in their neighbourhoods.

Perhaps the biggest challenge Chris has ever faced though, is to lead a whole new organisation, Active Travel England. As Cycling and Walking Commissioner, Chris is charged with setting up this organisation and overseeing the administration of a 2 billion Pound budget. It will raise the standards of active travel infrastructure and ensure that every large development in the country enables people to live without cars if they choose.

So far, it’s been quite a ride for Chris and his unwavering companion throughout has been the bicycle, a wonderful and simple device that reduces carbon, improves safety and gives health. It has the power to change the world if we create an environment where people feel able to trundle to shops, schools and workplaces under their own steam. The enduring mission for Chris is to help make that happen.

Karishma Ali is a Pakistani footballer and the founder of the Karishma Ali Foundation. She is an internationally awarded social entrepreneur who has represented Pakistan in two different International sports events. In 2018, she became a UNICEF Pakistan Adolescent Champion, and in 2019, she was honored as one of Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30. That same year, she was selected as a member of Pakistan’s first National Youth Council.

Driven by a vision to share her experiences and empower other girls in her region, Karishma Ali is currently impacting the lives of 500 girls. Her foundation, a registered non-governmental organization (NGO), is one of the few women-led organizations dedicated to promoting innovative and sustainable sports and physical activity programs as a means of social change and women’s empowerment, with a special focus on marginalized communities, particularly the Kalash.

The Karishma Ali Foundation’s multifaceted approach includes sports training, mental health support through art therapy, education on gender-based violence, and leadership development, equipping girls with the tools and opportunities they need to thrive. In 2022, Karishma Ali was listed in the Pride of Pakistan Enclosure and received the Hamary Heroes Award during PSL.

With over 15 years of experience in energy and sustainability roles for high street brands such as Sainsbury’s, Starbucks and WeWork, Jaz brings a wealth of knowledge covering topics such as energy management, waste reduction, sustainable packaging, behaviour change and social impact. In 2015 she was awarded a Royal Honours by King Charles III for her services to the sustainability sector. Jaz volunteers much of her time as a STEM Ambassador to help raise the awareness of energy/engineering careers, helping to create a pipeline of future energy professionals.

As Director, Social Responsibility & Sustainability for the NBA, Annie Horn leads the league’s environmental sustainability efforts internally and across NBA teams, venues, players, partners and its affiliate leagues. Horn led the NBA becoming the first professional sports league in North America to sign the UN Sport For Climate Action Framework, aspiring to reduce its carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2040. Horn also spearheaded the NBA’s first baseline carbon footprint analysis and the public disclosure of its carbon emissions in 2023, including Scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions. She launched the league’s internal NBA Green Working Group, growing to represent 29 internal departments with collaboration across all 18 of the NBA’s international offices.

Prior to the NBA, Horn began her career in Cape Town, South Africa – working for a non-profit organization that leveraged soccer as a tool for HIV/AIDS prevention. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Emory University where she played soccer for four years. During college, she founded Think Pink, a campus-wide initiative to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research. Horn is passionate about the intersection of sport and social impact, health and wellness, and taking small steps to be more environmentally conscious.

Having worked in media and sport for over twenty years, Mihir joined World Rugby in 2019 as the international federation’s first Director of Strategy. His current role as Chief Strategy Officer now encompasses responsibility for Diversity and Sustainability, as well as Strategy Development.

Mihir was formerly Director of Strategy & Research at Sport England where he was responsible for the performance management of £1bn of public investment into grassroots sport. His introduction of new insights and tools to the sector helped boost sports participation by 700,000 adults, the first ever recorded increase. Whilst at Sport England he also designed and launched the country’s first fund dedicated to boosting female participation.

Previously Head of Strategy for BBC Sport, where he worked on rights and genre strategy, he is also a former Deputy-Chair of Sporting Equals, the body responsible for racial inclusion in UK sport.

Originally an economist and management consultant, Mihir joined World Rugby from global advertising network MullenLowe Group. In his role there he won Grands Prix at the IPA Effectiveness and Spikes Asia Awards and helped the business top the Effie Index.

Mihir has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University and an MBA from SDA Bocconi.