Brittany Saulsbury is the Director of Facility Operations & Sustainability for the Portland Trail Blazers at the Rose Quarter. With a keen focus on innovation and impact, Brittany leads comprehensive sustainability efforts spanning the Rose Quarter campus. Her strategic vision aims to not only reduce environmental footprints but also inspire sustainable practices among fans, forge strategic partnerships, and foster community engagement. Brittany is passionate about influencing change through the power of sports and working to promote a circular economy through innovative material management programs.
2026
Takashi Yamagami
Irena Smetanová
Irena Smetanová is CSR Manager at AC Sparta Prague and Chairwoman of the AC Sparta Prague Foundation. She joined the club in 2015 and has focused full-time on CSR and sustainability since 2018. In her role, she oversees AC Sparta Prague’s social and environmental impact agenda, connecting social responsibility, accessibility, community engagement and sustainability with the club’s day-to-day operations and fan experience. In addition to her role at Sparta, she serves as Chairwoman of the ESG Committee of the Czech League Football Association (LFA) and is a member of the CSR Committee of the Football Association of the Czech Republic (FAČR).
Her work includes initiatives promoting physical and mental wellbeing, community development, anti-discrimination, support for disadvantaged groups, and the club’s charitable activities through the AC Sparta Prague Foundation. She is also responsible for embedding sustainability principles into the club’s day-to-day operations.
A significant part of her work focuses on improving accessibility for supporters with disabilities. Her approach is based on finding practical solutions that expand access and equal opportunities while working within the constraints of an outdated stadium infrastructure and strict safety requirements. AC Sparta Prague’s work in this area received international recognition when the club was awarded the ECA (now EFC) Award for Away Fan Experience following a nomination by Liverpool FC, recognising the club’s efforts to provide an accessible and welcoming matchday experience for visiting supporters during Liverpool’s UEFA Europa League fixture in Prague.
Diane Henderson
Diane Henderson is a sport leader, athlete, and advocate for sustainable sport with over thirty years of experience in sport management and administration across the Caribbean and the Americas.
She serves as President of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) and the Commonwealth Sport Trinidad and Tobago (TTCS), currently in her fourth quadrennial term. In that capacity she has led delegations to some of the world’s most significant multi-sport competitions, serving as Chef de Mission at the Commonwealth Games Gold Coast 2018, the Pan American Games Toronto 2015 and Lima 2019, and the Pan American Junior Games Cali 2021 — as well as Assistant Chef de Mission at the Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2014. She currently serves as a member of the Technical Commission of Pan American Sports.
As a signatory of the United Nations Sport for Climate Action (S4CA) Framework, Diane has championed environmental sustainability as a core institutional priority within the TTOC since 2023 — integrating climate action into the organisation’s governance, operations, and stakeholder engagement. It is this commitment that brings her to the Sport Positive Summit, and she is passionate about the role that National Olympic Committees and regional sport organisations can play in driving meaningful environmental change from the inside out.
A former competitive triathlete, Diane has completed two Ironman events — in 2010 and 2018 — and continues to practice as a Level 1 Technical Official in triathlon. She served on the World Triathlon Multisport Committee for a four-year term ending December 2024, and held the Chairpersonship of the Trinidad and Tobago International Marathon for fifteen years from 2009. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and an Executive Masters in Sport Organisation Management (MEMOS) and brings to every room she enters the qualities her sport instilled in her — resilience, discipline, and an unshakeable belief in what sustained effort can achieve.
Imon Raza
Imon Raza is a Climate Storyteller, Designer, and Educator with a decade of experience teaching at premier universities in India and abroad. An alumnus and current PhD scholar at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, his practice sits at the dynamic intersection of design, ecology, and climate action, using narrative as a primary tool to address complex environmental challenges.
As a passionate educator, Imon has pioneered some of the first climate-based pedagogies in India and the UK, seamlessly blending climate storytelling with experiential design. A diver himself, he leads highly innovative, immersive programs for students. His groundbreaking courses range from introducing underwater filmmaking and marine ecology alongside the indigenous Karen community in the Havelock Islands (Andamans, Indian Ocean), to spearheading ‘The Climate Game’—a UK-based winter school co-anchored with athlete and IOC Young Leader Pragnya Mohan to document the impact of climate change on sports. He also hosts deeply impactful climate and cultural immersions in Majuli, Assam; located on the Brahmaputra River, it is the world’s largest river island and currently stands at the brink of disappearance due to climate change.
Hailing from Assam—India’s most climate-vulnerable state—and as a former sportsperson, Imon’s lived experiences fuel a deep, personal commitment to ecological resilience. He is also the founder of Oronyo Games, a government-supported initiative that creates multilingual educational board games making species conservation and climate issues accessible to diverse audiences.
After a decade of serving as a full-time professor of design and practice—most recently leading the ‘Cinemascapes’ film studio at CEPT University—Imon has recently transitioned into an independent consultant role. He is actively looking to collaborate with global organizations to develop actionable climate frameworks and design toolkits. Through his work, Imon is dedicated to bringing a vital Global South lens and perspective to the forefront, crafting stories and design strategies that connect local, indigenous ecological wisdom with the rest of the world.
Naoko Imoto
Naoko Imoto is an Olympic swimmer and a leading advocate for climate action and sustainability in Japanese sport. She is the Founder and Executive Director of SDGs in SPORTS, where she works with athletes, sports organisations, leagues and businesses to accelerate climate action and gender equality and advance sustainability across the sports sector in Japan.
A former competitive swimmer, Naoko represented Japan at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, finishing fourth in the 4x200m freestyle relay, and won gold medals at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima.
Following her sporting career, she spent almost two decades working in international development, specialising in education, peacebuilding and humanitarian response with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe. Drawing on her experience across elite sport and international development, she now focuses on mobilising sport as a force for climate action and wider social change.
Prof Holly Thorpe
Holly Thorpe (PhD) is Associate Dean Research in the Division of Health and Professor in the School of Sport and Human Movement at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She is an award-winning sociologist of sport, physical culture, and gender. She has received Fulbright and Leverhulme Fellowships and, in 2018, was awarded the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi Early Career Research Excellence Award for Social Sciences and became a Fellow of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport.
She works closely with national and international sport organisations, including the International Olympic Committee, High Performance Sport New Zealand, and Sport New Zealand. Her research interests include gender, action sports and youth cultures, women athletes’ health and wellbeing, social media and new media technologies, and sport in development and recovery contexts. Most recently her research is focused on the health and wellbeing impacts of extreme weather events, and community sport in a changing climate.
Rhydian Cowley
Rhydian Cowley is a three-time Olympian in racewalking from Australia, and a Bronze Medalist at the Paris 2024 Games.
Rhydian’s commitment to giving back for the future of sport shines through in his off-field commitments. He is an EcoAthletes Champion, a World Athletics Champion for a Better World, and is also a member of the Athletes’ Committees at both Australian Athletics and at the Victorian Institute of Sport.
Contributions to a range of initiatives including the 2024 Rings of Fire report into heat risks at Olympic Games, the development of the Carbon Literacy Project’s Sport module, and joint open letters of advocacy to governments and international sporting bodies have seen Rhydian earn recognition as a passionate and authentic voice in the climate action in sport space. In 2024, Rhydian was the BBC Green Sports Awards World Athlete of the Year, and an IOC Athletes for Good grant winner.
Away from sport, Rhydian works at nature conservation NGO Bush Heritage Australia as a part of their fundraising and engagement team, and is treasurer at his local community garden. Rhydian is also an avid birdwatcher, with this hobby helping to recharge his batteries and to keep him connected to the natural world he is committed to protecting.
Yoan Noguier
Yoan Noguier is a social entrepreneur whose career spans international sport, social business and inclusive entrepreneurship. After leading Procurement for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, he worked internationally on the social potential of major sporting events before co-founding Yunus Sports Hub with Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus, followed by Yunus France.
In this role has developed partnerships with the major players in the sport, sport business and sport for development sectors, built a global network of more than 5,000 experts and partners across 150+ countries and co-created the most succesful social procurement program for mega events. His work focuses on using business, sport and innovation to address poverty, unemployment and the climate crisis. He also lectures and speaks internationally on social innovation.
Masaki Hamaguchi
Masaki Hamaguchi is the Board Director at Kashima Antlers overseeing the club’s sales division and leading its sustainability strategy. Background includes extensive experience in corporate strategy, ESG initiatives, and new business development across the corporate and consulting sectors.
