Americas

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.

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on finding practical solutions that expand access and equal opportunities while working within the constraints of an outdated stadium infrastructure and strict safety requirements.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 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.

Jeff Pacini, Executive Director of the Green Sports Alliance, brings two decades of experience at the intersection of sports business and mission-driven revenue to this role.

Jeff began his career with the NBA’s global marketing partnerships group and the Cleveland Cavaliers, then taught sport management at Baldwin Wallace University before joining the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission as vice president of business development.

He moved into philanthropy as national development director for cycling at the American Heart Association, leading a nationwide fundraising platform, and later served Legends Global as general manager of its partnership with The Ohio State University and as vice president of business development.

Most recently he founded ion Philanthropy, a consulting and managed services firm helping nonprofits, schools, and sports organizations build sustainable revenue through fundraising strategy, staffing, marketing, and data analytics.

Jeff holds an MBA and a Master of Sports Administration from Ohio University and a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from The College of Wooster. He was named to Crain’s Cleveland Business Forty Under 40 in 2013.

James Karst is communications director at the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, a statewide nonprofit whose mission is to unite people in action to achieve a thriving, sustainable Louisiana coast for all. Prior to joining CRCL, he worked for 18 years at The Times-Picayune, where he was on the staff that won two Pulitzer Prizes for their coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. James also writes about jazz history and moonlights as an actor. He lives in New Orleans.

Isabella Burczak is the Cycling for All & Sustainability Manager at the UCI, where she has led global initiatives and partnerships since 2017 to promote cycling as an inclusive, safe and sustainable mode of transport. Her work focuses on supporting cities, regions, National Federations and institutions to embed cycling into urban mobility strategies, public policy and major events, notably through initiatives such as the UCI Bike City Label, UCI Bike City Pathway and the UCI Mobility & Bike City Forum. She oversees efforts to harness elite cycling events as drivers of broader social impact, participation and cultural change around cycling, and led the development of the UCI’s first sustainability strategy, aligning the UCI with international climate and nature frameworks. Prior to joining the UCI, she worked at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for ten years, contributing to international sport policy and the planning and delivery of multiple Olympic and Youth Olympic Games.

Sonia, originally from Mexico City, holds degrees in International Relations, Development Studies, and Sustainability Studies. Between 2011 and 2016, she worked in international development and the youth climate movement, where she discovered the potential of sport for sustainable development. A lifelong athlete, she became intrigued by how alternative sports might contribute to social and environmental good. Her Msc research supported this, leading her to pursue a PhD in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at NC State University, where her research focused on examining the link between alternative sports (including Indigenous, Native, Aboriginal, and Folk sports), prosocial and pro-environmental behaviour, and mental health.

Felipe Llorente is the President of the River Plate Foundation. He also serves Club Atlético River Plate as 1st Vice President of Public Relations and as a representative for club members. He holds a degree in Political Science from the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (UCA) and is currently pursuing master’s degrees in International Relations (Austral University) and Political Leadership (CIAS University Institute). He has received international training in the United States, the European Union, China, and India, and has worked for various public sector bodies, including ANSES, the Superintendence of Occupational Risks, and the Government of the Province of Buenos Aires.

Dr. Sasha Sutherland is the Executive Director of the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organization (RADO). In her role she manages teams in the 18 Caribbean RADO member countries to strengthen their anti-doping frameworks. She is also a lecturer at The University of the West Indies and serves as a Director of the Barbados Olympic Association Inc., where she is Chair of the Education Commission, a member of the Governance Commission and Sustainability Lead.

With a desire to increase awareness around issues of gender (in)equality, governance and doping in sport, she has published work on menstrual health, Sport for Development, sexism and sport impacts on girls and women, and gender and race in sport. She is also Chair of the Barbados Girls Cricket Club- the first of its kind in the Caribbean. Here she is committed, with her team, to provide safe spaces for girls to participate in and thrive in and through sport.

She is a former triple-discipline athlete of Lawn Tennis, Football and Hockey and enjoys Open Water Swimming who brings her knowledge of being athlete, administrator and academic together to inform the world in any way she can.

Annie Horn is Associate Vice President, Social Impact & Inclusion and Sustainability at the NBA, where she leads the league’s environmental sustainability strategy across the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League and Basketball Africa League, working across league operations, events and partners to integrate sustainability into the business of basketball, in addition to NBA’s health and wellness platform, NBA Total Health. She has guided the NBA’s climate commitments, including becoming the first professional sports league in North America to sign the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework, and led the league’s first carbon footprint assessment and public greenhouse gas emissions disclosure.

Her work focuses on helping the league measure, reduce and report its environmental impact while advancing practical sustainability initiatives across marquee events and year-round operations. Through collaboration with teams, venues, corporate partners and industry stakeholders her work advances scalable solutions strengthening both sustainability and fan engagement. She is passionate about harnessing the power of sport to create positive social and environmental impact.