Speakers

Dale Vince has led a remarkable life. From “enemy of the state” to “green energy tycoon” he has dedicated his life to challenging conventional wisdom in pursuit of a better way to live.

As a traveller Vince was an outlaw, living a decade outside of society, on the road and off the grid in constant tension with the police. After an epiphany in the 90s, he ‘dropped back in’ to build a big windmill on the hill he parked on and from there, went on to start the world’s first green energy company, Ecotricity.

Dale kickstarted the now-global green energy movement using the goals and values he developed on the road to bring green energy into the mainstream. He pioneered the electric car, built the Electric Highway to power them and runs Forest Green Rovers – the word’s first green football club. Created diamonds out of carbon in the sky. Most recently he launched a new range vegan burgers. His whole life has been a strive for change and the result of a questioning mind that doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

He is the UN Ambassador for Climate Change.

Energy, Transport and Food – these are the pillars of his manifesto for a better world and in his first book, Manifesto, Vince explores what must be done to turn the tide on climate change, drawing on his personal experience as a self-professed eco-nut. It’s a manifesto of hope, backed up by solutions from someone with real life experience of disrupting the energy industry and paving the way to a greener planet.

Lee is a Senior Manager with WM’s Advisory Services team and oversees the Sports and Entertainment Division that implements a diverse portfolio of sustainability programs at leagues, stadiums, and events, along with customers across other industries. With over a decade of experience in sustainable business management solutions, Lee helps major sports organizations and Fortune 500 companies develop comprehensive environmental programs and sustainable supply chains.

His recent work experience includes sustainability strategy development, greenhouse gas inventory and mitigation plan management, SBTi, impact benchmarking, zero waste validations, material minimization and diversion efficiency initiatives, sustainability certifications, video production, CDP and DJSI reporting, stakeholder engagement campaigns, environmental justice, purpose-driven sponsorships, environmental marketing, and corporate reporting.

Prior to working for WM, Lee received an MA in International Environmental Policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies with a focus on energy and climate change. Hailing from Boston, he holds a BA in Psychology and Chinese from Bates College. Lee is also a WELL AP, LEED AP, and TRUE Advisor.



Seán is the Climate Justice Officer with Bohemians – a first in the world of football. In this role, he is working with the club to design climate responses that can be both led by and empower the club’s fans and their communities. He also works as the secretariat member with responsibility for strategy with the Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative – a global coalition of organisations working to secure children’s right to a safe and healthy environment.

Over the past year, he has supported the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in the development of authoritative guidance to States on the protection of children’s rights with respect to the environment and climate change. Previously he worked with the former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, in seeking to advance climate justice within the UN system and subsequently authored The People’s Transition: Community-led Development for Climate Justice with the European Foundation for Progressive Studies and the Think Tank for Action on Social Change.

The People’s Transition is a participative decision-making model that views climate action as an enabler of local development and gives people and communities ownership of the transition to zero-carbon societies to tackle inequality and raise standards of living through the delivery of climate solutions. He has worked with the Environmental Protection Agency in Freetown, Sierra Leone and with communities facing extreme poverty in Kolkata, India.

Lucy Shea is our Group CEO. A firm believer in the power of business to create change, she advises Fortune 500 companies on how to unlock the value of sustainability for their business and brand. her particular expertise is where the business of fashion and sustainability intersect. Lucy has long experience in persuading people to take up sustainable lifestyles. She radically reimagined garment recycling with the creation of our Swishing campaign and was a founder member of the UN’s Sustainable Lifestyles Taskforce, when she authored Communicating Sustainability, today one of the UN’s most read reports. In 2014, she joined the Global Organising Committee of Fashion Revolution and is now a Trustee. She serves on the Steering Committee of the UNFCCC’s Fashion Charter.

Alok Sharma was appointed full-time President for COP 26, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, on 8 January 2021.

He was previously Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and President for COP 26 between 13 February 2020 and 8 January 2021.

He was previously Secretary of State for International Development from 24 July 2019 to 13 February 2020, and Minister of State for Employment at the Department of Work and Pensions from 9 January 2018 until 24 July 2019.

He was Minister of State for Housing and Planning, for the Department for Communities and Local Government from 13 June 2017 to 9 January 2018.

Alok was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 17 July 2016 to 13 June 2017.

He has served as a member of the Commons Treasury select committee, a member of the Commons Science and Technology select committee, a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Treasury and from 2012 to 2015 as a Conservative Party Vice Chairman. Alok was appointed in 2016 as the Prime Minister’s Infrastructure Envoy to India.

He also served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Rt Hon Oliver Letwin MP, the former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster who had overall responsibility for the Cabinet Office. He was elected as the Conservative MP for Reading West in May 2010.

Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist whose research focuses on understanding what climate change means for people and the places where we live.
She is the Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy and a Horn Distinguished Professor and Endowed Professor of Public Policy and Public Law in the Dept. of Political Science at Texas Tech University. Her book, “Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World,” will be released in Sept 2021 and she also hosts the PBS digital series Global Weirding, currently in its fifth season.
Katharine has been named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People, the United Nations Champion of the Environment, and the World Evangelical Alliance’s Climate Ambassador.

Ebony is a former English cricketer and was a member of the England Team that won the 9th ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in Sydney 2009. In the three months following their World Cup win, the team went on to win: the ICC Women’s World Twenty20, the Natwest One Day series and retained the Ashes. During her playing career, she was also captain of the Surrey women’s team.

Since retiring from sport, Ebony has gone on to a career in the media including becoming a broadcaster and commentator for the flagship BBC programme ‘Test Match Special’ & in 2020 she joined the Sky Sports cricket commentary team.

Ebony also runs a podcast called ‘ The Art of Success’ where she sits down with high performers from various fields to unpick tools and strategies for success.

In 2015 Ebony returned to Surrey County Cricket Club, after being appointed their first Director of Women’s Cricket. She is also an ambassador for Beyond Sport & chair of ACE programmes newly formed charity in 2020.

Ebony has recently been made an MBE for her services to cricket and charity.

Nico Rosberg is known as the Formula 1 World Champion of 2016. Since ending his active driving career, he has been passionate about sustainability. As an entrepreneur and investor in green technologies and alternative mobility start-ups, he stands for visionary innovations that make the world a little better. He is also involved in numerous projects around the world promoting environmental protection, health, equality and justice. In 2019, he founded the GREENTECH FESTIVAL, a global platform for pioneering sustainable ideas, which takes place annually in Berlin, and – as of 2021 – New York and London. Using his former sport as an impactful vehicle, Nico Rosberg has founded Rosberg X Racing, a team that is driven to inspire positive change. The team competes in Extreme E, a racing series that aims to draw attention to the risks and consequences of global climate change. Rosberg has received numerous awards for its entrepreneurial commitment. He lives in Monaco with his wife and two daughters.

On 18 May 2016, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Patricia Espinosa of Mexico as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Ms. Espinosa took office on 18 July 2016.

Ambassador of Mexico to Germany since 2012 and from 2001 to 2002, Ms. Espinosa was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico from 2006 to 2012, bringing more than 30 years of experience at highest levels in international relations, specialized in climate change, global governance, sustainable development, gender equality and protection of human rights.

As Mexico’s representative on multilateral bodies and international organizations in Vienna, Geneva and New York, Ms. Espinosa has been engaged as leader in the global challenge to address climate change and its consequences, notably as President of the 16th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC leading to the adoption of the Cancun Agreements. Named by the UN Secretary-General to the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post 2015 Development Agenda, she is a tireless supporter of multilateralism as a way to improve conditions for development in all regions of the world, understanding the inextricable link between the aims of the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Elected Chair of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly (1996) she played a key role in the process leading to the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action at the 4th World Conference on Women. Previous Ambassador of Mexico to Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia and UN Organisations in Vienna (2002-2006), she was Chief of Staff to the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1989-1991) and responsible for economic issues at the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the UN in Geneva (1982-1988).

Born in 1958, she has postgraduate studies in International Law from the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva and is holder of a Degree in International Relations from El Colegio de Mexico. Fluent in English and German, she is confident in French with Spanish mother tongue.

Married and a lawyer by profession, he has had a successful career in sports both on and off the field of play. He became an Olympic champion when he won a gold medal in fencing (team foil) at the Games of the XXI Olympiad in Montreal in 1976 and in 2006, he was named as the founding President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB).

Thomas Bach was an athletes’ representative at the XI Olympic Congress in Baden-Baden (1981) and a founding member of the IOC’s Athletes’ Commission. He became an IOC member in 1991, was elected as a member of the IOC Executive Board in 1996 and served as an IOC Vice-President for more than 10 years. He has also chaired several IOC Commissions.

On 10 September 2013, Thomas Bach was elected as the ninth President of the IOC. He was re-elected for a second four-year term on 10 March 2021.

Frans Timmermans began his career with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1987. After taking part in the junior diplomat training programme, he worked at the European Integration Department of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Moscow. He later worked for Hans van den Broek, European Commissioner for External Relations, and Max van der Stoel, High Commissioner on National Minorities for the OSCE.

In 1998, Frans Timmermans was elected as a member of the House of Representatives for the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA), where he dealt principally with foreign affairs. In the fourth Balkenende government, from February 2007 to February 2010, Mr Timmermans was Minister for European Affairs. In 2010, Mr Timmermans returned to Parliament as the Labour Party’s spokesperson on foreign policy.

On 5 November 2012, Mr Timmermans became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the second Rutte government. Two years later, on 1 November 2014, he became First Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for better regulation, interinstitutional relations, sustainable development, the rule of law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Since 1 December 2019, he is the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for the Green Deal.

Hannah is currently Vice President of Club Operations at Liverpool Football Club. A chartered accountant with 15 years’ experience, Hannah joined LFC in 2011 and previously held the role of Head of Financial Planning and Analysis before making the move into Operations. Hannah is responsible for Club wide operations including Capital Projects, Procurement, Sustainable Operations, Facilities Management, Health & Safety and Strategy Management. Hannah also sits on the Finance Committee of Women in Football, a post she has held since August 2020.

Noel Kinder is Nike’s Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO). As the CSO, Noel leads Global Sustainability, a team committed to protecting our planet to maintain an environment where all athletes can train, live and thrive. Prior to becoming the CSO, Noel was the Vice President of Sustainable Manufacturing and Sourcing, where he was responsible for collaborating with Nike Inc.’s business units, contracted factory leadership, representatives in academia and within the NGO community on the evolution of the company’s sustainable business performance policies.

Noel joined Nike in 1999 and has held a wide range of leadership positions in the footwear and apparel divisions as well as roles in strategic planning and finance. In 2013, Noel became the General Manager of Nike Vietnam LLC, one of Nike’s largest sourcing countries, and was responsible for all manufacturing operations. He has worked with a wide range of manufacturers; from textile and apparel production in Sri Lanka and Eastern Europe to footwear manufacturing in Brazil and throughout Asia.

Prior to Nike, Noel held roles that included leadership in several non-profit organizations as well small, privately-held companies in the United States. He has also served in the United States Peace Corps, spending two years in Honduras.

Noel holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Oregon and a Master’s degree in Business from Portland State University. He is fluent in Spanish.

Jeremy Casebeer is a professional beach volleyball player working to use his platform in sport to scale social and environmental impact. He is the Project Manager for the AVP Tour and Waste Management (WM) Climate Action Plan, he is an ambassador for Parley for the Oceans and the Forest Stewardship Council, focuses his sponsorships as an athlete on sustainable brands that share his values, and is on the Board of Players for the Planet and AVP First.

Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum is the Head of the climate change and health unit at WHO Headquarters. He has worked on the issue for over 20 years, playing key roles in the first quantitative estimates of global health impacts of climate change, resolutions of the World Health Assembly, WHO global conferences, and the expansion of WHO’s climate change and health support to over 30 low and middle income countries. Diarmid is author of over 100 journal papers, reports, and book chapters, a lead author on three Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, and of the first health report to the UN Climate Negotiations. A keen cyclist, he rode from Geneva to Paris for WHO’s 2nd global conference on Health and Climate Change,

Ian is the Chief Executive Officer for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and for the last 2 years has been overseeing the establishment of the Organising Committee and early stages of planning and delivery of the city and the region’s largest-ever cultural and sporting event.

He brings a wealth of Games, finance and commercial experience to this role, having served as Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games from 2009 to 2015, leading the Corporate Services and Support Functions including finance, legal, procurement, HR, programme management and office management. The event procured almost £250m of goods and services, recruited 1,500 staff and exceeded attendance and commercial targets.

Ian’s previous roles include Head of Commercial Finance for AG Barr plc and sat on the Board of Funkin Cocktails Limited.

At Envision Virgin Racing, Jenn forms part of the team’s executive management and is responsible for all non-race specific affairs, from HR to our ‘Race Against Climate Change’ strategy, our Carbon Neutrality status to Partnership Agreements, business optimisation to corporate governance, and anything else you can think of in between.

With over 10 years working in renewables, Jenn is passionate about using Formula E as a platform to accelerate our transition to a zero-carbon future so that she can look herself in the mirror every day and know that she is doing what she can to make a difference.

Prior to joining the Team in February 2019, Jenn was Chief of Staff at the UK Green Investment Bank, the UK’s £3.8bn green investment fund, established to commercialise green investment into renewable energy projects within the UK and was responsible, amongst other things, for advising the Chief Executive on key business and strategic priorities. Before that she was Legal Counsel at Element Power, a wind and solar power producer overseeing their northern European wind and solar developments, and responsible for global tax planning and HR, and before that a Senior Associate at Norton Rose Fulbright, in their London office, specialising in corporate finance and private equity investments.

In addition to her work with the team, Jenn is also Chairman of Fulcrum Group – a leading provider of utility infrastructure and services in the UK.

Born in Middlesbrough, but spending a large part of her early childhood in Kwangyang, South Korea, and then studying Law at Oxford University, Jenn now lives in London with her husband and 2 children.

Karina is a retired Olympic bronze medalist and professional athlete who has the distinguished honor of being one of the longest serving soccer players in Canadian history. With a prestigious career that spanned almost 18 years at the international level, she participated in 5 FIFA World Cups and 2 Olympic Games, winning an Olympic medal at the 2012 London Games and making history for Canada. In her latest achievement, Karina was named to the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2020.

Since 2018, Karina has been the Head of Women’s Football for CONCACAF and its 41 countries. This has been the perfect position in connecting her passion with purpose, as she works to lead the confederation in seeing that football has the power to change young girls lives through the sport.

In addition to this, Karina is a Unicef Ambassador, a FIFA Legend and the President of the Karina LeBlanc foundation, a charity that mentors and provides scholarships to young women in sport. Recently Karina was named an Honorary Captain of the Royal Canadian Navy.

Niclas Svenningsen is the Manager for the Global Climate Action team in the UNFCCC Secretariat (“UN Climate Change”). In this capacity he is responsible for the development and implementation of UN Climate Change’s work with non-party stakeholders to take action to help governments to reach the well-below-2-degrees- target, set in the Paris Agreement. This includes a wide ranging cooperation and coordination with climate action initiatives across a range of sectors and topics; Tracking and reporting of climate action commitments by private sector and civil society; and Outreach and support, including to youth, for awareness raising, education, training and public participation in the climate action agenda.

Niclas was previously working in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), where he was in charge of the climate neutral strategy of the UN system, as well as for the implementation of UNEP’s programmes for sustainable buildings, urban development, and sustainable procurement. He also spent ten years at UNEP’s regional office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok where he managed a range of different technical support programmes. Niclas has a background in civil engineering and environmental law from Lund University in Sweden

Isabella Burczak is the Advocacy & Development Manager for the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world governing body for cycling. She is responsible for the UCI’s initiatives and partnerships with regard to the promotion of cycling for all, collaborating with cities and regions, national federations, NGOs and cycling advocacy organisations worldwide to promote the growth of cycling as both a sustainable form of transport and healthy recreational activity, whilst developing strategies to ensure elite cycling can drive and inspire wider participation and social impact. Isabella previously worked for the International Olympic Committee, involved in the delivery of five Olympic Games between 2006 and 2016.

Dr Natalia Kurek graduated from the University of Nottingham Medical School and is currently the Senior Clinical Lead for the Greener NHS National Programme at NHS England and Improvement.

 Following completion of core surgical training, Natalia joined Professor the Lord Ara Darzi at the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London, as his clinical advisor and private secretary. Throughout her time there she supported with the policy and research developed across the institute, whilst also supporting Lord Darzi directly with parliamentary engagements, and industry collaborations. In 2020 Natalia published a report with Dr David Nabarro, ‘Health in the climate crisis. A guide for health leaders’ which was presented at the World Innovation Summit for Health in Doha.

 She has since joined the Greener NHS team where she contributed to the ‘Delivering a Net Zero NHS‘ report and her current portfolio focuses on delivering sustainable models of care in partnership with the whole NHS workforce, looking at the role that research and innovation have to play in this agenda and the importance of health system resilience to climate change.

Maarten de Fockert was a professional footballplayer at S.B.V. Excelsior until summer 21. He joined the player community in We Play Green, and has been involved in the creation and is also the spokesman and stand in for Morten Thorsby and the foundation. In the Netherlands he works for Team Players using football as a platform for abetter world. Maarten is hosting the Cor Potcast, a weekly show with 3 (ex)professional players who give insight behind the scenes. Besides that they discus social themes such as mental health and climate change. Maarten is also a podcasthost, student in cultural sciences and most of all aguy who wants to make this world a better place.

Lauren Tracy is the Director of Strategic Initiatives for the United States Tennis Association, a not-for-profit organization which serves as the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level — from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. The USTA owns and operates the US Open, one of the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world. Lauren is responsible for executing many of the USTA’s organizational priorities, including the US Open’s award-winning environmental sustainability program, which is uniquely tailored to accommodate the more than 800,000 fans visiting the tournament grounds during the three weeks of the event. For this program, she develops and maintains relationships with the USTA’s environmental partners, handles the marketing and communications, and oversees the program’s overall growth. Since the US Open environmental sustainability program’s inception in 2008, she and her team have increased the event’s diversion rate by more than 200 percent, with plans for continued success in the future.

Lauren also oversees and manages the USTA’s athlete safety program which includes the activities and functions related to the USTA’s efforts to foster safe, healthy, and positive sport environments. Lauren received her B.A. from the University of Delaware and her M.B.A. from Marist College.

As the VP of Sustainability and Transportation for the Seattle Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena, Rob’s responsible for making sure fans can safely, easily, and sustainably access the arena. He’s also in charge of making sure the arena meets its goal to be the most sustainable live entertainment venue in the world. After more than a decade working at Washington’s only public transit advocacy organization, Rob served nearly four years on the Seattle City Council.

During his term Rob was chosen to serve on the Sound Transit board where he helped pass more than $50B in funding for expanded light rail and regional transit service. During his time in office he was also chosen to chair the Seattle region’s transportation committee, responsible for distributing hundreds of millions of federal funds to cities, counties and transit agencies throughout the Puget Sound.

A devotee and former student of Donald Shoup at UCLA, Rob eliminated off-street parking requirements throughout Seattle, dramatically expanded TOD projects throughout the region, and led the largest reform of Seattle’s zoning code in 30 years.

Lise is a Senior Manager in the IOC Sustainability Team since 2016. She worked on the development of the IOC’s first Sustainability Strategy published in 2016 and has since been leading the integration of sustainability in the IOC’s daily operations, with the aim to make the IOC a role model in this area. In particular, she oversees the implementation of the IOC’s climate positive strategy and sustainable sourcing approach, while managing the IOC buildings’ environmental performance, waste reduction plan, mobility plan and staff awareness-raising activities in the field of sustainability.

In collaboration with UEFA, she recently led the development of a study on the environmental impact of look and signage materials, and guidelines to help identify more sustainable options.

Prior to joining the IOC, Lise worked for 15 years as a sustainability consultant at AECOM, BIO Intelligence Service and Deloitte, in France and in the UK. She holds a MSc in Chemical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and a MSc in Environmental Management from Mines ParisTech.

Stefan D. Seidel is Head of Corporate Sustainability at PUMA, a role he has held since 2015. He is responsible for all environmental and social topics of the Herzogenaurach-based sports company. He chairs the Steering Committee of the Fashion Charter on Climate Action and is a board member of the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals initiative.

In addition, Stefan represents PUMA at various industry-wide initiatives, such as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, the Fair Labor Association, or the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles.

Prior to his role as Head of Corporate Sustainability, he worked as PUMA’s Global Team Head of Environmental Affairs and as Sustainability Team Lead in the EMEA region. Seidel holds a master’s degree in environmental management from Oxford Brookes University and a degree in environmental engineering from the Weihenstephan University of Applied Sciences. Prior to his studies, he completed an apprenticeship at Siemens AG, where he was in charge of the regional youth representation.

Federico Addiechi is responsible for sustainability at FIFA.

Federico worked in various capacities in the sports industry before joining FIFA in 2003 to take charge of the CSR and humanitarian activities of world football’s governing body and of its relationship with the United Nations system and non-governmental organisations.

In his role at FIFA, Federico initiated and implemented programmes to address issues ranging from social development through football, education, human and labour rights to climate protection, waste management, accessibility for fans, anti-discrimination and green stadiums. He also contributed to strengthening FIFA’s management system through the integration of sustainability standards, policies and reporting frameworks for FIFA and the FIFA World Cups.

As a former professional volleyball player (Argentinian national team; Italian and Swiss leagues) and through his current role as a board member of the Swiss Volleyball Federation, Federico has an intimate knowledge of the world of sports administration and competition management as an athlete, manager and official. He is member of the Board of the 2010 Legacy Trust, Chairman of the Board of the Daniel Nivel Foundation and Co-Chair of the Sustainability Steering Group of the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Federico has undergraduate studies in engineering from the University of Mar del Plata, Argentina, and in human sciences and philology at the University of Catania, Italy. He holds an Executive MBA from the University of Dallas, USA, and completed the Executive Programme on Corporate Social Responsibility at Harvard Business School, USA. Federico has Argentinian, Italian and Swiss citizenship.

Federico speaks Spanish, English, Italian, French, German and Portuguese and lectures on sustainability and sport at numerous courses, conferences and seminars worldwide, as well as at the CIES post-graduate programme

Milton Kisapai comes from the Oceania country of Papua New Guinea. A national hockey athlete who has been in the sport for development for almost 10 years now.

He started as one of the first athlete volunteers with the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee’s Sport & Environment Program called “Love Your Coast” in 2012. Since 2012, he helped with the LYC program by delivering and facilitating awareness with athletes & officials at different tournaments and competitions.  This led to him being actively engaged with other sport for development programs of the PNG Olympic Committee. But his passion lies with advocating for the environment using the power of sport.

In 2017, Milton was appointed one out of five athletes in Papua New Guinea as Team PNG SDG Champions. This was a partnership between the United Nations in Papua New Guinea and the PNG Olympic Committee to use athletes to advocate and promote the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Milton has so far led, coordinated and mobilized national athletes to be involved in a number of mangrove planting initiatives with key stakeholders in the environment sector in PNG.

Milton is now employed by the PNG Olympic Committee as Programs Coordinator, coordinating all sport for development programs and partnerships of the organization.

He is also a member of the UNESCO Asia/Pacific Youth, Sport & SDG Taskforce, after attending the Youth, Sport & SDG Funshop in Seoul, Korea in 2019. Milton will soon be pursuing his Master’s of International Development Practice with a focus on Sport for Development & Sport Diplomacy at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

Shelley Villalobos is the managing director of the Council for Responsible Sport where she facilitates the certification of some of the world’s most responsibly produced events and stewards the development of tools to help sport organizers achieve the Responsible Sport Standards. The Council exists to support, certify and celebrate social and environmental responsibility in sport and has certified over 175 events. Prior to work with the Council, Shelley served in community outreach roles at the University of Oregon Athletic Department and City of Eugene, Oregon. She holds degrees in Journalism and Communications and Leadership in Sustainability from the University of Oregon, where she also played softball and annually instructs a 10-week course on ‘Greening Sports & Events’ in the Lundquist College of Business.

Tatiana Ghigonetto is the Founder and Executive Director of SportWorks, a business that connects the global sports community, from Lausanne Olympic Capital to the world. Combining an international career in Architecture with her entrepreneurial journey in the sports industry, her mission is to support the sports community to improve both commercially and socially. Sustainability and gender equality in sports are two of her main passions, that she cultivates through the SportWorks TALKS and EVENTS series dedicated to these topics.

Dan Murphy is an ESPN staff writer and author. He works in ESPN’s investigations and enterprise unit, where his work has been recognized with a Peabody Award and an IRE Sports Investigation of the Year award among others. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Jeff Scott is a Sports Management and Corporate Social Responsibility Executive with over 18 years of experience leading community investment and youth sports development strategies and initiatives across the NBA and NHL. Well regarded as a motivational leader who is truly passionate about leveraging sports to create aspirational opportunities for multicultural youth and underrepresented communities, Jeff has consistently established the vision for the way companies must engage local communities.

Currently, as Vice President of Community Development and Growth for the National Hockey League – the premier professional ice hockey league in the world – Jeff supports and creates the leagues mission and strategies which focuses on changing the global conversation about hockey, making it the acknowledged standard for sports experiences that are inclusive, accessible, enjoyable and community-friendly. Through continued efforts, Jeff also positively influences and impacts the philanthropic and community investment decisions of all 32 NHL Clubs, Minor Hockey affiliates and Youth Hockey organizations relating to culture, youth participation, social impact and sustainability.

David Garrido is Sky Sports presenter with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry. He’s passionate about telling sports and sustainability stories on-air, aiming to normalise the conversation around climate and genuinely drive positive change. David recently hosted an electric-vehicle road trip takeover day to launch Sky Sports’ Summer of Sustainability, and he’s just released a football-and-sustainability podcast/vodcast series, speaking to several current and former players who advocate for climate action. David is a long-suffering fan of Sheffield Wednesday in England and, being born to Spanish-speaking parents, he also supports Valencia.

Hannah is Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer for Formula E. After studying Biology at Oxford and Sustainability at Cranfield, she spent the first four years of her career as an accountant with global leader KPMG from 2004 – 2008.

Over the last 12 years she has developed her expertise in the world of media, sports rights acquisition and new ventures. Hannah spent nearly a decade at Sky. During her time at Sky she secured premium sports rights for Sky Sports, led Sky’s investments in new sports ventures and supported the management of Sky’s joint venture portfolio.

She would later serve as SVP of Corporate Development for Relevent Sports Group, a US soccer marketing agency, before assuming the role Chief Strategy Officer for US OTT provider FUBO TV.

Julia Pallé is a leading expert on sustainability in motorsport and the international elite sport industry. As Sustainability Director at the world’s first all-electric motor racing series, Formula E, Julia certified the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship net zero carbon since inception, the first sport in the world to achieve the standard.

Julia is also Sustainability Advisor for Extreme E, the all-electric SUVs series, bringing electric racing to some of the most remote corners of the planet to highlight the climate change challenges faced by different ecosystems. Widely recognised as a leader in sustainability in global sport, Julia is a regular speaker at major events and conferences including COP26, Bloomberg, Sport Positive Summit, and FIA Smart Cities. Her industry roles include President of Sports and Sustainability international (SandSI), an international association of sustainable experts working to broadening and harmonising the international sport and sustainability movement. Before joining Formula E and defining the sustainability strategy, Julia was sustainability executive at Michelin Motorsport. Her primary area of research has focused on Business & Sustainability, Change Management and Project Management especially in Motorsport.

A world champion and paralympic medallist, Alexandra is also a highly motivated sustainability graduate who thrives in a team environment where she can drive her colleagues towards successful outcomes. Alexandra was instrumental in the evaluation of the London 2017 World Athletics Championships and is now embedded into the SailGP team supporting the international league’s event team to delivery across an ambitious sustainability agenda. Season 1 has already delivered significant outcomes and was a close runner up in the 2019 World Sailing sustainability awards.
Alexandra combines her academic knowledge and practical experience in competitive sport and environmental operations. An excellent communicator, she is experienced in public and motivational speaking.

Melissa’s been a part of the GB Rowing Team since 2014 and in March 2020 was selected in their Olympic Squad for the Tokyo Olympics (prior to its postponement). Since April 2020 she’s worked as part of Champions for Earth to increase the impact that athletes can have on sustainability. Last September she helped mobilise over 300 GB Olympians and Paralympians – including household names like Mo Farah, Paula Radcliffe, Steve Redgrave, the Brownlee brothers and Becky Adlington – in a letter to the PM about a green recovery, and since early 2021 has been working to make Team GB’s participation in the Olympics have a net-positive environmental impact. Her main focus is unlocking the power of athletes as role models for sustainability and advocates for the planet.

“Sustainability and environmental protection are systematically anchored in our DNA. For more than ten years, we have been committed to climate protection in the area of CSR and have set ourselves ambitious goals.”

Nico Briskorn has been working as a sustainability expert at VfL Wolfsburg for more than 10 years. Under his leadership, VfL Wolfsburg became the world’s first football club to publish a GRI-certified sustainability report in 2012. The topics range from climate protection and diversity management to child protection and human rights. In various committees and working groups at national and international level, Nico Briskorn contributes his expertise to sustainable football and plays a key role in the development and establishment of industry standards. For example, clubs in the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga went through the “Sustainclub” label together with VfL Wolfsburg in 2020, the first sustainability standard specifically for football. His team includes five employees. Briskorn graduated in 2004 with a degree in sports science.

Tom Gribbin is the CEO and co-founder of Planet Super League. Tom has twenty years experience in sustainability, new ventures, marketing and innovation. His work focuses on behaviour change and facilitating action. Tom has an MBA from the University of Cambridge and has taught Entrepreneurship in the School of Management at UCL. He also spent five years on the board of Nottingham Forest Community Trust.

Andrew Heyes is a GB International distance runner and current doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham in sport and exercise psychology. A British Champion in the 3000m indoors, Andrew is currently the chair-elect at the UKA Athletes’ Commission and sits on the Athlete Commission at UKAD as well as the Social Science Research Expert Advisory Group at WADA. In addition to his current PhD research, Andrew has an MSc in Psychology, an MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology, an MBA, and an MA in Medical Sciences.

Sofi Armenakian currently works for the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena as the Director of Operations and Sustainability. In this role, she is responsible for the conversion, uniform, housekeeping department as well as the venue’s sustainability operation with a special focus on zero-waste operations. Most recently, she was instrumental in delivering the first-ever zero-waste NBA All-Star Game.
Sofi Armenakian currently works for the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena as the Director of Operations and Sustainability. In this role, she is responsible for the conversion, uniform, housekeeping department as well as the venue’s sustainability operation with a special focus on zero-waste operations. Most recently, she was instrumental in delivering the first-ever zero-waste NBA All-Star Game.

Prior to joining the Hawks, she worked as the Conversion and Sustainability Manager for Mercedes-Benz Stadium as part of AMB Sports & Entertainment. During her time with AMB Sports & Entertainment, she was responsible for managing the operations budget of both the conversion department and the sustainability department. In 2018, she created the sustainability department to help start the venue’s journey to becoming zero waste. Part of the journey was the creation and implantation of “Recycle & Win”, a surprise-and-delight engagement with fans who were seen in the act of recycling while attending the venue. ‘Recycle and Win’ was implemented into all events hosted at Mercedes-Benz Stadium from 2018-2020. These events included Super Bowl LIII, the 2018 MLS Cup and MLS All-Star Games, the 2018 College Football National Championship, all Atlanta Falcons games and all Atlanta United games. In addition, the venue hosted various collegiate bowl games and various concerts.

Sofi is a board member at CHaRM (Center for Hard to Recycle Materials) and volunteers with Trees Atlanta and participates in the Green Sports Alliance. Earlier in her career, she worked for ESSEX Consulting Group Inc. as a business development and marketing director, focusing on data-driven sustainability solutions. Prior to energy consulting, she worked in retail as a general manager, district trainer and recruiter.

Sofi recently hosted the 1st certified TRUE Zero Waste event in the world.

She is also trilingual and speaks English, German and Armenian. She graduated from Georgia State University and is originally from Armenia but calls Atlanta home.

Claudia Patricia Galindo Rodríguez, graduated in biology and Master in Conservation and Use of Biodiversity, my purpose is to work in processes of environmental sustainability oriented to the transformation and mitigation of threats to which biodiversity is exposed. I am a high performance athlete in the beach volleyball discipline (Colombian Selection) and through sport, I seek to generate tools that contribute to educational and social processes towards a vision and responsible action on the conservation of biodiversity, climate change and sustainable development

Former professional football player and now co-founder of Hylo Athletics. Hylo is a movement of Athletes for Planet, using materials science to make performance products in a better way.

Dave Lockwood is BBC Sport’s first Editorial Lead for Sustainability, a role responsible for increasing BBC’s audiences engagement and understanding of Environmental issues through sport. Recent projects include: Publication of Premier League Sustainability Tables in partnership with Sport Positive Summit and “Sport 2050” which looked at possible climate impacts on sport 3 decades from now, as well as efforts going on in the here and now to avert them. Prior to this Dave has 25 years experience in the industry, most recently as a Senior Producer with BBC Sport and before that as a Journalist working for BBC News, ITV News and Freelance.

Zeina Hamarsha is a former goalkeeper for Jordan’s Women’s National Football Team. After hanging up her boots, she obtained her bachelor degree in Civil Engineering from The University of Jordan. During her undergrad Zeina worked as a competition officer for the FIFA U17 Women’s World cup Jordan 2016. After graduating, she worked as a civil engineer briefly before returning back to sport but on the managerial side. Zeina recently graduated from the top-ranked CIES/FIFA Master program in International management, law and humanities of sport. During her time at the Master, she and her team participated in the SportPro Media Hackathon, winning third place and the most financially sustainable concept for a project idea that focuses on the idea of future sustainable stadiums. Combining her backgrounds in sports and civil engineering, Zeina is passionate about leveraging technology to make all areas of sport more sustainable.

Arianna Criscione is a former professional football player having finished her career at Paris Saint-Germain where she had a dual role as player and as Women’s Sponsorship Manager for the past 2 seasons at the French club. Previously to joining PSG she played in Italy, France, Sweden, Netherlands and Norway, and earned several caps with the Italian Women’s National Team, as well as appearances in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

She is now the Director of Women’s Football at N3XT Sports and uses her experience and creativity to help football stakeholders to build sustainable and accelerated blueprints that raise the women’s game.

CHARLES DIMMLER is the co-founder and CEO of Checkerspot. Checkerspot designs performance materials at a molecular level. It does this by optimizing microbes to biomanufacture unique structural oils produced in nature, but not previously accessible at a commercial scale. The company is currently commercializing three materials: a light-weight urethane-based composite (Algal Core) and a cast urethane (Algal Wall), both commercialized initially through the brand WNDR® Alpine, as well as algal oil formulated into MiDori® BioWick and sold in partnership with Beyond Surface Technologies to clothing brands worldwide. Checkerspot empowers product designers and innovators, including Beyond Surface Technologies, Gore, and WNDR® Alpine, with better materials to develop improved consumer and B2B applications for a post-petroleum future.

Charles’s career has focused on building and leading teams at emerging growth companies in the life sciences and biotechnology sectors. He has deep expertise in general management and leading strategic transactions, with over $1 billion of completed transactions ranging from public and private financings to joint ventures, licensing, and M&A. From 2008 to 2016, he served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Solazyme, Inc. where he led financings and a range of other strategic transactions, including two venture capital rounds, the initial public offering, two public convertible debt issuances, and project financing for the construction of a commercial scale manufacturing facility in Brazil. In addition to his corporate development responsibilities, he served as Acting General Manager of Solazyme’s personal care business in 2009.

Brita is a seasoned Sustainability manager, with experience from global brands, and has broad experience with managing risk, responsibility, and climate action in global supply chains as well as internal operations. Brita is specialized in building sustainability- and climate strategies by creating broad ownership and clear objectives, and has done so for private enterprises, government departments and international NGOs. She is now an advisor and head of international relations in SALT.

Brita holds an MSc in Business Administration and Development Management as well as a trained Climate Reality Leader by Al Gore. She is passionate about taking care of our common playgrounds while also seeing to make the shift happen on policy levels. She currently resides in the Lofoten Islands, while holding the active role as President for Protect our Winters Europe

Jack Groh is Director of the National Football League Environmental Program and a principal in the consulting firm of US Green Sports. Mr. Groh has been a communications and environmental consultant for more than 27 years and has worked on Super Bowl since 1993. He has been called the “Father of American Sport Sustainability” and, under his leadership, Super Bowl, the NFL annual championship game, has become recognized as the greenest professional sports championship in America.

Mr. Groh also served as Sustainability Consultant for the College Football Playoff National Championship, from its debut in 2015 until 2019.
He has coordinated environmental projects for the US Department of Energy, Argonne National Laboratory, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, the American Solar Energy Society, the State of Rhode Island, the National Clean Cities Coalition and the United States Consortium for Automotive Research (USCAR) – a joint initiative of GM, Ford and Chrysler.

Kristin leads partnerships for the Green Sports Alliance, working with companies, teams and leagues to expand their environmental and social impact. She manages GSA’s Corporate Member Network in addition to sponsors and partners for GSA events, including their annual Summit.

She joined GSA from The Climate Group where she led corporate engagement for North America with companies leading on renewable electricity, energy efficiency and electric transportation efforts in addition to managing partnerships for Climate Week NYC. Her previous roles include working at Bowdoin College as the Sustainability Outreach Coordinator and Assistant Women’s Volleyball Coach, where she led campus initiatives on energy, waste and water, and helped lead the volleyball team to the program’s first NCAA Elite Eight appearance. Kristin also has several years of corporate sustainability experience at Edelman and Thornton Tomasetti.

Kristin holds an MBA in Sustainability from Bard College and a BA in Environmental Studies and Government from Bowdoin College. She also completed the Sport Sustainability Leadership graduate certificate from Seattle University.

Susie is one of the world’s leading proponents of sustainability in sport. She started her career in marine and coastal resource management and since 2001, has brought this experience to the sport’s sector. She has been involved in establishing and delivering sustainability programmes across sport namely carrying out the environmental evaluation of the International and Para World Athletics, developing Liverpool Football Club’s sustainability strategy and implementation of throughout their organisation. creating Sail GP’s award winning Impact League (the first league to reward and recognise sporting prizes based on sustainable impact), and contributing to the sustainability of major events including London Olympic Games 2012, Ryder Cup 2014,  and established Land Rover BAR, Sir Ben Ainslie’s America’s Cup team’s award-winning sustainability programme.

Richard Lindsay is the Business Insights Manager for Birmingham County FA and the Project Lead for the Save Today, Play Tomorrow Programme, the first of its kind sustainability project in the UK looking at how to reduce the impact of grassroots football on the environment & implementing positive achievable solutions for the 1,200 volunteer led clubs that come under their membership.

Peter Gollagher is a researcher and consultant intrigued by sport’s capacity to build climate and community resilience. Peter recently completed his master’s thesis at the University of Melbourne titled “Urban climate resilience and sporting events. A case study of the Australian Open.” In this thesis, he sort to understand how major sporting events in Melbourne, Australia could build urban climate resilience against increasing likelihood and intensity of extreme weather events. Peter and his academic supervisor, Dr Sebastian Fastenrath, University of Vienna, are now working towards publishing this research.

Peter recently joined PwC Australia as an ESG, Sustainability and Climate Change Associate and has relocated to his hometown and 2032 Olympic host city, Brisbane. Prior to this role and masters, Peter spent almost half a decade consulting in stakeholder engagement and social sustainability throughout eastern Australia on a wide range of infrastructure projects. Peter is a trained Climate Reality leader, former schools leader and mentor for World Vision Australia, and will this month conclude this role as the inaugural Chair of IAP2 Australasia’s Young and Emerging Professionals network.

An expert in renewable energies and clean technology innovation, Georgina Grenon obtained an MSc in Chemical Engineering from the Instituto Tecnologico in Buenos Aires and an MBA from INSEAD Business School. She began her career in development at YPF S.A., a national oil company in Argentina. She then took up position as a director at international strategy consultancy Booz Allen, devoting herself mainly to energy and operations and working in Europe, the USA, Japan and South America for nearly ten years. She then joined the Directorate-General of Energy and Climate (DGEC), part of the French Ministry of Ecology and Energy, where she supported the development of renewable energy policies and markets for six years. She also represented France at the International Energy Agency, promoting international cooperation in the creation of markets, innovation and the deployment of clean technologies, playing an active part at COP21 and, among other things, helping to create the International Solar Alliance. She then moved to ENGIE Group, becoming director of the New Business Factory at ENGIE Fab. Georgina Grenon has joined the Organising Committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games as its Director of Environmental Excellence.

Iva Glibo serves as a Committee Member for the Croatian Olympic Committee at ENGSO Youth, the only European organisation devoted to grassroots sport and youth. As part of her current role, she is responsible for the Sustainable Development Working Group. In addition, Iva has a keen interest in mental health through sport and physical activity. During the course of her regular workday, she is a doctoral candidate at the Technical University of Munich, researching sustainable development in international sport through a systems thinking perspective.

Mikaela has over 10 years experience working in the WHS space across a broad range of industries including retail, warehousing and healthcare. As the WHS Manager at Cricket Australia, she is responsible for managing the risks associated with participating in Cricket across a broad range of stakeholders such as players and staff, contractors, our fans, across all events across our Summer. For the past two years, the focus for Cricket in the risk management space has been Playing and Working in Smoke, and Biosecurity.

Neil has held the position of Chief Executive Officer at Bowls Australia (BA) since May 2007.

During his tenure at BA, Neil has spearheaded numerous innovative strategic and operational changes in the organisation, which have impacted positively on the sport of Bowls in Australia. Neil’s focus has been, and continues to be, ensuring the ongoing sustainability and vitality of the sport of Bowls, both in Australia and internationally.

Neil has an excellent understanding of and strong commitment to the myriad health and wellbeing benefits engagement with sport has for all Australians, regardless of gender, background or ability. Neil has an inclusive and pragmatic approach to sports administration. He is strongly committed to organisational transparency and good corporate governance and has been highly successful in his endeavours within Australian sport for nearly three decades.

Katy Tallon plays an operational management role at Bafta albert Ltd as well as looking after the Sports Consortium and Education Partnership. She has a background in both TV production and as a freelance sustainability consultant and holds an MSc in Carbon Management. Passionate about inspiring sustainability at all levels of society, she enables sports broadcasters to recognise how they are uniquely placed to mobilise audiences towards positive action for the planet.

Jennifer Amann recently graduated from the University of Gothenburg with a Master of Science in Global Studies focusing on conflict resolution and sustainable development. Having started to look into the social and environmental commitment of German professional football clubs in 2018, she moved on to explore the potential of football fans in the fight against climate change as part of a research internship with Dr Mark Doidge from the University of Brighton. In her subsequent Master’s thesis she connected literature on mobilising climate action and football fandom to explore football fan communities’ potential to take collective climate action and bring about societal transformations using the UK-based charity Pledgeball as her case.

In addition to Pledgeball’s strategy, Jennifer’s research feeds into, for example, Spirit of Football’s The Ball journey, which aims to highlight the unequal impacts of climate change and possible solutions around the world. She’s a member of the Sport Ecology Group’s Graduate Mentorship Programme and has recently taken on the coordination of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Environmental Working Group.

Michael Gaughan is working with Transport for West Midlands as Spectator Transport Manager, Active Travel and Accessible Transport for the next Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Michael has more than 10 years experience developing transport systems for major events in the UK and internationally.

Michael has worked across the full spectrum of event transport; developing transport systems for athletes and games family, workforce and spectators. He has taken his experience to work on the next Commonwealth Games to deliver an active travel strategy that builds on existing programmes and services to create an innovative and integrated active travel programme.

Sarah Hanffou, President of Ping sans Frontières (NGO created in 2006) is a French-Cameroonian with PHD in Public Law – Attorney in France. Her other sporting achievements include:
Team France:
Participation in the London Olympics and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics (Team Cameroon)
Participation in 7 World Championships
Ambassador of the International Table Tennis Federation Foundation (ITTF Foundation)
Member of the Athletes Commission of the International Table Tennis Federation
Member of the Incubator Paris 2024 / AFD
Team Cameroon:
African Champion 2010 – Team Bronze Medal 2010
Participation in the London 2012 Olympic Games
Silver medal at the 2019 African Games
Qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games
3rd place in the African Top 16 2020

She is also an Officer (captain) in the French Army (Land army) during 5 years (currently reservist).

Geert is Founding Director and Board Member of Sport and Sustainability International (SandSI) where he spearheads the development of two programmes: Football4Climate and the Sustainable Sport Lab.

He worked for the past two decades in both the private, public and sport sector. Since 2012, he worked with 40+ different international sports organisations on projects in the areas of sustainability and education, including the IOC, UEFA, FIFA, FIBA, FIVB, World Rugby, professional sports leagues (US), cities and six (Youth) Olympic Games Organising Committees. He also (co-) authored several books and won the Peace & Sports Award for the project “From Refugee Camp to the Rio 2016 Olympics”.

He is based in Lausanne and currently works as Chief Engagement Officer with The SHIFT, a group of purpose-driven entrepreneurs in sport, sustainability and innovation.

In the past few years, he (co-)authored a variety of books and studies on sport and sustainability with a focus on the Olympic Games and International Federations. He is member of several advisory boards, co-founder of the Republic of Sport and vice-president of the Swiss Korfball Federation.

As a good Dutchman, he daily commutes by bicycle to work and like to practice nearly every sport that involves a ball.

Dr. Madeleine Orr is a sport ecologist at Loughborough University London, where she is the Program Director for the MSc Sustainable Sport Business. She is the founder and co-director of The Sport Ecology Group, an international consortium of academics who drive climate action in the sport sector through research and public education initiatives. Orr’s research examines the impacts of climate change on sport, with a focus on resilience and adaptation. She recently authored the ‘Sport for Nature Report’ for UNEP, and is recognized as a global thought leader in sport. Her research has been covered in global news outlets including ESPN, BBC, Reuters, and Time Magazine, and she has been named to the Environmental Educators 30 Under 30 list by NAAEE (2020), the 30 Under 30 in Sustainability list by Corporate Knights Magazine (2020), and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list (2021).

Marisa Schlenker (USA /GER) – Community and program manager at the Yunus Sports Hub. With more than seven years experience in the sport for development sector, she has worked as a trainer, program manager, partnerships coordinator, gender specialist and more recently in monitoring, evaluation and learning roles.

She has a masters in sport for development and conflict resolution from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and is finishing her second masters at Konstanz University in Public Administration and Political Science. She has worked on many sustainability in sport research projects, is a member of the Sport Ecology Graduate Mentorship Programme, provides programme support to SandSI’s football4climate initiative and most recently joined the Sustainability Reference Group of the International Biathlon Union.

She is engaged in the FARE Network’s LGBTQI and Ethnic Minority Women in Football working groups. In 2018- 2019, she was the lead researcher of the EU funded Global Goals World Cup Erasmus + project.

A professional snowboarder and entrepreneur with passion for culture of going up and down the hill. At the heart of my lifestyle is movement, through which I find a connection to nature. With my own work, I want to highlight he different possibilities of moving around in nature and encouraging people to believe their own stories.

Having started life and his early career as a professional footballer, his move off the pitch saw Simon delve into the world of sustainable solutions.

Simon joined Veolia 13 years ago, where he has worked in a variety of Sales Manager roles before beginning his current position of UK Regional & Local Sales Director in March 2019. As well as the local and regional sales and account management teams, he also has responsibility for customer experience. Simon’s private development teams support Veolia’s 60,000+ UK customer base, with an annual revenue portfolio of over £256m.

Simon is committed to driving sustainable innovation and supporting customers to reduce their carbon footprint, alongside developing circular projects and their journey towards ecological transformation . He is a passionate supporter of creating a more sustainable sporting landscape for the future.

Helen has worked in Sports broadcasting for over 20 years. She started at Sunset and Vine covering the Channel4 Cricket and Channel 5 football output.

A couple of years at Sky New Zealand followed before she joined Sky Sports in 2006. Helen is now Sky Sports Director of Multi Sports, was shortlisted for a WST ‘Ambassador for Women’s Sport’ award in 2018 and is a member of the Sky Sports Content Sustainability group, championing environmental issues within Sky Sports coverage.

She is a keen netball and tennis player and has 3 daughters.

Meegan is an event sustainability professional focussing her efforts on using the power of events for positive action while also ensuring that events themselves are produced sustainably.

Credits include Sustainability Manager for Festival Republic (Glastonbury, Reading, Latitude Festivals, UK), Live Earth Greening Guidelines, project consultant for the UNEP Music & Environment Initiative, sustainability strategy for Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, and external assessment of ISO 20121 for Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. She was recently Sustainability Programme Manager for Volvo Ocean Race 17/18 and with their award winning Clean Seas programme.

The third edition of her book Sustainable Event Management: A Practical Guide was published in Dec 2017 by Taylor & Francis and is an adopted text for many university degrees in event management.

In 2018 Meegan authored the guide to avoiding single-use plastics at sporting events. She has also contributed the sustainability chapters to books Routledge Handbook of Festivals and Festival and Special Event Management.

She was a sector expert in the global working groups developing the GRI Event Organizer’s Sector Supplement and ISO 20121. She is founder and chair of the Sustainable Event Alliance and has trained more than 1000 events organisers in sustainable event management through 40 local governments.

As Ambassador and former CEO of Forest Green Rovers Football Club, Helen has played a key role in FGR becoming “the greenest football club in the world” (FIFA), the “world’s first UN certified carbon-neutral football club*”, and first and only vegan football club. She has extensive experience in running environmentally sustainable projects, partnerships, certification programmes (organic), campaigns and events – with a previous career in the food industry.

Her aim of the day is to share some valuable insights into the behavioural change impacts EFL Community Trusts are having (and can have) on their immediate and wider community as they fulfil their new role of championing environmental sustainability.  Helen also runs the charity, Sustainability in Sport, putting Sustainability at the heart of Sport – a friend of the Summit.

*The Club is signed up to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) initiative called “Climate Neutral Now”

Oluseyi Smith BEng MSc OLY is a retired two-time summer (London-2012) and winter (Pyeongchang 2018) Olympian in Athletics and Bobsleigh. He remains involved in sport as a member of the IOC’s Sustainability & Legacy commission, as a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, and is an IOC Young Leader. Oluseyi is passionate about renewable energy research and projects, one of which is Racing to Zero (https://www.racingtozero.ca) which he developed through his IOC Young Leader mandate.
This project combines sustainability best practices with expert knowledge in grassroots, local, volunteer-run athletics meets.

Amalia is a marine scientist and outdoor enthusiast. She is passionate about conservation and bringing people together to increase ocean access and to protect the ocean. She is the Community Manager at I AM WATER Ocean Conservation, which uses the sport of snorkeling to protect the ocean

Ahmed Al-Shahrani was involved in a motor vehicle accident when he was 17, which caused paraplegia. Living with a physical disability for the last 16 years has not stopped him from pursuing and living a meaningful and fulfilling life. Born and raised in USA, his formative years and western education has served to bridge the gap between the East and West.

Ahmed was Accessible Qatar’s Ambassador for mobility impairment from 2016 to 2018 and organised and curated various events for the initiative. He has taken part in numerous community road accident awareness campaigns and has spoken in schools and colleges on the importance of road safety. Ahmed’s faith and positivity are the source of his strength, empowering him to defiantly refuse to be defined by his disability. He believes himself to be ‘Disabled but Definitely Able’ – as summed up at the Definitely Able conference.

Ahmed is active and energetic, and plays a number of sports such as wheelchair basketball, tennis, fencing, swimming, skeet shooting; and in 2016 participated in his first marathon. He launched the first fencing classes for wheelchair users in Qatar under his role as an Accessible Qatar Ambassador.

Linh Do is passionate about climate justice and social inequality. She’s spent the last decade working across advocacy and engagement, media and social enterprise. Linh is currently the Director of the Wattle Fellowship at the University of Melbourne and a board member at Climate Action Network Australia.

In the lead up to the Paris negotiations, she served as the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Verb. There she worked with a global team to localise and humanise stories from the UN climate change negotiations. Linh was most recently Australia and Pacific lead for The Climate Reality Project, Al Gore’s climate change leadership program, and brought over 800 people together in Brisbane during Climate Week Queensland.

Linh has worked with a wide array of individuals from high school students to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Reuters Foundation. She is a co-founder of the technology start-up OurSay, formerly led the community organising program at the Australian Conservation Foundation and has worked with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on communicating policy.

Linh is signed with Claxton Speakers and has previously sat on both non-profit and for-profit boards. Her work has been featured in Al Jazeera, Vogue, the Huffington Post and the Washington Post amongst others. She is a member of Global Shapers, an initiative of the World Economic Forum.

Rony Epelbaum is a young professional and former student-athlete from Mexico with a love for sport and nature. He earned a BSc in Sport Administration from the University of Miami in Florida, USA, and recently completed a semester of graduate study in Sustainable Development at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

As a young professional, Rony has collaborated with several sport stakeholders such as Olympic Games Organizing Committees (OCOGs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), Sporting Federations (IFs), as well as professional athletes. His most recent project focused in the development and implementation of an Olympic pre-Games training camp in Tachikawa, Japan with 150 participants from 30 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of the Americas, in preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Through these collaborations, he developed first-hand awareness of sport’s potential to become a powerful catalyst for positive change.

In 2021, Rony founded Sport For The Wild, an initiative to design innovative and multilateral collaborations that value the influential power of sport to promote biodiversity conservation and rewilding.

Dr Jessica Murfree is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sport Management, and an Accountability, Climate, Equity, and Scholarship (ACES) Faculty Fellow at Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on the effects of climate change on sport, namely the social and legal implications of extreme weather and climate risks, as well as environmental injustices faced by historically marginalized groups in sport and recreation. Her research has informed organizations like the UNICEF’s Global Youth Network Summit on Sports for Climate Action, Texas A&M Athletics, Climate Week NYC, the Green Sports Alliance, and Ocean Conservancy. Her work coincides with membership in the Sport Ecology Group and the Sustainability Committee for the North American Society for Sport Management. 

Benjamin Tembo is the Character Development Coordinator at Ascent Soccer Academy in Malawi, South East of Africa. He is passionate about working with young people and building future leaders that are not only educated and ethical, but also aware of environmental sustainability. He graduated from The Masters University in California with an International Business Degree in 2019 and played four years of collegiate soccer.

Nevena works as communications and public affairs consultant at BCW in Brussels, working on sports and politics. She is part of the #BeActive team, managing the European Week of Sport’s communication campaign for the European Commission. Nevena is one of the co-founders of the Green Sports Hub Europe, pioneering sustainability efforts for European sports through the positive engagement of the multi-stakeholders.

Over the past ten years, she had an executive/advisory role within different sports bodies: ENGSO Youth, International School Sport Federation, and UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific Youth and Sport Task Force, always at the forefront for giving youth a real say in sports. She has worked on the international development programmes for the Olympic Committee of Serbia and served as General Secretary for ENGSO Youth.

Nevena is connecting the dots across sectors. She is the specialist for strategic partnerships, specifically interested in climate diplomacy, digital diplomacy, and intercultural dialogue with empowered youth and girls at the heart of it. Nevena is UNAOC’s and UNMGCY’s alumni.

Nevena holds a master’s degree in international affairs and politics (University of Belgrade), Mini MBA (WPP), and is currently obtaining an executive certificate in Strategic Management of Innovations (HEC). After her sports career in athletics (running 400m) she pursued her passion for biking, beach volleyball, and water sports.

Matthew Campelli is a journalist, strategist and communicator specialising in sport and sustainability. He is the director of sustainability for Touchline and editor of The Sustainability Report, a platform that showcases leadership, strategy and innovation related to sport and sustainability.

Matt Hill is the founder and Chief Environmental Evangelist at reforestation nonprofit, One Tree Planted. After over 15 years as an educator, business leader, and eco-adventurer, he wanted a simple way to help individuals and businesses make real progress towards a more sustainable planet. He started One Tree Planted when he realized that planting trees is one of the simplest things we can do for the environment, while also having a big impact on biodiversity, climate change, and health. That’s where the idea for “one dollar, one tree planted” originated, and the rest is history.

Still a relatively young organization just entering its 7th year, One Tree Planted has grown quickly, planting over 10 million trees in 2020 alone, and creating education, awareness, and engagement around the importance of trees along the way. Restoration initiatives range from forest fire recovery in California to agroforestry in Africa and habitat expansion in Indonesia. All this is made possible thanks to support from donors, environmentally conscious business partners, and sports organizations. Matt spent two years working with the Buffalo Bills in the NFL and taught Sports Marketing at John Molson School of Business, so sports is an area he’s very passionate about. As a father and nature-lover, Matt wants to make sure future generations can enjoy the great outdoors, and planting trees today will help bring that vision to life

Mie Kajikawa is an award-winning social entrepreneur and a social responsibility consultant for sports teams and leagues in Japan. With experience with the NBA’s Detroit Pistons and high profile sports charity events such as NBA’s Basketball Without Borders and Michael Jordan’s Senior Flight School, Mie has worked for Japan’s newly integrated pro basketball league to grand-design its “B LEAGUE Hope,” the first-ever league-wide social responsibility initiative in Japanese sports, suggesting the uphold of the SDGs with promotion of “Off-Court Three-Point” concept, which encourages fans to take actions targeting Planet, People and Peace.

She currently helps pro basketball teams in Japan, mainly for B LEAGUE’s top team Chiba Jets Funabashi to establish and implement its SSR initiative “Jets Assist,” which includes innovative circular economy project that collects old T-shirts from fans and players to create new ones to transform memories of the Jets’ community into the hope of the future.

Mie is also active in the non-profit space, serving as Founder and Representative Director of Sport For Smile, the first-ever platform in Japan to use sport as a social change, and has led projects collaborating with UN and World Bank as well as being funded by FIFA’s official NGO partner.

Roger McClendon is the Executive Director of the Green Sports Alliance. In his role, he leads the Alliance of international sports and stadium executives, as well as sustainability experts, to use sports as a vehicle to promote healthy, sustainability communities throughout the world

McClendon is a results-driven executive with deep global experience in the development and deployment of engineering innovation and sustainability/supply-chain management strategies for domestic and international operations.

Prior to this role, he was the first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer for Yum! Brands, Inc. Roger created corporate social responsibility strategies, global environmental policies and restaurant sustainability development standards and implemented them company-wide, making the company the second largest developer of green restaurants in the world. He ensured all brand restaurants operated efficiently and minimized environmental impact through innovation, helping the company be named to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index and among the Top 100 Best Corporate Citizens by Corporate Responsibility Magazine (2017). Earlier at Yum!, Roger was Senior Director YUM Global Engineering and Facilities, Restaurant Excellence for Yum Restaurants Global – A&W, KFC, Long John Silvers, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, responsible for developing the standards, strategies and tactics to ensure global quality standards, engineering standards and operational standards.

Roger has held a number of roles and board positions, including positions with the University of Louisville Speed School of Engineering, Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, Habitat for Humanity, Louisville Sports Commission, Kentucky Minority Business Council, and McClendon Institute for Learning Community Outreach Programs.

Roger’s other passion is basketball. He was a McDonald’s All-American in 1984, one of the top 25 high school basketball players in the nation and went on to be a four-year starter who closed his University of Cincinnati men’s basketball career as the No. 2 scorer, second only to Oscar Robertson at the time. He was inducted into the UC Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.

Dr Sheila Nguyen was recognised as an Australian Financial Review Top 100 Women of Influence (2019) for her leadership in galvanising the sport industry to protect and respect the natural environment.

Sheila has been involved in the sport and climate movement for over 15 years as an advocate, researcher, and in governance roles on various boards and advisory committees.

Sheila is the Co-Founder and a Non- Executive Director of the Sports Environment Alliance (SEA), the coalition of sport & planet leaders in Australia and New Zealand working to protect the places where we play so we can continue to do what we love- watch and play sport.

She is currently the proud Head of Sustainability for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.

Russell Seymour is a pioneer in Sustainability and Sport in the UK. With an academic background (with degrees in Ecology, Environmental Sciences and Biodiversity Management) Russell started work in the sports sector through a convoluted career path. He soon realized that the sport sector had significant environmental impacts, was being impacted by environmental changes and, importantly, had an opportunity to raise awareness as a trusted, non-partisan ambassador by using the powerful influence of sport on participants and fans. Working at Lord’s Cricket Ground as the first Sustainability Manager at a major UK sports venue, Russell integrated sustainability principles into business functions across the venue.

With this in mind, he set up BASIS (the British Association for Sustainable Sport) in 2010, with the intention of bringing together like-minded individuals at all levels of sport, to share ideas, experiences and strategies around sustainability. Russell recently became Chief Executive of BASIS.

Russell is a visiting lecturer in Sports Management at Loughborough University and in Event Management at the University of Greenwich; he sits on two British Standards committees on Organisational Change and Sustainable Development and Sustainability, Sustainable Consumption and Production; and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Sport Ecology Group. He was also presented with the London 2012 Sustainability Ambassadors Award for his contribution towards a sustainable Olympic and Paralympic Games.