2026 Speakers

Laura Lahiff is Sustainability Lead at Munster Rugby, where she has spent five years working alongside leadership to embed sustainability into the culture, decisions and the story of one of European rugby’s most storied clubs.

In 2025, Munster’s Sustainability Report won the Sport Positive Award for Report of the Year, travelling from pitch to classrooms to international climate forums – cited in the updated UN Sport for Climate Action Framework. It still ripples because it was honest, took people on the journey, and borrowed the emotional arc of a sport season – the highs, lows, setbacks and comebacks – to make sustainability feel like something they already knew.

With a background spanning engineering, construction project management, and post-disaster recovery across New Zealand and England – alongside an MSc in Environmental Sustainability – Laura brings a technical and practical eye to sustainability. The balance she navigates: being honest about where things stand, while staying clear-eyed about where they could go.

Driven by curiosity and creativity, she is passionate about sport’s ability to drive change at scale, and believes this isn’t a stretch from sport’s identity, but a return to it. The work is translation: bringing sustainability into the language sport already speaks – resilience, performance, legacy, connection – and trusting that when those conversations come alive, something shifts.

Zach Ruiz is the Sustainability Manager for the Miami HEAT and Kaseya Center, where he leads organization wide environmental strategy. His leadership has earned recognition across waste reduction, energy efficiency, water efficiency, ESG strategy, and community engagement.

Since joining the HEAT, the arena has increased its annual waste diversion rate from ~6% to more than 50%. Initiatives include expanded recycling and compost programs, reduced fan-facing single-plastic and back-of-house sorting.

In addition to waste reduction, Zach champions community impact and resiliency through new regional environmental initiatives. This past season the Miami HEAT and Kaseya Center have supported local community partners that work with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, coral reef restoration, green space restoration, sea turtle conservation and food waste education.

Ann developed Golf Ireland’s Sustainability Action Plan for 2024-2027 and this was formally launched at Golf Ireland’s National AGM in March 2024.

Since then Ann, together with the Board, Senior managmenet the National Sustainability Committee at Golf Ireland have been leading, supporting and assisting both the organisation and its 379 affiliated clubs on their sustainability journeys.

Ann has over 30 years business experience and is a business and finalnce speicalist from Killarney, who brings a wealth of business and sustainability experience with her and was part of the first cohort of executives to complete a Masters in Sustainability Business Development at Trinity College. She has also qualified as a non-executive director with the Institute of Coporate Governances and gained a distinction in a diploma in Sustainable Finance from UCD/IOB.

Dr Jan Breitsohl is Associate Professor in Digital Marketing at the University of Glasgow, with 13+ years’ experience researching social media conflict, online harms, digital wellbeing, brand purpose, and values-led communication. He helps sport organisations understand how sustainability and social value messages are received online, why they sometimes trigger fan criticism or Fan-to-Fan conflict, and how to respond in ways that protect wellbeing, credibility, reputation, and commercial outcomes. Jan works with brands, charities, football clubs, and governing bodies to develop science-based tools for campaign pre-testing and backlash response. Using social media analysis and experimental methods, he measures real effects beyond likes and sentiment, helping organisations communicate their values with confidence and harmonise rather than polarise.

Attorney, author of the book Compliance in Football, specialist in Compliance, Anti-Corruption Law and Public Administration Control from FDV, and in Regulatory Compliance from Penn University.

He currently serves as Compliance, Data Protection & ESG Officer at Atlético Mineiro SAF, President of the Ethics Council of the Brazilian Triathlon Confederation, and Professor in the Graduate Program in Governance, Risk Management and Compliance at FDV.

He previously served as President of the Compliance Committee of the Brazilian Bar Association – Espírito Santo Section, and as Undersecretary of Internal Control and Audit for the Municipality of Vitória/ES. Named one of the most admired compliance professionals in Brazilian companies by the Compliance On Top Awards.

Sam Mattis is a 2x Olympian in the discus throw for Team USA. He grew up in New Jersey, and after tripping over a hurdle in his first race, found the discus and hasn’t put it down yet.

After graduating cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, he turned down an offer to work on Wall Street to pursue his dream of becoming an Olympian. Since becoming a professional athlete, he has made two Olympic teams (Tokyo and Paris, with his best finish being 8th in Tokyo), won multiple national championships and just broke the American record this year.

Off the track, he’s gone from working odd jobs, to working for start-ups, to starting a small business himself, and has become passionate about sustainability. After a wake up call reading David Wallace-Well’s Uninhabitable Earth, he has decided to use his platform as an athlete to advocate for sustainability and to dedicate his second act to a career in sustainability. He is an EcoAthlete’s Champion, a World Athletics Champion for a Better World, a member of World Athletics’s Sustainability Management Review Steering Group, and has spoken at COP about the impact that athletes can have in the fight against climate change.

He also recently joined The Long Game as the Athlete Relations Lead to amplify athlete voices to help drive sustainable behaviors, lifestyles, and cultural change. He’s currently training to make his third Olympic team and learning as much as he can to transition to a career in sustainability once his athletic career ends.

Ioannis is currently an FNS researcher at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland and has worked in research roles at the University of Innsbruck and ETH Zurich. He is, also, a sustainability advisor at Sportad, Founder of The Sports Footprint, a sustainability consultancy that has been awarded the Prince’s Trust Global Sustainability Award for Europe, having a notable and diverse list of clients from the sports industry. Ioannis is a Board Member at the European Association for Sport Management (EASM) responsible for safeguarding and sustainability and has also, developed several educational courses in sport and sustainability for organisations such as the Football Business Academy, the International Olympic Academy and the Athens University of Economics and Business. He has taught across sport management degrees in various universities and institutions across Europe.

As NASCAR’s Head of Sustainability, Riley Nelson develops, directs and champions the motorsports league’s first comprehensive environmental sustainability strategy, including oversight of 15 racetracks, seven office locations, 1200+ employees, and 20+ events that draw millions of attendees annually. She was a leading voice behind the sport’s first public-facing sustainability goal – net zero operating emissions by 2035 – and the formation of NASCAR IMPACT. Additionally, she helped secure the company’s first NASCAR IMPACT partnership in global electrification leader ABB; published the sport’s first IMPACT report; launched composting, reuse and expanded recycling programs across events; and built the renewable energy strategy for 60K+ MWh of electricity per year. She was named to Sports Business Journal’s 2024 class of New Voices Under 30 and was included on SBJ’s Ones to Watch in Sustainability list in 2023. Based in Denver and originally from Boston, Nelson received her MBA in Sustainable Innovation from the University of Vermont and BA in Sport Management from the University of Michigan.

Julia Vergueiro is a Brazilian entrepreneur and sports industry leader dedicated to advancing opportunities for girls and women through sports. She is the co-founder of Nossa Arena, Latin America’s first women-dedicated sports complex, and co-founder of the Instituto Nossa Arena, a nonprofit organization that uses sports as a tool for empowerment, health, and social inclusion in underserved communities. For over a decade, she has led initiatives that combine sports, education, and community development, creating pathways for thousands of girls and women to access opportunities both on and off the field.

Rishi’s current position as Director of Impact, sees him being responsible for leading his organisation’s approach to sustainability through the lens of equality, diversity and inclusion and environmental sustainability.

Having worked in football for over 20 years, he has an expert understanding of successfully integrating strategy into businesses and ensuring positive change. Rishi is responsible for The Red Way; Liverpool Football Club’s holistic strategy that encompasses the clubs plans across all areas of business operations and ensuring that sustainability is embedded throughout. Rishi is a driving force for change and successfully works with colleagues and business leaders to ensure progress.

In 2022, Rishi presented at the United Nations in New York City at the launch of the UN’s Game Plan: a document implementing a plan of action to counter hate speech through engagement with sport. He has continued to work in partnership with the United Nations and multiple international organisations to implement this work across the US, UK and beyond, as well as featuring at multiple COPs and New York Climate Week.

In 2023, Rishi was named on the Pride Power List, and has previously been named on the Global Diversity List as a Top 20 Diversity Professional. His work led has to wide-ranging recognition at the European Diversity Awards, North West Football Awards, Inclusive Companies Awards, Sport Industry Awards and most recently, from Front Office Sports. In 2024, his work has been recognised externally no less than six times with recognition from inside and outside of sport, including at the Global Sustainability and ESG Awards where The Red Way was named as ESG Programme of the Year. He has worked consistently to lead the organisations he’s worked for to be awarded with the Premier League Equality Standard Advanced Level on multiple occasions, and the internationally recognised ISO20121 standard.

Prior to joining his current role, Rishi has held roles at Manchester United, Kick It Out and The FA’s Inclusion Advisory Board, where he has worked throughout his career to make a positive impact across society.

Jamie’s thirteen-year rugby career saw him captain his country on the international stage. He has played fifty-nine international sevens tournaments for Scotland and is their second highest try scorer of all time. He won Twickenham Sevens back to back in 2016 and 2017, has been to two Commonwealth Games and two World Cups and is a European Games silver medalist with Team GB. He has also played for Cambridge University in the Varsity match.

Alongside playing, Jamie is a leading voice in the sport and sustainability space. He co-wrote a letter to World Rugby demanding environmental action signed by hundreds of professional players and gaining international media attention. He then worked with his own union to galvanise sustainability action and helped set up an ESG group which baselined current activity and workshopped sustainability aims from which to write a sustainability plan. Jamie’s research at Cambridge University has focussed upon sport’s role in influencing the uptake of sustainable technology amongst fans in the transition to a net zero economy, and he has used his platform to speak about sport’s responsibility in light of the climate crisis and the positive impact it can and should be having.

He has spoken at COP28, Global Sports Week, Sport Positive, COG-X, and at the Hong Kong sustainability summit. He has also spoken on podcasts such as High Impact Athletes, Emergency on Planet Sport, the ESG engagement podcast and has co-presented an hour-long BBC radio show on sustainability at the Rugby World Cup. Jamie has picked up awards as the International Olympic Committee Sustainability Ambassador award winner, Mastercard’s Future XV of those shaping the future of rugby, and is sustainability ambassador for Scottish Rugby and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games

Danielle Doza is the Vice President of Sustainability and Environmental Services for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rock Entertainment Group, the first dedicated senior level sustainability position in the NBA. At the Cavs, Danielle works across the company on sustainable operations, procurement, and reporting, supporting the marketing and communications teams, and integrating sustainability into partnership development. Danielle was previously recognized by Sports Business Journal as “One to Watch” for women in sports and sustainability and as a “Notable Leader in Sustainability” by Cleveland Crain’s Business.

Prior to joining the Cavs, Danielle was a corporate sustainability consultant as the co-founder of a small firm, where she helped manufacturing and consumer product companies with sustainability strategy development, reporting, and project-based challenges.

Danielle is a graduate of The Ohio State University and Cleveland State University College of Law. She received an executive certificate from the University of Pennsylvania Center for Social Impact Strategy.