Speakers

Margot Foster AM BA LLB OLY has a storied and distinguished background in sport and sports leadership as a director, governance specialist and former elite athlete who formerly practised law.

Margot’s roles on sports boards and committees began at university and have since extended to state, national and international bodies, with both government and private appointments.

Whilst at university she took up rowing in the third year of her five-year Law/Arts degree rowing for the Melbourne University Boat Club, then Victoria and Australia over a 10 year period. During that time she represented Australia at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic team winning a bronze medal in the women’s coxed fours and later at the 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games winning a gold medal in the women’s eight where she was the stroke of both boats. She, with her crew, remains the reigning Commonwealth Games champion as the event has not been held since – and is very unlikely to ever be! She also competed at World Championships, though with less success. Whilst competing at the highest level she ran her own legal practice providing the necessary balance to enable her to do her best in both spheres.

The combination of her elite athlete experience and legal knowledge provided the springboard for future roles on boards and more recently her specialist governance leadership focus.

At present Margot is Vice President of Motorsport Australia, Chair of Sports Environment Alliance and Chair of Election Panels for each of World Athletics and World Sailing. The latter two are concerned with the integrity and ethical conduct of the quadrennial board/council elections held by these International Federations and it is the responsibility of the committees to oversee the behaviour of candidates and compliance with the respective rules designed to ensure fair play.

Her former directorships and committee positions include the Australian Sports Commission, Sport New Zealand, Rowing Australia, Rowing Victoria, Unisport, Melbourne 1996 Olympic Bid, Victorian Women’s Trust, the inaugural AOC Athlete’s Commission, Melbourne University Sport, Gymnastics Australia, Trinity College University of Melbourne, Great Ocean Road Coast Committee, VicHealth, Sports Integrity Australia, World Rowing, Vicsport, Womensport Australia and the Olympians Club of Victoria among others.

Since (happily) ceasing to practice law Margot has brought together the myriad components of her background to found her business Boardroom Excellence Australia which provides practically focused governance training for boards and individual directors. She works with a wide variety of organisations, not only in the sports industry, and has an online training course The Boardroom School suited to both aspiring and seasoned directors. The underpinning principle of the program is that confidence through governance knowledge leads to board table influence and excellence in decision-making.

For something different Margot has, for longer than she knows, because she didn’t count from the start, been hosting quarterly lunches for women who work in sport through her Women of Sport Australia Network. One of those lunches is the annual and famous Blokes Lunch, which men can attend only if invited by a woman and so long as they comply with and adhere to certain Rules. 2025 will see the XVIIth edition of this must-attend occasion.

Margot was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2015, received the ANZSLA Contribution to Sport Award in 2011, was named a Fellow of Trinity College University of Melbourne in 2017, holds an Award of Merit from Gymnastics Australia, is a member of the Rowing Victoria Hall of Fame and became a Life Member of the Melbourne University Boat Club in 2024.

Ed Sanders is the Chief Commercial Officer at Cricket Australia.

He spent the bulk of his career as a senior executive at Google in London, New York and Silicon Valley, before returning to his native Australia in 2024.

He has extensive global commercial and marketing experience across a variety of fields including sport & entertainment, technology, entrepreneurship and law.

He has an MBA from INSEAD in France, and undergraduate degrees in Arts (Honours) and Law from the University of Sydney.

Leanne Bats is a dynamic leader at the intersection of sports, technology, and innovation. As the Head of Digital Innovation at Sport Waikato, she continues to push the boundaries of what's possible in the sports industry. Her impressive career includes pivotal roles such as ex-Head of Digital Innovation at NZ Rugby and ANZ Regional Partner of FC Barcelona, where she orchestrated the club's expansion into youth populations.

Leanne's expertise spans across various sports domains. She currently advises in the innovation space for League Expansion Teams, Women's Football, Table Tennis, and Thoroughbred Racing, bringing fresh perspectives to each discipline. Her leadership extends to roles such as President of The RugbyDAO and board member of Blockchain NZ, positioning her at the forefront of emerging trends in sports technology.

As an entrepreneur, Leanne has co-founded cutting-edge ventures such as: Athleisure, a media platform producing content on the future of sports, and 4TH-KIT, a next-generation fan engagement tool powered by Generative AI and co-creation.

Leanne's diverse experience and innovative approach make her a valuable voice in discussions about the evolving landscape of the sports industry.

A much-respected voice in Australian sports media, Liz has forged a career as a thoughtful advocate for womens sport and a thought-provoking commentator on the wider sporting and social landscape. Proving her versatility, Liz is equally at home coaching her daughter’s junior netball team and working on her family farm, as she is in front of a television camera, behind a microphone or sitting on a company board.

In 2024 Liz was appointed to the Netball Australia Board, and was voted Chair soon after. She is passionate about advocating for netball and women’s sport, and her newest role is testament to her desire to give back.

In her playing prime, she was one of Australia’s highest profile elite athletes and ranks as one of Australia’s most successful netballers. She played an incredible 15 continuous seasons with the Australian Netball Team, the last four as captain. Liz led the team to a World Cup victory in 2007, the tournament which marked her retirement.

Liz’s career highlights include three World Championship gold medals, two Commonwealth Games gold medals and four national premierships with the Sydney Swifts, the team she led for eight years. To cap all this, Liz was named Australia’s Most Valuable Player on four occasions.

In 2009, Liz became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Australia Day Honours and in 2018 she was elevated to an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to netball as an elite player and coach, through support and advocacy for young women, as a contributor to the broadcast and print media industries, and to the community.

Liz has appeared on numerous television and radio programs as a general sports commentator and presenter, including the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and 2006, 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games. Liz was a popular winner of the 2023 series of Channel 10’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and she appears regularly on The Project on Channel 10.

Liz has authored three books, Playing The Game – A Guide to Playing Netball, Netball Heroes, and one close to her heart, If At First You Don’t Conceive – Your Friendly Guide To Tackling Infertility.

She has an Arts/Law degree from Macquarie University and practised in Property and Infrastructure for a leading Australian firm. Liz has served on various boards including the Australian Sports Commission, NSW Institute of Sport, Sydney Olympic Park Authority and Players Voice.

Nina Walsh is the Global Leader, Industry Business Development for Media & Entertainment, Games and Sports (MEGS) at AWS. Nina is an industry leader in her field, drawing from 20 years in M&E, spanning broadcast, radio, sports, and content production. Nina joined AWS in 2020 to lead M&E strategy for the Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ) region. Her role increased in scope to lead all MEGS industry specialist business development teams globally. Prior to AWS, Nina held senior leadership roles in business operations, strategy, commercial, creative, and technology. She led large-scale digital transformation and strategic growth programs for Tier 1 Film and Television production studios in the US, Canada, and Australia. Nina has held production, technology, and leadership roles across some familiar industry brands including: Company 3/Method, Encore Post & VFX, NHL, AFL, MLS, Bell Media, Deluxe, and Animal Logic. Nina is an experienced public speaker, representing AWS at events globally, speaking on business transformation, modernization and impact, and building high-performing diverse teams with culture and purpose at the core. Nina is passionate about supporting and advancing women in media and technology and supports several industry bodies. She is a Board Member and Mentor for RISE Australia & New Zealand chapter, a Mentor for AWS’ She Builds Program (4 years running), a supporter of the Australian Women’s Film Festival (AWFF), and Women in Screen & Entertainment (WISE). Nina holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Sydney, and is a member of industry association, the Visual Effects Society (VES).

Robert D. Manfred, Jr. was elected as the 10th Commissioner in the history of Major League Baseball on August 14, 2014 by vote of the 30 Major League Clubs. He officially became the sport’s leader on January 25, 2015. On July 26, 2023, Club owners again re-elected Manfred to another term through January 25, 2029.

Since Manfred began as Commissioner, two labor agreements have continued MLB’s streak of uninterrupted play on the field since 1995, an unprecedented span of at least 31 consecutive seasons. In a landmark transaction in 2017, The Walt Disney Company acquired a 75% stake in BAMTech, a leading technology platform and video streaming company created by MLB. In 2022, the sport’s revamped joint Competition Committee approved a series of historic changes to rules, which followed several years of fan polling and experimentation in the Minor Leagues. The fan-driven steps that debuted in 2023 have dramatically improved pace of play, increased action and allowed for increased athleticism on the field. The average time of a nine-inning game in 2023 (2:40) decreased by 24 minutes from 2022 and 30 minutes since 2021, and MLB had its most stolen bases in a season since 1987. The 2023 season produced a +9.6% boost in attendance over 2022, the sport’s best year-over-year increase since 1993.

Manfred has overseen the development of closer relationships with youth baseball and softball organizations and has allocated new resources toward improving MLB’s presence in the amateur ranks. Under his leadership in 2015, MLB launched its signature PLAY BALL youth engagement program, which has resulted in meaningful increases in baseball and softball participation, per the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA). Baseball and softball again combined to be the most participated sport in the United States among kids ages 6 to 12 with more than 6.5 million participants. In the first five years after the start of PLAY BALL, casual participation in baseball increased by nearly 90%.

Manfred has prioritized sustaining the game’s international growth, including through global events like the 2023 World Baseball Classic. In 2016, MLB returned to Cuba for the first time since 1999 as the Tampa Bay Rays played an historic exhibition game vs. the Cuban National Team on March 22nd at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana, jointly attended by President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro. In 2018, MLB staged regular season games in Puerto Rico and Mexico. In 2019, MLB opened its regular season in Japan, played multiple series in Mexico, and held an historic June series in London, which were the sport’s first games ever played in Europe. MLB has also taken the game to non-traditional domestic locations with groundbreaking events in recent seasons at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, home of the Little League World Series; and in Omaha, Nebraska, home of the NCAA’s Men’s College World Series. In August 2021 and again in August 2022, MLB held a regular season game at the famed Field of Dreams site in Iowa, celebrating the beloved baseball film. The 2021 White Sox-Yankees contest was MLB’s most-watched regular season game since 1998. In 2024, MLB played its first-ever regular season games in South Korea with a season-opening series and, the day after Juneteenth, held a tribute to the Negro Leagues by playing a game at Birmingham, Alabama’s legendary Rickwood Field, where Willie Mays played as a teenager.

In 2020, Manfred oversaw the successful completion of a season impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, prioritizing health and safety in its operations and creativity on and off the field. MLB became the first sports league to start and finish a season during a pandemic, doing so in its home markets as a powerful visual example to fans of a responsible return to the workplace. The 2020 season included a streak of 59 consecutive days without a positive test among players; a positivity rate of 0.05% among Major League players and staff; and a schedule with 99.8% of its 900 games played, missing only two games that had no Postseason ramifications.

Prior to being elected Commissioner, Manfred had served as MLB’s Chief Operating Officer since 2013, managing the Commissioner’s Office in New York on behalf of Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. From 1998-2013, Manfred served as Executive Vice President, overseeing labor relations, economics and league affairs and directing all collective bargaining with the MLBPA. Competitive balance has been a hallmark of MLB the last two decades, as there have been 15 different World Series Champions in the last 22 seasons, the most variety of champions in professional sports during that span. In addition, no Club has repeated as a World Champion since 2000, an active streak that is the longest in the history of not only MLB, but all professional sports. Manfred also represented MLB on all upgrades to the game’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, the toughest in American professional sports.

Under Manfred’s leadership, MLB has formed core partnerships with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the Jackie Robinson Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer. In 2020, Manfred corrected a longtime mistake in the game’s history by conferring Major League status on the Negro Leagues, allowing future generations to more easily learn about this pivotal chapter and its meaning to the sport. Manfred has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sports Lawyers Association and the Partnership for Clean Competition. He currently serves on the Board of DREAM, a nonprofit that uses the power of teams to inspire youth to recognize their potential. In April 2016, Manfred received the Judge William B. Groat Award from his alma mater, honoring outstanding professional achievement and service to Cornell’s ILR. In November 2017, Manfred received the Jacob K. Javits Lifetime Achievement Award from the Greater New York Chapter of the ALS Association for MLB’s efforts against Lou Gehrig’s Disease. In 2021, Manfred established MLB’s new annual Lou Gehrig Day to continue the game’s support in the fight against ALS.

Manfred is a 1980 graduate of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) at Cornell University. In 1983, he received his law degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an articles editor of the Harvard Law Review. Manfred was a part of the Labor and Employment Law Section of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP, and became a partner in the firm in 1992.

Manfred, a native of Rome, New York who was born in 1958, has been married to his wife Colleen since 1982. The New York residents have four adult children.

In July of 2019, Cathy Engelbert was named the first-ever Commissioner of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and is charged with elevating the sport of women's basketball and leading a multi-dimensional business transformation.

Stepping into the role of WNBA Commissioner, Cathy executed a historic player-first Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2020 which tripled the pay of top players and provided an array of progressive benefits. She has built and socialized a new economic framework to drive league growth and stakeholder success. Cathy led the longest tenured women’s professional sports league in the U.S. through its 25th anniversary season and through the COVID-19 pandemic over her first two seasons at the helm. Cathy then raised $75M capital from outside investors to fund league transformation projects and establish the WNBA as a premier sports and media property, and recently finalized a historic set of media rights agreements that has significantly raised the bar for women's sports.

Prior to the WNBA, Cathy retired as the CEO of Deloitte in June of 2019, after 33 years with the firm. Elected as Deloitte CEO in 2015, she was the first woman CEO in the history of a Big Four professional services firm. In her role as CEO of Deloitte, Cathy led the largest accounting and consulting organization in the United States with more than 100,000 professionals.

Cathy is a member of the Board of Directors of McDonald’s Corporation, Royalty Pharma, and the USGA Executive Committee. She also serves as the Vice Chair of the Partnership for New York City and is member of the Business Council, Council on the Foreign Relations, and Catalyst, a global non-profit organization that promotes inclusive workplaces for women.

She has been listed as one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women for four consecutive years, was ranked on Glassdoor’s annual Employees’ Choice Awards honoring the 100 Highest Rated CEOs, and is one of Fast Company magazine’s Most Productive People. In 2021, Engelbert was listed on the Forbes’ ‘50 Over 50’ list and Adweek’s ’40 Women to Watch’.

Cathy received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Economics (Accounting) from Lehigh University. She has two children — earning her the recognition as one of Working Mother magazine’s 50 Most Powerful Moms for three years.

Ian has worked in the sports media business for almost 30 years. For the last 23 years he has worked primarily within Media Rights at Formula One. Following Liberty Media’s acquisition of the company he was appointed Director of Media Rights where he manages the licensing of the Group’s Worldwide rights. More recently Ian assumed responsibility for overseeing F1’s digital content production and the commercialization of Formula One’s own digital product including F1 TV. Ian is also responsible for, and an Executive Producer of the hugely popular Netflix series; ‘Drive to Survive’. Prior to Formula One, Ian worked at Kirch Sport, Prisma and ISL Marketing.

Tayah Bot is a senior Sports Administration Executive with over 15 years’ experience in marketing and commercial. Having worked with some of Australia’s leading sports clubs, Tayah harvests a particular passion for leading transformational projects, and start-ups.

Currently the Chief Marketing Officer at Storm Group, Tayah is responsible for the marketing and customer portfolios at Melbourne Storm and Sunshine Coast Lightning. During her tenure at Storm Group, Tayah has been instrumental in driving numerous strategic initiatives; playing a pivotal role in establishing the Lightning Commercial program from its inception and spearheading the launch of the Women of Storm initiative.

Prior to joining Storm Group, Tayah held positions at the Brisbane Lions, Gold Coast Indy 300, and was an inaugural staff member of the Gold Coast SUNS working specifically on the team’s launch into the AFL competition in 2011.

With a Bachelor of Business and an MBA from Griffith University, Tayah is passionate about continued learning and developing future leaders. Her recent role as a Lecturer at Federation University in the International Sports Management program demonstrates her dedication to sharing knowledge and nurturing talent.

Her leadership style is marked by positivity and a love of problem solving, complemented by passion and creativity, rendering her an ambitious and resilient leader.

Sandra Sweeney is the Lead Partner of Deloitte’s Australian Sports Practice.

Sandra has spent many years working closely with high profile sports organisations and across the broader Australian sports landscape to help her clients understand and respond to the rapidly changing environment in which they operate. She now leads a team of SMEs that reach across the sports ecosystem supporting organsations across a range of areas including:
Technology and Digital Engagement
Strategy and Performance
Infrastructure and Capital Projects
Major Events Delivery
Climate and Sustainability

With a background in marketing and technology, Sandra's expertise stretch across customer experience - looking at problems and opportunities with a customer, marketing and commercial lens, and technology - looking at problems and opportunities with a transformative and change lens.

In her spare time, Sandra competes as a member of Canberra Rowing Club, where she is President. Sandra also sits on the Board of AFL Sports Ready.

Spencer is an experienced executive with nearly 20 years’ experience across the sport, media and entertainment industries.

As Executive General Manager at Netball Australia, Spencer’s portfolio is responsible for driving audience growth and optimising the customer experience across all customer touchpoints; from grassroots participation, the Suncorp Super Netball league and the world champion Australian Diamonds. Spencer also oversees the strategic broadcast relationships which resulted in a ground-breaking broadcast and digital rights deal with the Foxtel Group back in 2022.

Spencer joined Netball Australia from News Corp Australia where he spearheaded transformative audience projects including the launch and execution of the digital paid content strategy for the metro mastheads in Victoria, and the growth of SuperCoach to over 1,000,000 participants in 2014.

Spencer has a unique blend of commercial and customer expertise that enables businesses to identify, adapt and mobilise towards strategic growth initiatives that drive outcomes throughout the whole business.

International news journalist and broadcaster, Tracey Holmes, has focussed her career on geopolitics and culture. Much of her work is viewed through the prism of sport, as it is an international language understood by most people in the world.

She has worked for global media organisations such as CNN, CGTN, RTHK, and Dubai Eye, and is recognised in Australia for her work across the ABC, SBS, Foxtel and Channel 7.

As a professional listener, Tracey puts her guests at ease eliciting deeper responses that give more meaning to complex issues and ideas. Her long form interviews and perspectives have influenced those in the most powerful decision-making roles in world sport.

She has interviewed thousands of people across the globe, from those who are homeless to kings, presidents, and celebrities, always extracting something unique.

Currently she hosts The Sports Ambassador podcast, is Professorial Fellow in Sport at the University of Canberra, a Council member for Indigenous Football Australia, a board member for the Oceania Australia Foundation, a mentor for the International Olympic Committee’s Young Reporters program, and an Ambassador for the Australian Museum and the Chappell Foundation for Homeless Youth.

Her work has twice won the prestigious international gold trophy presented by the International Sports Press Association (AIPS), was awarded the Women in Sport Award in 2020 by the IOC, and in 2023 she was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Australian Sports Commission.

Peter Filopoulos is a dynamic leader with over 20 years of rich experience in transforming sports and entertainment brands into powerhouses of excellence. His leadership, innovation, and strategic acumen have left indelible marks across an array of professional clubs, national and state sporting associations, major stadiums, advocacy organisations, and major events.

Known for his fearless approach to challenges and his relentless commitment to success, Peter has transformed some of Australia's most iconic brands, unlocking significant value and creating lasting impacts. His tenure as CEO, C-Suite Leader, and Board Member has seen organisations such as Perth Glory (2015 -2018), Football Victoria (2018 – 2020) and Football Australia (2020 - ) reach their peak potential.

One of Peter's most notable accomplishments as CEO of Football Victoria is his instrumental role in securing an unprecedented $400M in Government funding for Victorian community grassroots football facilities and infrastructure, including the creation of the $116M "The Home of the Matildas" at La Trobe University, Melbourne – the largest football-specific infrastructure project in Australia’s history.

As Chief Commercial Officer at Swimming Australia (2014 – 2015), Peter's forward-thinking leadership steered the Australian "Dolphins" Swim Team's rebranding and as Head of Sales, Marketing and Communications at Marvel Stadium (2007 – 2014), was the drive behind the innovative $20M connected stadium strategy. He has also successfully negotiated multimillion-dollar commercial and sponsorship arrangements across various roles, reflecting his acumen and the breadth of his professional network.
His influence and expertise extend beyond the sporting field. He has served as a board member at Vicsport, and as an ambassador as a Change Our Game Champion with the Office of Women and Sport & Active Recreation. Additionally, he was invited to join Cisco's prestigious Sports, Media, and Entertainment Global Customer Advisory Board and was selected for the elite FIFA Executive Program in 2022.

Renowned for his passion for innovation, business transformation, customer growth, and operational excellence, Peter consistently delivers ground-breaking results. His reputation for bridging the gap between business, government, and sport, coupled with his extensive industry network, has made him an invaluable asset in the sports and entertainment sector.

Today, as a key member of the executive leadership team at Football Australia, in the role of Head of Marketing, Communications and Corporate Affairs, Peter continues to inspire teams towards achieving sustainable growth. His unwavering commitment to success and passion for making the impossible possible are testaments to his remarkable leadership.

Peter is more than a successful executive; he is a visionary who is reshaping the future of the sports and entertainment industry.

Peter is Carbon Neutral’s National Development Manager and brings a diverse background in sales, marketing, and relationship management to the role. Peter currently looks after the sustainability relationship within Carbon Neutral with organisations such as Manchester United and Fremantle Football Club.
Peter provides valuable insights into how companies can maximise their sustainability credentials and has worked within a wide range of sectors including sport (West Coast Eagles (AFL), the arts (Perth International Arts Festival), Fundraising, Disabilty & Manufacturing (Westcare), public relations (Wilkinson Media) and more.
He is also a highly qualified professional with three degrees including an MBA, a Postgraduate in Marketing and Bachelor of Business (Banking and Finance).

Angela Tanoesoedibjo started her career in the government sector in October 2019 as the Vice Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia. At the time of her appointment, Angela was the youngest Vice Minister in the Indonesian Cabinet at 32 years old.

Before her involvement in the government sector, Angela has an extensive career in the financial, retail, media, and digital industry for eleven years.

She founded a publishing company in 2008 which she acted as the Editor-in-Chief. In 2013 she expanded her career to retail business with international multi-brands under her portfolio while co-managed the largest Indonesian pay-TV business. In 2014, Angela started her career in the free-to-air business as the Managing Director of Global TV. She then successfully rebranded and led the TV station into the top 5 terrestrial TV stations in the nation.

Her excellent record brought her to a new position as the Managing Director of RCTI, the biggest terrestrial TV station in Indonesia. She led their digital transformation and launched an entertainment super app in 2019.

In 2023, Angela was appointed as Asian Paragames Chef de Mission, where she led 130 Indonesian National athletes to participate in Asian Paragames 2023 in Hangzhou China. Under Angela's leadership Indonesia secured Top 6 position, exceeding the achievement target. In addition, the Indonesian contingent also managed to break 13 records, eight Asian Para Games records, three Asian records, and two world records.

As the Vice Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Indonesia, she oversees national projects, including several National Economic Recovery programs for the tourism and creative economy industry, particularly for the hotel, film, culinary, crafts, and fashion sectors.

Vanessa is currently the chief operating officer at Kukua, a Kenyan-based educational-entertainment company that has a primarily female executive team. The company created the first African animated superhero series – Super Sema, of which she is also the executive producer.

Originally from Jamaica, and raised in Canada, her professional career kicked off as a fashion model when she was 14. She then enrolled into the University of Toronto where she studied biology and eventually continued her education at Oxford University in the U.K.

With a master’s degree in tropical medicine, Ford then ventured to Africa to start a documentary, focused on HIV and its impact on the indigenous population. While here, she also worked as assistant producer on the Marley Africa Road Trip documentary.

She travels often between Nairobi, Kenya and Portugal, where she currently resides.

Matt has been with Tennis Australia for nearly 10 years; first as Senior Legal Counsel, then as Head of Major Projects, now as Director of Sustainability.

Since October 2021, Matt has led Tennis Australia’s climate action strategy: “Maximum Play, Minimum Footprint”, in support of TA’s commitment to the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework.

Emma is a creative disruptor who uses her 25 years’ experience in media to change the narrative on gender inequality in sport.

In 2020 she established Making The Call, a pathway program from women in sports broadcasting, in collaboration with her business partner and sister Lucy Race. Making The Call boasts 80 graduates, of which 73 (91.25%) have contributed to the sports media landscape since graduating and 34 (42.5%) who have graduated to work in multiple sports media roles. Making The Call is supported by Change Our Game and is changing the story in sports broadcasting in Victoria.

Emma is the co-founder and host of The Outer Sanctum podcast and radio show which launched in 2016. The Outer Sanctum changed the conversation on football and the group led national conversations on gender equity, feminism and human rights in sport. The huge following of the podcast created a community of footy fans online and in the outer that had rarely engaged in the code before.

Consistently named in the Top 50 most influential people in AFL over several years, Emma is also the #1 Ticket Holder for the Hawthorn Football Club and was selected for the inaugural Our Watch Walkley Fellowship and the AIS Executive Program for Women Leaders in Sport.

She is an experienced MC and orator, and designs and delivers public speaking workshops to corporate clients and is known for her professionalism, reliability, humour, warmth and inclusive style of communication.

Emma is a mentor for the Melbourne Press Club and the Minerva Network and has served on the board of The State Sports Centre Trust.

Rana Hussain, the visionary founder of her organisation, Good. Human is a pioneering force in sports administration and media. A fervent advocate for social inclusion, she stands as a distinguished Inclusion & Belonging leader, driving change with passion and purpose. Rana leverages her expertise to advise on leadership, culture, inclusion and belonging. Her impactful contributions extend beyond organisational realms, encompassing Board roles with the Victorian Women’s Trust and Reconciliation Australia. As a consultant and administrator, Rana has worked with major sports brands the likes of Cricket Australia, the Australian Sports Commission, several AFL Clubs and other NSOs to name a few. A regular presenter on the ABC, Rana's multifaceted talents in writing, presenting, and broadcasting make her a dynamic and influential figure, bringing humour, kindness, and thoughtfulness to every endeavour.

Mitch Jones has worked in sports digital media for the past eight years in sporting clubs (North Melbourne Football Club) and broadcasters (Channel Nine and the Herald Sun) in a variety of roles, with a passion of creating bespoke creative content that appeals to a range of audiences on various social media platforms.

Dr Martin Rice is a Research Director, Climate Council of Australia, which is Australia’s own independent, evidence-based organisation on climate science, impacts and solutions. Martin led the Climate Council's project on Climate Change and Sport.

Previously, Martin was a Programme Manager for the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) in Kobe, Japan. The APN is an intergovernmental network that promotes policy-oriented research and capacity-building activities related to global change in the region. He then moved to Paris, France as Coordinator for Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP). The ESSP is a global interdisciplinary program with joint projects on the carbon cycle, global water system, human health and food systems.

Martin holds a PhD from Macquarie University, and he has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, books and reports and has appeared on tv, radio and in newspapers talking about all things climate change.

He is an avid sports fan and currently serves as a Strategic Advisor for FrontRunners.

Rob is an accomplished executive with over 30 years of industry experience spanning sport, major events, business events, tourism & destination marketing, venue management, economic development, and aviation.

Rob’s professional career started with surf lifesaving in South Australia before heading to Sydney to manage the professional Ironman/Ironwoman circuit which lead him to join SOCOG (Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games). As a senior member of the venue operations team, he become Venue Manager for the Sydney Superdome (now Qudos Bank Arena) for the Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games. Rob returned to Adelaide following the Games, to lead Events SA’s (part of the South Australian Tourism Commission) events portfolio which included the Santos Tour Down Under, International Horse Trials and Classic Adelaide Rally along with leading the host city agreement for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He went on to become SA Rugby’s first CEO where he secured the rights to host a round of the IRB Sevens in Adelaide.

Following Rugby, Rob moved to the world of AFL where he held executive roles at the SANFL, Port Adelaide and Glenelg Football Clubs. Ambition and sun lured Rob and his family to Brisbane where he joined the Brisbane Economic Development Agency initially to lead the Convention Bureau before being promoted to COO. Rob has since tasted the world of aviation as Chief Commercial Officer with Alliance Airlines before taking on a consultancy role with AusCycling to lead a review into their events portfolio. Rob joined MI Global Partners as CEO in July 2023.

Building a reputation for being driven, building teams and developing strategy to deliver tangible outcomes, his areas of expertise include strategy design & execution; personal & professional development; operational planning & process improvement; change management & organisational realignment; galvanising teams around united purpose; stakeholder engagement; and marketing & brand strategy. Rob is also an accredited facilitator and has chaired or participated in several taskforces across the sport, tourism and related industries.

Core to Rob’s journey to date has been resilience and embracing a growth mindset, always seeking ways to improve the organisations he has worked with and leaving a positive impression on peers and colleagues.

Outside of work, sport is Rob’s passion. As an accomplished surf lifesaver and canoeist in his earlier years - he’s swapped the paddle for a bike in his later years enjoying competing in masters cycling or simply hitting the trails with friends on his gravel or mountain bike.

David has over 12 years of sport executive leadership experience in softball, golf, football and cricket, driving creative and innovative solutions to increase commercial and participation growth, financial performance, strong high-performance outcomes and positive cultural change.

He is An entrepreneur who develops and implements innovative strategies, drawing on expertise in marketing, communications and business development solutions to result in revenue growth of up to 50% annually. David is also a communicative leader who inspires by acting with integrity, demonstrating exceptional work ethic and delivering – or over-delivering - on commitments. I build trust to harness teamwork and create a values-based culture that has the best interests of the sport and its people at its core. He is a respected and invested leader in Australian sport with an extensive network of professional relationships to draw on for the good of Australian Hockey, including with the AIS, Sport Australia, AOC and State government bodies.

David is a commercial expert with extensive experience in attracting, negotiating and executing major deals worth up to $10.5M with global brands. A proven leader in facilitating a “one sport” mindset, enhanced governance structure and processes in consultation with State and Territory stakeholders and peak Australian sport partners.

Dr Sheila Nguyen's 20 years of professional life can be understood as service to our natural world- via sport. For her work, Sheila was given the Honorary Lifetime Member award from the British Association for Sustainable Sport (BASIS) and recognised as an Australian Financial Review Top 100 Women of Influence (2019).

She has contributed to research, SXSW 2023, TEDx 2015, & COP21 in Paris (2015), the first-time sport has been invited to the climate agreement discussions. Sheila was the invited Chair & MC for the Sustainable Innovations in Sport Forum in Amsterdam (2018) (Ajax Stadium) and was the co- MC and Chair for Sport Positive, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Sport for Climate Action Framework signatories supported forum every year since its inception.

Sheila is on a number of boards and advisory committees including as an Independent Director on the World Lacrosse Sustainability Committee, member of both the technical and revision committees for ISO 20121: 2012 Event Sustainability Management Systems, and recently served as a judge for both the British Association for Sustainable Sport (BASIS) Awards 2023 and SailGP’s Impact League Awards 2024.

She successfully delivered the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Sustainability Strategy as the tournament's Head of Sustainability, and is the Co-Founder and an NED of the Sports Environment Alliance, 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.

Rita Nehme is a sustainability, social impact, and governance professional working at the intersection of sport and sustainability. She is currently the Head of Sustainability at Richmond Football Club, where she leads the Club’s Environmental and Social Sustainability strategies and initiatives. Rita developed and is implementing the Club’s inaugural Environmental Sustainability Action Plan, a first in the AFL industry, as well as the Club’s Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan.

Rita was also recently involved in the FIFA Women’s World Cup as the Sustainability Manager of the Perth venue. There, she led all sustainability initiatives and measures spanning environmental sustainability, human rights, anti-discrimination, and accessibility.

Rita is a board member of Midsumma Festival, Australia’s premier LGBTQIA+ arts and culture organisation. She has also been appointed by the Victorian Government's Office of Women as a Change Our Game Ambassador to champion inclusion, diversity, and equity for women in sport, her primary focus being culturally diverse and LGBTQIA+ women.

Justin Rodski was appointed CEO of Melbourne Storm in February 2021.

Justin joined Storm after spending ten years with Victorian AFL club, Essendon FC, where he was most recently Chief Commercial and Customer Officer.

With a background in media and sports journalism, Justin is an experienced sport executive with established credentials, is well respected in the industry and has a great understanding of what it takes to run a high performing club in a highly competitive market.

Justin led many successful strategic initiatives in his time at Essendon and has played a significant leadership role delivering key commercial growth, strategic priorities and building a stronger member and fan base.

Rebecca (Bec) Haagsma is an experienced senior executive with over 20 years experience leading teams in the media and telecommunications industries. She was appointed Chief Product Officer of Nine Entertainment Co. in July 2022. In this role, Rebecca leads the product organisation across Nine Entertainment Co with a focus on the streaming, publishing, audio and commercial digital product suite. Nine is Australia's leading publisher and has television, streaming, newspaper, radio, real estate, motoring and digital news properties in the portfolio.

Before returning to Nine, Bec spent 7 years at Telstra in a number of senior executive roles, leading Global Strategic Partnerships, Devices and the telco's Media interests across sports and entertainment rights and streaming. Prior to this, she spent 7 years in leadership roles across the wider Nine business, leading the 9Now business and product launch in early 2016, and including Head of Mobile, Head of Product for the ninemsn range of digital businesses. Bec has also held senior Digital roles at ACP Magazines, the global B2B publisher, Reed Elsevier. Her career started in the Museum and Heritage sector, where she focussed on marketing and publishing.

She holds a Master of Arts degree (Political Science) from the University of New South Wales, and in 2018 completed a Global Women in Leadership Strategic course at Harvard Business School. In 2023, she graduated from the Australian Institute of Company Directors course. Bec is a very proud mother, grandmother and companion to her dog Monte, and in true product fashion, often prioritises them.

Unmish is Founder & Executive Director of Picture Board Partners, a Singapore-based strategy & communications practice dedicated to Sport, Media & Gaming. A Design Thinking practitioner, he triangulates content, code & capital to curate solutions that drive sales, brand or equity appreciation. Founded in 2019, the client roster spans sport (ICC, PTO, BWF, WTT, AFC); technology (Dolby, Nielsen, Microsoft), gaming (Twitch, Nodwin, Gamifly), startups (NIUM, ONE Championship, Amagi, Quidich), governments (Singapore, India, Saudi Arabia) and institutional investors (Apollo Global, Jungle Ventures, Center Court Capital).

In a past life, Unmish held leadership roles at IMG Media, BBC Technology, ESPN STAR Sports, News Corp., and the International Cricket Council (ICC) whilst living & working in Singapore, Dubai, London, Johannesburg, New York and Delhi, where he was born. A self-confessed Cricket Tragic, he played for Cambridge, is an accredited member of the Singapore Institute of Directors and Board Chairman of the GoSports Foundation in Bangalore.

Dr Jeremy Nguyen is an AI and machine learning researcher, co-leading a multi-disciplinary team researching AI and human interactions. His AI work has been featured in Forbes, in a soon-to-be published AI textbook from O'Reilly, and has been quoted by the president of OpenAI himself. A contributor to the Sport Innovation Research Group at Swinburne University, he helps businesses, sports teams, and digital entrepreneurs implement machine learning and AI to solve business problems. In his spare time, he is also a screenwriter on an upcoming Disney+ show.

DR STUART MORGAN is the Head of Machine Learning & Technology at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Canberra. Dr Morgan received his PhD in 1999 from Swinburne University of Technology (SUT), Australia, in sensory neuroscience. He worked as a sports analyst at the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) before commencing as a machine learning specialist, leading the Data Analytics Unit at the AIS, developing next-generation game analysis techniques.

Dr Morgan has worked with numerous high-profile international teams including the Australian Women’s Hockey team at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, and has consulted to Tennis Australia, and Cricket Australia as well as numerous professional football teams in all major codes.

Dr Morgan designed and launched the Masters of Sports Analytics graduate program at La Trobe University in 2017, a program that was unique and first-to-market. He has written dozens of research articles in computer science and sports analytics, and was co-author of the winning paper at the 2016 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, with “The Thin End of the Wedge”. His current work is in the development of artificial intelligence algorithms for computer vision and large-scale data analytics in sport.

Across 15 years Hannah has forged a reputation as a passionate, eloquent, and accomplished brand and marketing leader who combines a data driven approach with empathy and nuance to deliver unique strategies, award winning partnerships and integrated campaigns with measurable impact.
Working with every major sporting code in Australia and advising blue chip brands such as Nissan, ANZ, AIA and Medibank, Hannah’s ability to combine creativity with commercial acumen made her the natural choice to spearhead the APAC expansion of global tech wellness giant Therabody.
In her current role as Head of Marketing for Netball Australia, Hannah drives the overarching brand architecture, equity, and marketing strategy for netball products from the grassroots to the elite, including Woolworths NetSetGO, Suncorp Super Netball and the Origin Australian Diamonds.

It is in this role that she is boldly challenging preconceived ideas and stereotypes of female athletes and netballers, with her 2023 Diamonds campaign Unfinished Business recognised at the recent Australian Sports Commission media awards.

Professor Matt Kuperholz is an accomplished Artificial Intelligence scientist and advisor with a wealth of experience applying AI to real world client challenges spanning over 3 decades. He has dedicated his career to applying AI to address real-world challenges for clients, driven by a passion for optimising humanity with technology. Matt is the director of Champion Data Labs – established in response to the swift progress rapid pace of evolution in the analytics and AI field as a testament to our dedication to innovation across all business divisions. This new division serves as an experimental hub for advanced analytics techniques, aiming to pioneer new products and services in sports, wagering data, and analytics sectors. Matt is also a Professor of Practice for The Centre for AI and the Future of Work with Deakin University and has previously been the Chief Data Scientist for PwC Australia (10 years) as well as the Advanced Analytics leader for Deloitte Australia (8 years).

For more than 30 years, Matt has been involved in delivering analytics assignments that utilise client data to gain deep insights into their customers and markets and has done this for over 40 of the ASX top 50 clients applying AI to deliver business value. Starting in 2017, Matt lead the development of PwC’s global offering in Responsible AI and has been focused on pioneering solutions with government and private enterprise for the complex issues associated with AI ethics, performance management and governance both in Australia and internationally.

Dr Kasey Symons is a Lecturer of Communication - Sports Media at Deakin University. Kasey's research focusses on sports media, women in sport and fan culture. She is also a sports writer and co-founder of the women in sport media collective, Siren Sport.

Associate Professor Kim Toffoletti is a Sociologist at Deakin University, where she co-leads the Women in Sport and Exercise Hub. She is internationally recognised for producing innovative research to address gender disparities in sport media and fan cultures, as well as informing strategies aimed at enhancing women’s sport participation.

Hamish is a seasoned television executive who leads the programming team at Nine's television division and is responsible for managing the content slate across Nine & 9Now. In this role, Hamish works closely with the programming team to commission and acquire compelling content for the network, ensuring that Nine remains a leader in the Australian television landscape. Throughout his nearly two-decade tenure at Nine, Hamish has held various senior programming positions, including Director of Acquisitions. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Media Studies from Monash University.

Alistair was appointed Cricket Australia’s Head of Big Bash Leagues in July 2019 and is responsible for all aspects of League management, strategy and growth across the BBL and WBBL. He joined CA after a 14-year stint at the Australian Football League in a variety of senior roles in marketing, participation, strategy and fan engagement. Alistair holds a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) from Monash University.

Raelene is the Group Chief Executive of Sport New Zealand and High Performance Sport NZ.

She joined Sport NZ in December 2020, and was appointed Group Chief Executive in April 2022. Prior to this, she spent seven years working in Australia as Chief Executive of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and then Chief Executive of Rugby Australia. She was previously Chief Executive of Netball New Zealand from 2007 to 2013.

Before beginning her career in sports administration, Raelene built a successful corporate career in communications, sales and marketing. This included general management and other senior roles at Telecom New Zealand (now Spark), Bank of New Zealand and Fuji Xerox.
Raelene has held several governance roles in sport, previously serving as a board director of the ANZ Championship Netball, International Federations of Netball Associations, SANZAAR Rugby and the World Rugby Council.
She also has a rich sporting background as a former representative-level netball, tennis and lawn bowls player.
Raelene was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in 2015 for services to Business and Sport.

Alex Hamilton is the Chief Event Operations Officer and is responsible for leading the operational delivery of a world class event experience at the Australian Open and Summer of Tennis.

Alex grew up in Ottawa, Canada and came to Australia as backpacker in 2004. She completed law school at University of Melbourne and started her legal career at Gadens before moving on to Hall & Wilcox to support the establishment of their Property, Planning and Construction team.

In 2012, Alex made her move into the world of sports law, taking a role as Legal Counsel at Tennis Australia, where she specialised in media rights, sponsorship and intellectual property, facilitating commercial outcomes while managing commercial risk. Alex subsequently moved out of her legal role into a strategy role with the CEO, where she assisted in the implementation and acceleration of the overall strategic objectives of the organisation. After a few years, Alex moved into the Event Operations team at TA, taking on the role of Head of Event Operations for the AO. She then took on the role of Director of AO Operations, before being appointed into her current role as Chief Events Operations Officer.

Alex has a law degree from the University of Melbourne and an Honours BA in Sociology, with Minors in Psychology and Criminology, from Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, QC.

Kim Anderson has built a reputation on crafting bold ideas into tangible outcomes. From a successful World Cup bidding campaign, to propelling the FIFA Women’s World Cup beyond greatness, Kim has been a creative and strategic force behind some of Australasia's most iconic recent sporting and cultural memories.

With a 20-year career spanning New York, London, Sydney and Auckland, Kim has spearheaded marketing and brand strategy for some of the world’s most innovative brands across the design, social impact and sport sectors, including TEDxSydney and Smart Design. As a keynote speaker she shares her expertise on topics such as brand marketing, sport and culture marketing, resilience and investing in women's sport, as well as building fandom and commercial success.

At SportNXT we'll hear more about Kim's role as the strategic marketing lead for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, where she delivered a transformational tournament that achieved 2 billion eyeballs and almost 2 million fans in the stands, alongside a lasting legacy for women's sport.

Echo chairs as the Global Chief Commercial Officer of Dentsu Sports International (DSI). With a remarkable career spanning over 16 years, Echo possesses extensive expertise in overseeing both the buy-side and sell-side of global sports agency business to achieve international business growth for premium sports rights holders and brands from Europe, US and APAC.

Echo is committed to the philosophy of “think global and act local” that guides DSI's business activities, and strives to connecting the East and West via the the power of sports. A recipient of multiple prestigious awards, Echo's leadership has been acknowledged through accolades such as the "40 under 40 Business Elites" by Fortune and "Dr. Ram Charan Management Award–Excellence in Leadership" by . Further accolades include being named in the “Leaders Under 40 Class of 2020” by Leaders Sports Awards and “40 Under 40 Young Elite Leaders Class of 2020” by Campaign Asia. These awards celebrate her achievements in facilitating global premium sports rights holders’ commercialisation and fan growth and supporting brands’ globalisation journey by leveraging the power of sports.

Prior to joining DSI, Echo was the Managing Director of Greater China and SVP of Global Partnerships at SPORTFIVE. Some of her marquee projects during her tenure at SPORTFIVE include facilitating a ground-breaking partnership for OPPO and UEFA Champions League; leading Hisense’s FIFA World Cup global creative activations in 2018 and 2022; facilitating commercialisation of premium sports properties including F1, Boston Marathon, Asian Football Confederations, Singapore Sports Hub, WTA Finals; supporting the digital strategy and fan growth for Manchester United, Atletico de Madrid, Paris Saint Germain, Belgium and Spanish National Teams in the region; leading sports and esports marketing strategies and activations for EA Sports, Hublot, TCL, Subway, Volkswagen, Tiktok etc.

Michael Wilkins is Managing Director of News Corp Australia's Sport Network, managing publishing assets which reach more than 13m Australian sports fans each month.

From brands like Code Sports, SuperCoach, Kommunity TV, Racenet, Punters and Tips.com, the News Sport Network creates the stories that set the agenda for other media to follow.

Michael has been a journalist and executive at News for more than 30 years, starting as a community reporter in Sydney, working at News' London titles and holding senior editorial roles at the Daily and Sunday Telegraph. He has managed community (NewsLocal) regional (North Queensland News) and metro (NSW) businesses for News as GM and MD before his current national role.

Johan Rockström is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam. He is an internationally recognized scientist on global sustainability issues and led the development of the Planetary Boundaries framework for human development in the current era of rapid global change. Professor Rockström is a leading scientist on global water resources, with more than 25 years experience in applied water research in tropical regions, and more than 150 research publications in fields ranging from applied land and water management to global sustainability. He is i.a. member of European Commission expert group: Mission Board for adaptation to climate change including societal transformation, chair of the Earth Commission, Chief Scientist of Conservation International, and elected member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

Sachin Kumar is currently General Manager Product & Partnerships, News Sport Network at News Corp Australia. He oversees strategy, commercial, partnerships and KommunityTV in his portfolio. Prior to his time with News, Sachin worked at Cricket Australia for nine years where he led corporate strategy, was in charge of the long-term cricket schedule across all formats and genders (domestically and abroad) and towards the end of his tenure was in charge of international relations. Sachin has a background in management consulting having commenced his career at Bain & Company in Sydney.

A former soccer player himself, John is the current head coach of Western United in Australia’s A-League.

His playing career spanned 20 seasons; 459 games and 127 goals, and a decade of representing the Australian National team. His tenure included a World Cup appearance in Germany, 2006 where the Socceroos had qualified for the first time since 1974. They opened with a 3-1 win over Japan, where Aloisi scored in the last eight minutes to solidify the win.

John has been on the coaching scene since 2012 and most recently took Western United all the way to winning an A-League Championship in May 2022. They became the quickest expansion side to win a championship. He’s known for redefining the culture of the club and forging the path for its future.

Luke Darcy is a respected media and sporting personality as a former AFL Captain of the Western Bulldogs, All Australian and expert AFL commentator. Darcy currently co-hosts Channel 7’s House of Wellness and has been the host of Saturday Football on Channel 7 for the past 10 years. His passion and professionalism lead him to hosting Seven’s coverage of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.

Today, Luke is the host of Aleda’s Empowering Leaders Podcast where he is joined by iconic leaders around the world to unpack their leadership styles and life lessons from game changers in their chosen field spanning the arts, sport and business. Luke is also a dedicated father of four and a life long meditator who is passionate about passing on his experience for the benefit of others.

Jimmy Pitaro was named Chairman, ESPN in February 2023, responsible for full operational control and financial responsibility for ESPN, one of the three core business segments of The Walt Disney Company. This includes the management and supervision of the company’s full portfolio of sports content, products and experiences across all of Disney’s platforms worldwide, including its international sports channels, creative development, marketing, sales, distribution and technology.

This includes eight linear domestic networks, including ESPN and ESPN2; sports content across all Disney domestic and, going forward, international platforms; ESPN+; ESPN Audio; ESPN Digital; ESPN Social; ESPN Fantasy and a variety of owned sports events, among other responsibilities.

Previously, he was Chairman, ESPN and Sports Content, since October 2020. He was named ESPN president and co-chair, Disney Media Networks, on March 5, 2018, after serving eight years as a top Disney executive.  In making the announcement, Bob Iger, then The Walt Disney Company chairman and chief executive officer, said, “Jimmy’s appointment was the result of more than 20 years spent at the intersection of technology, sports and media.”

Read more - https://espnpressroom.com/us/bios/james-pitaro/

Craig McRae was drafted from Glenelg, South Australia, and was picked 22nd in the 1994 AFL draft to the Brisbane Lions and would go on to play 195 games, kick 232 goals, win three consecutive premierships, 2001, 2002 and 2003, and be part of what many believed to be one of the greatest teams in VFL AFL history.

A teacher by trade, after four years primary teaching experience, Fly as he's universally known, embarked on an 18 year coaching apprenticeship before being appointed as the head coach of the Collingwood Football Club before the start of the 2022 season.

He was awarded the AFL coaches association coach of the year in his first season, falling one point short of making the grand final in that first year. On the 30th of September, 2023, Craig McCrae coached Collingwood to an incredible four point win over the team he played for - the Brisbane Lions, delivering the Magpies, his 16th premiership and first since 2010.

Andrew McDonald is the current Head Coach of the Australian Cricket Team. He most recently led Australia to win the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup which took place last November in India. In July, 2023 McDonald also led Australia as they retained the Ashes over England.

Prior to his coaching career, Andrew formerly represented Australia as a U-19 player, as well as Victoria and South Australia. He played in the Big Bash League and the IPL as a right-handed batsman and medium-fast bowler.

Mike Dunlap is a renowned NBA coach and was most recently an Assistant Coach for the Milwaukee Bucks, who won the 2021 NBA Finals.

Before embarking into the NBA, Dunlap solidified himself as one of the best head coaches in Division II men’s basketball history after holding a 248-50 record. He was named national coach of the year three times and had nine NCAA Tournament appearance in nine seasons.

His NBA coaching debut came in 2006 with the Denver Nuggets, he then went onto become the first Alaskan to become an NBA head coach with the Charlotte Bobcats from 2012-2013 and then the first to win an NBA title as an Assistant, which he achieved with Milwaukee in 2021.

Mike has coached for more than 20 years, from US Collegiate teams to the NBA as well as the Adelaide 36ers in Australia’s National Basketball League. His success has landed him in the Colorado Sport Hall of Fame, as well as Metro State’s and California Lutheran University’s. In 2022, he was also nominated for induction into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame.

Kylie Watson-Wheeler is the Senior Vice President & Managing Director, of The Walt Disney Company Australia and New Zealand and the President of The Western Bulldogs (AFL Club). Kylie is responsible for The Walt Disney Company in Australia and New Zealand across film, TV, live events, digital, home entertainment, content distribution and streaming services. She manages a portfolio of content and products across Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, ESPN, ABC Studios (US), 20th Century Fox and National Geographic. She also has regional responsibility across Asia Pacific for ESPN.

Alexandra is currently overseeing partnership strategy and key strategic initiatives at the Qatar Foundation, based in the CEO Office. In the lead up to the World Cup, she was part of a team responsible for coordinating the organisation’s more than 50 entities across education, research, and community development to ensure that it holistically maximises the world’s biggest sports tournament and enables long-lasting impact. This included spearheading the region’s first-ever performing arts festival; creating a program that shared first-hand the impact the World Cup has had on Qatar residents, delivering sports programming for thousands of Afghan refugees; and activating QF’s dynamic 12sq-km campus, Education City, through accessible and educational content.

With the successful tournament now completed, she is currently leading on projects deemed a priority by QF leadership and CEO. This includes supporting on a national women’s and girls’ sports strategy; developing a culture of volunteerism; and implementing the strategy legacy plan for Education City Stadium. She also oversees key partnerships and strategic initiatives for QF, from working with ConocoPhillips Qatar on a new invention education centre, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on a refugee scholarship program, to FIFA on developing a worldwide school program.

Prior to joining QF in January 2021, Lex was Managing Director of the Beyond Sport Foundation, which convenes, funds and supports organisations using sport as a tool for social change. After joining in 2008, Lex helped the organisation grow from the ground up while also co-founding thinkBeyond in 2014, a sister advisory firm that provides ways for governments, companies and charities across the world to create positive social change using sport.

For the last 13 years, she’s worked and lived in over 20 countries curating programs and partnerships around sport’s role in hard-hitting issues like the refugee crisis, youth gun crime and racial and ethnic divides. She’s led on projects that have included developing ESPN’s global community engagement approach, activating the International Olympic Committee's Sport for All policies, crafting SAP’s vision and implementation to be a purpose-driven sport sponsor, and finding new ways BT Sport can engage younger, socially conscious fans. She’s developed global CSR, purpose-driven sponsorship strategies for brand giants like Unilever, Bloomberg, Virgin and Disney and been involved on various legacy projects from South Africa to London to Brazil to Qatar. She’s helped advise influential entities from the Holy See to the US State Dpt to the World Economic Forum and spearheaded partnerships with MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, MLS, NASCAR, the Premier League and Premiership Rugby. She’s also worked with influencers like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, David Beckham, Muhammad Ali, Tony Blair, Michael Johnson, Tiger Woods and Billie Jean King.

She is a former Curator of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers (a group of young leaders nominated for their potential to lead change in society) and was named one of the top 10 under 30 to watch in sports by SportsPro Magazine. She’s on the Board of Directors for Beyond Sport Foundation, Green Sports Foundation and the Brian Dawkins Impact Foundation, and on the Junior Council for American Ballet Theatre.

A graduate of University of Pennsylvania and London School of Economics, she has appeared on BBC’s 5Live Radio, Sky News, Al Jazeera and Canada TV and has published pieces in The New Yorker, the Junket Quarterly, Huffington Post, Art in London Magazine and Art Review Magazine.

Jacqueline Comer serves as the Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of Areto Labs, a social impact technology firm led by women. Areto Labs specialises in creating safe and welcoming virtual communities for sports organisations, utilising cutting-edge machine learning software to track, moderate, and counteract instances of social media abuse directed towards athletes and brands.

Jacqueline is responsible for spearheading the company's product development and technology initiatives, and has recently obtained a master's degree focused on leveraging machine learning to detect micro-aggressions. Over the course of her 20-year professional career, Jacqueline has held diverse roles, including as a sports journalist, creative director, and product manager.

A 30 year career in football, serving Clubs (Scarborough, Bradford City and Leeds United) in senior executive positions and as the CEO of the English Football League (EFL) for 6 years before becoming a consultant to FIFA and many other football bodies.

At Wrexham, Shaun has lead the journey portrayed in the Disney / FX documentary ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ that is currently recording a third series with Hollywood owners. Rob McElhenney & Ryan Reynolds, having won 5 Emmy’s for series 1.

Steve joined Discover Qatar, the Destination Management Company of Qatar Airways in November 2019.  He was tasked to develop the tourism footprint in Qatar through partnership and collaboration with Qatar Tourism, Qatar Airways and local stakeholders. The task was made challenging with the onset of Covid-19 in early 2020, despite which, under Steve’s leadership, Discover Qatar became a vital player in supporting the Qatari Government with their Covid-19 response by managing Quarantine program.  During this period, Discover Qatar managed over 2 million arrivals of Nationals, residents and visitors through the mandatory quarantine requirement between 2020-2022.

Steve was additionally tasked to manage Qatar Airways Sponsorship department in 2021, and has since delivered major partnerships and projects for the Qatar Airways group and the State of Qatar, including FIFA World Cup 2022, a new 10 year partnership with F1, including that Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix, 2 Global Kite Surf World Championships in 2023, Asian Cup 2024, IATA Annual General Meeting, plus the successful re-Launch of Qatar Stopover program, introduction of Whale Sharks of Qatar Cruises, opening of Furawit Beach Kitesurf Center, to name a few. 

Steve is also a member of the Qatar Airways Commercial Leadership Team.  Steve is no stranger to Melbourne. Before moving to Qatar he was previously CEO to some of Australia’s leading travel brands, including Australia’s most awarded travel company, APT.

Rebecca is the Executive Director of Commercial, Sport for the Foxtel Group with responsibility for the sport acquisition strategy and its content, channel and commercial partnerships across Kayo, Fox Sports and Foxtel.

Rebecca is an experienced and highly respected media executive with over 20 years of expertise in sports broadcasting, media rights negotiations and strategy, having also worked previously for Network Ten and the Stadium Australia in creative services.

Rebecca has impressive experience across free-to-air, broadcast and digital environments, has led hundreds of domestic and international rights negotiations across all major sports codes and manages the largest portfolio of sports media partnerships in the country.

Passionate about the power of sports to enhance the lives of women and girls, Rebecca is leading the industry in the promotion of, and investment in, women’s sport and changing the landscape in a traditionally male dominated industry.

Dame Valerie Adams is undoubtedly the most dominant track and field star New Zealand has ever produced. From 2006-2014 Dame Valerie was unbeaten in major championships, enjoying an unprecedented winning streak in world athletics of 107 competitions during that period. Her major wins included back-to-back Olympic gold at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games, and four world championship titles. In 2016, Dame Valerie added silver to her Olympic medal collection at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and was later appointed as a Dame of the New Zealand Order of Merit for Services to Athletics.

As a mother of two, Dame Valerie continued to compete at the top level and won bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (postponed to 2021) whilst also coaching younger sister Lisa to her gold medal win at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in the shotput.

Dame Valerie announced she would be hanging up her throwing shoes in March 2022. She continues to be involved in Athletics through coaching and is Chair of the World Athletics Athletes Commission, is a World Athletics Council Member and in September 2022 was appointed to the board of High Performance Sport NZ. Dame Valerie also enjoys spending time with her young family, working in the community and with her commercial partners.

Dame Valerie is a leader and role model in the Pacific community, a seven-time Halberg sportswoman of the year and featured in a theatrical documentary film Dame Valerie Adams: More than Gold on her life and sporting career that was released in October 2022.

As a person, the global track and field star has come to symbolise more than heaving a steel ball distances that defy physics. She exists in a space where Pasifika achievement and cultural identity and female empowerment and body image and leadership and motherhood all collide."

- Dana Johannsen, National Correspondent – Stuff

With 15+ years of experience, Nikhil is amongst India’s most influential sports agents.

Previously, he has been Head of Commercial for IMG on the Indian Premier League, in which role he was responsible for the development of the commercial program for the Indian Premier League as well as for leading sponsorship sales and sponsorship delivery for the league.

He has also been Head of Commercial at Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), the IPL franchise (now known as Punjab Kings). At KXIP, he was responsible for the entire commercial program for the franchise, including sponsorship sales, licensing and sponsor servicing.

At RISE, Nikhil has been instrumental in:
• Structuring a partnership with ICC, where RISE will be the exclusive joint-sales agency for sponsorship rights 2024 onwards
• Consulting Dream11 on its acquisition and leverage of the partnership rights to India Cricket as well as IPL from the BCCI including the IPL 2020 title sponsorship rights.
• Facilitating partnerships for Upstox (fintech brand), ICC – global partnership & IPL – official partnership
• Facilitating partnerships of Indian brands like Jio, DSG with international sports rights, Manchester City and Manchester United respectively.
• RISE has the exclusive commercial rights for ECB and CA’s virtual inventory in India.
• Advising BKT Tires on its partnership with CA
• Facilitating 60+ commercial partnerships across the IPL ecosystem in 2023, generating revenues in excess of USD 50 million.
• Leading off-field commercialisation for 8 Indian Men’s National Team Cricketers – Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Krunal Pandya, Tilak Varma.

Jan is CEO of Sports Environment Alliance. SEA’s vision is that sport inspires action on the environment and climate, and to achieve that we lead, educate and empower the broader sport ecosystem to take action to influence a sustainable and regenerative future. SEA’s members come from the sporting landscape in Australia and New Zealand, ranging from national sporting organisations to small community clubs, and everything in between. SEA provides resources, training, events, and networking opportunities for members to learn together and collaborate, to empower action on reducing their environment and carbon footprints.

As CEO, Jan brings a diverse executive career that has encompassed retail operations, banking and finance, government, consulting and chartered accounting. For the past 25 years, there’s been a common thread of sustainability/ESG at the heart of Jan’s roles, and she is passionate about making a difference in this world. Jan is also a non-executive director and board chair and has served on many boards and committees including in the sports sector. She is currently Chair of Destination Gippsland, and a Board committee member of FightMND.

In her spare time Jan is a keen runner, skier, and cyclist, enjoys the occasional hit of golf, and loves camping and hiking in the great outdoors. She is passionate about working with SEA’s sporting community to deliver positive outcomes for this world we all love to play in.

Jenny is an astute, value-driven executive with 20 years leadership experience at global blue-chip companies. Achieved $1B total impact and $70M fundraise. Successfully led $20M-$300M P&L, 100+ multi-disciplinary on/offshore teams, business growth & transformation with up to 10k staff, $20B revenue, 10M customers, 2B viewers.

Jenny’s major sports strategy and technology experience include FIFA World Cup, Olympics, F1 Grand Prix and Super Bowl. She is currently CEO of Major Events Growth Alliance (MEGA) dedicated to growing economies, ESG and technology innovation in the US$1.75BN global events industry, Board advisor at PAM.co, CTO at ABTY operating in APAC US$558B digital transformation market, and outgoing CTO of Football Australia*

Christy Collier-Hill is a professional sports administrator with over 20-years experience in a variety of roles.

In her two years as Head of the WNBL Christy has driven significant growth, with the current season set to break records in attendances, broadcast and fan engagement. Prior roles include General Manager of the Deakin Melbourne Boomers and Chief Operating Officer at Fitness Australia. Christy has also had roles with Golf NSW and Les Mills Asia Pacific.

Christy began her academic studies with a Bachelor of Sports Administration followed by a Graduate Certificate in Marketing Communication. She then furthered her education with a Graduate Diploma of International Sports Management and a Masters of Business (MBA).

Christy is a passionate advocate for bridging the inequalities that exist in women’s sport.

Ken Martin is the Managing Director for the Sports, Media, and Entertainment / Consumer Industry globally at Cisco. In this role, Ken is responsible for accelerating the development and adoption of Cisco solutions in large public venues, with a specific focus on Sports and Entertainment.

Cisco has identified the Consumer industries as one of the top market adjacencies, representing a nearly $2B market opportunity. As Managing Director, Ken oversees the team responsible for the business development, management, marketing, and architecture of Cisco solutions that are transforming the guest / fan experience in the Consumer industries.

Ken joined Cisco in 2005. He is a principal founder of the Sports and Entertainment Solutions Group (SESG), establishing a vertical focused on driving Digital Transformation in the Sports and Entertainment industry through the innovation and development of solutions tailored to meet the unique needs of sport and entertainment venues around the world.

Ken’s experience and proven leadership have been instrumental to the success of SESG at Cisco. Specifically, Ken’s industry knowledge and insights resulted in the incubation and development of a number of Cisco solutions including the Cisco Connected Stadium architecture, Cisco High-Density Wi-Fi, Cisco StadiumVision™, and Cisco StadiumVision Mobile. His business development expertise and customer-centric strategy led to 20 consecutive, record-breaking quarters of growth - making it one of the most success verticals at Cisco. Since 2007, Ken has grown the vertical from sub $1M annually, to a finish over a half a billion dollars in less than 10 years.

His responsibilities now extend to the adjacent markets, including Retail and Hospitality.
Ken has been a key member of a variety of internal councils and boards responsible for Cisco’s success in the Sports and Entertainment, Connected Real Estate, and Safety and Security Market Adjacencies. As part of these internal councils and boards, Ken has played a pivotal role in setting the vision and strategy for Cisco in these key Market Adjacencies.

Ken has more than 20 years of professional sales experience in the high-tech industry. Prior to the Sports and Entertainment Solutions Group, Ken served in other key leadership positions, including the management of some of Cisco’s largest Public Utility and highest growth accounts.

Kieren Perkins OAM is regarded as one of the world’s greatest distance swimmers having won four Olympic medals. Following his retirement from swimming in 2000, Mr Perkins transferred his knowledge and experience to build a successful career across the consulting and banking sectors, including 10 years at NAB before taking on the Chief Executive Officer role at Australia’s Unity’s retail banking unit in 2021.

Having seen sport from all angles over four decades, Mr Perkins is passionate about the whole sports sector, from grassroots to high performance. Mr Perkins was President of Swimming Australia until he took on the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Sports Commission in March 2022. His focus in this new role is to ensure sport has a place for everyone and delivers results that make Australia proud.

As EVP & Chief Technology Officer for the NBA, Krishna Bhagavathula is responsible for setting the NBA’s technology strategy and ensuring alignment with the league’s objectives. He leads tech teams that deliver best-in-class applications, systems/cloud infrastructure, court-side technology, and workplace experiences.

Since joining the NBA in 2017, Krishna and his team have executed significant digital transformation efforts including cutting-edge initiatives that have contributed to business growth, operational efficiency, and a culture of innovation. Most recently, the NBA launched a new app/streaming experience that generated over a Billion Video Views, resulting in a 50% increase in subscriptions and 52% increase in viewership in its first year. In addition, his team has been instrumental in creating high-speed arena networks, deploying cloud-based consumer/enterprise infrastructure, developing fan-facing data engineering teams focused on leveraging AI/ML to boost engagement, harnessing the power of analytics to improve player performance and officiating accuracy, and driving self-service employee workflows through automation.

Prior to joining the NBA, Krishna served as Chief Technology Officer for NBC News Digital, where he oversaw technology teams focused on web, mobile and OTT platforms/products for NBCNews.com, MSNBC and shows including TODAY, Nightly News and Meet The Press. Before joining NBC News in 2013, he spent more than eight years at WebMD, most significantly as Vice President of Engineering, where he led development teams responsible for WebMD’s Internet properties, mobile applications, content management and search/discovery platforms.

Krishna has also held management consulting positions with BearingPoint, IBM, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, after starting his career as a software engineer developing mobile network provisioning systems. He has extensive experience driving strategic and transformational digital initiatives that have deep organisational impact, as well as delivering business and technology solutions across a wide range of companies ranging from startups to multi-billion-dollar corporations.

A frequent speaker and panelist at industry conferences and events, Krishna serves on the advisory boards of several CTO/CIO consortiums, startups and executive committees. He has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and lives in Princeton, N.J., with his wife and two daughters.

Sean Callanan understands the technological evolution of the digital landscape as the founder of Sports Geek. He has worked with international brands and is a highly sought-after public speaker and the go-to resource for under-optimised digital teams.

Sean has developed the Digital to Dollars process working with teams and leagues to build digital fan bases and develop sponsor campaigns that deliver.

Sean has been a pioneer in the sports digital industry and hosts the Sports Geek podcast with guests and listeners around the sports business world.

Meegan Jones is an event professional focussing her efforts on using the power of events for positive action while also ensuring that events themselves are produced sustainably. 
 
She provides advice, tools, systems support, training and practical solutions to the event, screen, and sport sectors. 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 is Senior Sustainability Advisor to The Ocean Race.
 
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 has trained more than 1000 events organisers in sustainable event management and has an online training courses through her training academy the Institute for Sustainable Events. 

Edson Crevecoeur, a seasoned analytics and operations strategist with 20+ years of experience in Finance, Healthcare, Media, and Sports, serves as the Senior VP of Strategy and Data Analytics for the Miami HEAT. He is also the Co-Founder and COO of 601 Analytics, a premier data analytics platform and consulting company specialising in live sports and entertainment.

Ms. Hosch has a long and distinguished history in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy, advocacy, governance and is an accomplished public speaker.

Before joining the AFL as the first ever Indigenous person and 2nd woman in their Executive ranks in August 2016, Tanya was the Joint Campaign director of the Recognise movement for constitutional recognition.

At the AFL Tanya’s portfolios include – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues, Gender Equality, Sexuality and Gender Diversity, racism and sexism. Tanya is tasked with the implementation of the AFL’s enhanced Indigenous strategy, advising the AFL National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council, maintenance of the Respect and Responsibility Policy, 2017, the AFL’s Gender Action Plan and the Gender Diversity Policy.

Tanya is a Co-Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Group of the National Australia Bank, a Director of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, was a former Board Director of Circus Oz and was a member of the Referendum Council that led the process and final recommendation that resulted in The Uluru Statement from the Heart in May 2017. A career highlight was contributing as a Consultant on the ABC drama, Total Control where she later appeared in a cameo part in Season 2.

In 2021, Tanya was listed at number 6 on the Australian Financial Reviews list of Australian Cultural Influencers. In December 2022, Tanya was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Flinders University.

Casey Wasserman is the Chairman and CEO of Wasserman, a global leader in sports, music, entertainment and culture. He is also the Chairperson of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games, having been appointed in 2014 to head the city’s successful bid campaign. He was previously Chairman of the Los Angeles Super Bowl Host Committee for Super Bowl LVI in 2022.

Wasserman also serves as President and CEO of the Wasserman Foundation, a private family foundation founded in 1952 by his grandparents, Lew and Edie Wasserman, that funds education, arts and culture, health, service and global initiatives. He is a trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and a board member of renowned philanthropic organizations including the Jules Stein Eye Institute, The LBJ Presidential Library and The Motion Picture & Television Fund.

Rowena Samarasinhe is a Partner at niche sports, media, entertainment and technology law firm Level and she also owns her own commercial sports consultancy, GENSport. She specialises in the negotiation and implementation of international sponsorship and broadcast agreements and has worked with some of the largest global sports properties, concluding ground-breaking deals for sports bodies in addition to major endorsement deals with some of the most prolific athletes in the world. Most recently, Rowena has turned her focus to investment within the women’s sport space.

She also sits on a number of sporting boards and until recently was a member of the National Sports Council of Sri Lanka. She is a corporate speaker on inclusive leadership and recently delivered a TEDx talk on the subject of sport and diversity.

As an ex-athlete herself, Rowena is passionate about changing perceptions within the industry and her experience both personally and professionally has given her a unique perspective of sport, from grass roots to high performance level with the consideration of players and athletes themselves remaining at the heart of what she does.

In 2018, Legal 500 included Rowena in their "General Counsel Powerlist" recognizing the most influential and innovative in-house lawyers around the world and subsequently, upon returning to private practice, one of Legal 500’s Next Generation Partners for 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Catherine Carlson is a sports veteran, having spent 30 years in the sports and entertainment industry including the past 15 years in professional sports is the United States.

In September 2022, Catherine Carlson was appointed Executive Vice President of Global Partnerships, for BSE Global, a premier sports and entertainment company that owns and operates the Brooklyn Nets, NY Liberty, Barclays Center, Long Island Nets, NetsGC, Brooklyn Glide and other properties.

As the head of Global Partnerships, Carlson leads the partnership sales, and partnership marketing and development of new revenue opportunities across the growing BSE Global portfolio.

Previously, Carlson spent three years in the NFL, as Senior Vice President of Revenue and Strategy with the Philadelphia Eagles, where she was responsible for driving revenue through new sponsorship, media, and premium seating opportunities.

Prior to joining the Eagles, Carlson served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Partnerships and Premium Activation for the Orlando Magic as part of an 11-season tenure with the team. Her position included leading strategy and revenue for the Magic and its affiliated properties and events, while also overseeing efforts to grow the team’s corporate sponsor base.

Carlson’s early career includes more than a decade at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, where she held various roles within the Alliance Development group and was responsible for the sports sponsorship team for Disney’s Wide World of Sports and developing partners for Disney’s Orlando based theme parks.

Catherine earned a bachelor’s of business degree in sports management from Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. After graduating from Deakin, Carlson worked for various Australian sports organizations including the Australian Hockey Association, Victorian Rugby League and the Australian Institute of Sport. In 1997, she moved to the United States to complete a master’s of science degree in sports management at the University of Massachusetts

Catherine is originally from Australia and currently resides in Philadelphia and part time in Brooklyn, New York.

Andrew N. Liveris AO is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Dow Chemical Company and the former Executive Chairman of DowDuPont. As the company's longest-serving non-family CEO, and with a combined 42 years of experience at Dow, Andrew had assignments in manufacturing, engineering, sales, marketing, and business and general management before becoming CEO and Chairman.

In April 2022, Andrew was named President of the Board of the Brisbane Organising Committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games (OCOG). He currently serves as a Chairman of Lucid Motors, Blackrock Long Term Private Capital and The Hellenic Initiative. He is a Director of IBM, Saudi Aramco, Worley (Deputy Chairman), Novonix and the Minderoo Foundation.

Andrew sits on the Advisory Board of Salesforce, the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Teneo and NEOM (an initiative driven by Saudi Vision 2030). He is a Special Advisor to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Andrew serves as a trustee for the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and the United States Council for International Business.

He has advised three U.S. presidents and served as co-chair of US President Barack Obama’s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, adviser to President Trump and now President Biden. He is Co-Chair of the Build Together Coalition that successfully advocated for the USD1.2T Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed by President Biden in 2020. Andrew was appointed as a Special Advisor to the Australian Government’s National COVID-19 Coordination Commission. He is a member of the Australian Design Council.

Ben Slack is the Chief Commercial Officer of World Rugby, the global sports governing body of rugby union and the organiser of major events such as the Rugby World Cup and other events such as the annual HSBC SVNS Series. Ben and his team are responsible for delivering commercial growth across major revenue streams so that it can be reinvested back into the sport.

Following the recent success of Rugby World Cup 2023 in France, World Rugby turns its attention to the delivery of the next ten years of Rugby World Cup events in England (2025 – women’s), Australia (2027 – men’s and 2029 – women’s) as well as building out a fan-centric rugby business in the US ready for men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups to be hosted there in 2031 and 2033.

Prior to World Rugby, Ben was the Chief Revenue and Experiential Officer of Tennis Australia and played an important role in the development of the Australian Open to the Grand Slam that it is today.

Ben was recognised in the Leaders Under 40 Class of 2021 as part of the Leaders Sports Awards.

Nicki Kenyon is a globally experienced director, strategic marketing leader and growth strategist with a successful career of building businesses and brands across Asia Pacific in emerging and established markets.

She has held executive leadership and change management roles for global corporations and start-ups within travel, financial and technology sectors. Her experience has been gained working with organisations facing intense growth, undergoing transformation, disrupting industry or entering new global markets. Her diverse background, working for companies including Nine, Visit Victoria, Visa, Facebook, MasterCard and Ogilvy, has equipped her with expertise in transformational change, operational leadership, business development and digital innovation & integrated marketing.

Nicki is a multi-dimensional, inclusive leader who inspires individuals to work collectively to innovate and exceed goals. She thrives on making a tangible impact for companies and communities, with a keen focus on driving impact, growth and business success.

She has held Executive Board positions and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). Her current non-executive board roles include the Australian Grand Prix Corporation and Fenwick Software.

Matt Scriven is the Chief Executive Officer of Basketball Australia, the national governing body for basketball. Basketball Australia is responsible for managing the pathways to play from Aussie Hoops, Australian Junior Championships, Australian School Championships through to the, WNBL and National Teams, including the Boomers, Opals, Rollers and Gliders.
Prior to Basketball Australia, Matt was Managing Director of Nine Melbourne where he was responsible for strategic and operational leadership of Channel 9, The Age and 3AW. Matt has a lifelong connection to basketball and is deeply passionate about the sport. He has first-hand experience across every level of the game, from grassroots through to high performance.

Jennifer has over 20 years’ experience in the sports industry in a variety of roles, covering a range of management, commercial, marketing and communications disciplines. Following her early career in sports administration at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre and Flying Start Sports Management, Jennifer went on to spend 14 years at the Melbourne Football Club where she successfully drove a range of initiatives including the Club’s pioneering efforts in women’s football, iconic events such as the Big Freeze at the G, Pink Lady and Anzac Eve games. In her time at the Club, Jennifer had six different CEOs, five different Presidents, six senior coaches and witnessed some of the most challenging episodes in the Club’s history.

Jennifer was awarded the AFL’s prestigious Graeme Samuel Scholarship in 2016 for her achievements and as a result, was seconded to the AFL to work on a major positioning and customer experience project for Etihad Stadium during 2016/17.
Appointed to General Manager, Commercial Operations and Partnerships at the Melbourne Cricket Club in October 2017, Jennifer spent 5 years working at the iconic MCG, managing the critical relationships the ground has with Cricket Australia, the AFL and other hirers of the ground, along with overseeing the commercial, hospitality, marketing, communications and special event portfolios for the MCG.

In 2023 Jennifer commenced the role of CEO of the North Melbourne Football Club and is currently the only female CEO of an AFL Club.

James Sutherland has been CEO of Golf Australia since 2020 and, in that capacity, oversees the national governing body for Golf in Australia.

The principal focus for Golf Australia is to lead and align with members of the golf industry, including state golf associations, the PGA of Australia, and the local PGA/WPGA Tours to deliver on the growth strategy for the game nationally.

Australian Golf’s first ever national industry strategy was launched in December 2021.

Key components of this strategy include objectives to; to drive participation by encouraging more Australians to play more golf, to support and enable golf clubs and other places to play, to engage fans by hosting great golf events, and to deliver high performance development and challenging playing opportunities for talented Australian golfers.

Golf Australia is responsible for the Australia’s premier golf event, the Australian Open. In a world first, the 2022 event saw the men’s and women’s events played concurrently, with all abilities golfers, as part of one tournament in the same week at the same two golf courses.

James is a qualified Chartered Accountant who has had a long and distinguished career in the sports industry having previously been CEO of Cricket Australia from 2001 to 2018. He currently sits on the board of the AFL’s Geelong Football Club, the advisory council to Sport Integrity Australia, and is chairman of PlayHQ, a technology platform for community sport. James was the inaugural Chair of COMPPS – the Coalition of Major Participation and Professional Sports – serving in that role for 10 years.

Ann is an accomplished and engaging thought leader, advisor, writer and speaker on sustainability and legacy planning for communities, business and global sport events.
Ann has a proven track record with industry-recognised sustainability strategies and outcomes reflecting strong engagement, governance and innovation. Her extensive knowledge and international network in sustainable development and social innovation has been built through more than 30+ years in major event planning and delivery.

Ann has significant expertise to help clients bid, prepare and deliver sustainability strategies and goals. Ann helps mega sport event clients and business leaders create and implement sustainability and social responsibility (CSR) strategies that align with goals, business strategies and markets.

Ann was a member of the IOC Sustainability and Legacy Commission between 2006 and 2016 where she advised on Agenda2020 and has collaborated with and contributed to the IOC and FIFA on key governance and guidance documents for sustainable development, sustainable event and legacy management policies.

Ann was also the Corporate Sustainability Officer at the Vancouver 2010 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. She oversaw the development and implementation of the sustainability and legacy strategy.

Recent projects also include:
• The successful United 2026 FIFA Bid for the Men's World Cup for Canada, USA and Mexico
• The successful Los Angeles 2024 Summer Olympic & Paralympic Games Bid
• Other projects include Sochi 2014, Istanbul 2020 Bid, Canada Winter Games 2015, FIFA Women's World Cup, Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games

She resides in Whistler, Canada with her husband and family where she enjoys the mountains in all seasons.

Andrew began his AFL career in August 2000 as Legal Counsel and was appointed General Manager – Legal and Business Affairs in July 2004. In December 2011, was appointed as General Manager of National and International Development and General Counsel. In 2013 was Appointed General Manager, Legal, Integrity and Compliance in addition to General Counsel. In March 2017, in addition to the role of General Counsel, General Manager of Integrity and Compliance, Dillon took on the responsibility of Game Development, which saw him responsible for all the community and state football leagues, community and state football facilities and infrastructure and the relationships with all AFL state bodies. In July 2021, Dillon acted as Executive General Manager Football Operations in addition to his other duties and was formally appointed that position in September 2021. On May 1st 2023, Dillon has formally announced as the new AFL CEO and officially took over from Gillon McLachlan on October 2nd 2023.

Has a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Melbourne and a post-graduate diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia. Undertook Articled Clerkship at Corrs Chambers Westgarth in 1994 and was subsequently employed as a solicitor in Corrs’ Commercial Division. From October 1997 to August 2000, worked as in-house legal counsel at Village Roadshow Limited before joining the AFL.

Dilllon played 290 games with Old Xaverians Football Club in the VAFA (1989-2005), playing in six A Grade Premierships and Life Member of the club. He represented VAFA on two occasions and played two Reserves game with Mansfield in Goulburn Valley Football League 2011. Served as an Old Xaverians Committee member from 1998 to 2003, Assistant Coach at Old Xavs 2011-212, and has coached Kew Comets junior Girls football 2014 – 2018.

Azmeena Hussain OAM is a Principal at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Chairperson of the Islamic Museum of Australia, Non-Executive Director at the Victorian Institute of Sport and Advisor to SBS.

Most recently, she finished her term as Director at Football Victoria and was a Football Australia, FIFA Women’s World Cup Ambassador 2023.
She has extensive experience in workplace law and is a member of the Victoria Statutory WorkCover Advisory Committee. She is listed in the prestigious Doyle’s Guide as a preeminent Australian personal injuries lawyer and is a Law Institute of Victoria Accredited Specialist. She has a strong passion for equality and social inclusion and the power of sport in social change. She is an outgoing Director and Trustee of the Victorian Womens’ Trust, Deputy Chair at InTouch Multicultural Centre against Family Violence, Advisor to Victoria Police, Chief Commissioner’s Human Rights Strategic Committee, AFL Multicultural Advisor and Vice President of the Office for Women at the ICV. In 2020, she was awarded an Order of Australia medal for her contribution to the community and the law.

As Managing Director of FIBA Media, Andrew leads the 17-year joint venture between FIBA and DAZN which encompasses all production and rights commercialisation (broadcast, OTT D2C and data) for FIBA’s premium basketball events. This includes the recently completed FIBA World Cup 2023 held across the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, Continental championships (and their qualifiers) such as EuroBasket and Asia Cup, global junior events and the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.

FIBA Media has around 25 dedicated staff but collaborates extensively with sales and production teams within the DAZN Broadcast Partnerships division and scales up for events, managing 400+ personnel at the FIBA World Cup 2023. In addition to its core production and commercial activity, FIBA Media houses its own third-party marketing division which focuses on celebrity, influencer and athlete promotion, while it also established the Courtside 1891 digital joint venture with Two Circles.

Andrew was previously the Head of Media Legal and Business Affairs for the International Olympic Committee TMS and was part of the Leaders Under 40 Class of 2020. He also features as a commentator and presenter for European Cricket and was part of the live coverage for the European Cricket League and European Cricket Championship in 2023.

Tal is a CEO, Olympian, lawyer and organisational strategist.

Tal is the Principal of Sixfold Consulting Group, a non-Executive Director of Victoria Legal Aid, and an Expert Advisory Panel member for the Federal Government’s $200 million Play our Way program to support women and girls in sport and recreation.

Until recently, Tal was also the CEO of the Y Australia (formerly the YMCA), and a Board Member of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.

Tal’s diverse career spans executive leadership, strategy, legal, policy and advocacy roles across government, sport, corporate and not-for-profit sectors.

After completing her law degree at the Australian National University with first class honours, and the University’s Blackburn Medal, Tal commenced her legal career in corporate law with King & Wood Mallesons, and with an Associateship to Justice Hayne of the High Court of Australia.

Tal later traded in commercial law for public defence as a Civil Advocate in Victoria Legal Aid Chambers, representing disadvantaged people in complex criminal and civil matters in jurisdictions including the Victorian Supreme Court, County Court and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Tal has also held senior advisory, strategy and policy roles with Right Lane Consulting (as the head of Right Lane’s Sports Practice and Innovation Practice), the Department of Justice, the former Minister for Women and the Prevention of Family Justice, and the Sentencing Advisory Council.

In earlier years, Tal balanced her legal career with elite sport, representing Australia as a member of the Matildas in the 2003 World Cup and 2004 Olympic Games, and as the inaugural captain of Melbourne Victory Women.

An experienced sports administrator, coach, commentator and Board Director, Tal was also formerly a Change our Game Champion for the Victorian Government, and a Non-Executive Director of Football Victoria, Y Australia and Y Careers.

Rebecca Sowden is a former New Zealand Football Fern and founder of women's sports agency, Team Heroine. After growing up in New Zealand she gained a soccer scholarship to complete her degree at the College of William & Mary in Virginia and has since had a 20 year career in the intersection of sports, media and partnerships. She has worked in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Europe with some of the globe's leading entertainment properties including Hong Kong Sevens, Volvo Ocean Race, MasterChef and the FIFA Women's World Cup.

4 years ago during the last Women's World Cup she founded Team Heroine as she felt brands and rights holders were missing the opportunity to unleash the power of women's sport. Since then she has become a leading voice on women's sport marketing and sponsorship, helping the likes of Xero, Visa Europe andUS Women's Players Association with their women's sport sponsorships.

She is also founding partner of global, social-cause campaign Correct the Internet which went viral and looks to tackle the gender bias in search engines that occurs against sportswomen. The campaign gained the support of dozens of organisations including the UN, Women's In Sport Australia, TogethXr, Sky Sports and gender equity and sports icons including Alex Morgan, Andy Murray and Billie Jean and picked up 3 Cannes Lions.

Rebecca believes the key to moving the dial on women's sport is creating bolder and more creative work with greater collective action.

In January 2021, following nine years as CEO of World Rugby and Rugby World Cup Ltd, Brett joined the National Football League (NFL), the world’s most valuable sports property.

Based in London, Brett’s role at the NFL is to oversee the acceleration of fan growth and revenues across NFL core markets in Europe and Asia-Pacific. This involves strategic and operational management across marketing, sponsorship, broadcast, consumer products, as well as the staging of NFL regular season games in London and Germany, with related ticketing, hospitality, and event management. In 2022, Brett oversaw the first ever NFL regular season game in Germany at FC Bayern Munich’s Allianz stadium, as well as the hosting of a record five NFL regular season games in Europe in 2023. Brett was also a member of the NFL leadership team that partnered with the International Federation of American Football to secure the historic inclusion of Flag Football at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Formerly, as Chief Executive of World Rugby and Rugby World Cup, Brett was responsible for the strategic and business operations of rugby’s global governing federation. Brett oversaw the implementation of World Rugby's global investment, development and player welfare strategies, the delivery of record-breaking Men’s Rugby World Cups; 2015 in England and 2019 in Japan (the first Asian Rugby World Cup), delivery of Women’s Rugby World Cups France 2014 and Ireland 2017, the bidding process and related business model that led to the awarding of France 2023, the growth of the HSBC Men and Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series, the step change acceleration of women in rugby’s governance as well as rugby's successful return to the Olympic Games in Rio 2016.

Prior to his time at World Rugby, Brett held leadership roles with major international marketing services companies in Paris, Frankfurt, London and New York. This included Chairman-CEO of Havas in London, CEO of TBWA Group New York, CEO of the largest US advertising agency; McCann USA and more recently as CEO McCann Europe/Middle East/Africa.

Recent advisory roles include; Expert panellist on the UK Government’s Review of Women’s Football in 2023 and Independent member of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) newly formed Tournament Standards Committee.

Formerly an elite level rugby player, Brett represented, Victoria, Queensland, Australia U21 and played in two final trials for Wallaby tours to Argentina and the UK.

At age 22, Brett left Australia , having signed with top French Championship club, Racing 92. After 8 seasons with the club in Paris , including selections for the French Barbarians (notably versus the All Blacks in 1986), Brett was able to fully focus on his business career.

Nathan is the executive of Home, Energy & Entertainment as part of Telstra’s Product & Technology group.

Since joining Telstra in 2012, Nathan has held several key product and innovation leadership roles across Digital, Media and Telecommunications. Under his leadership, Telstra has become a leader in streaming aggregation through Telstra TV and continued to evolve Telstra’s technology partnerships with major sporting codes such as the AFL and NRL.

In 2022 he appointed into an expanded role that also included Telstra’s foray into Energy.

Belinda has over 25 years of professional experience across training development, program implementation, employment and training and more specifically the social justice sector. Governance and leadership underpin her professional experience across a range of roles. Sport has been a primary thread across her life both personally & professionally as an elite athlete and sport administrator. She has been affirmed for her leadership through appointments in a number of roles including boards, Chair appointments, fellowship appointments, and an AFL industry award.

Belinda is the CEO of Culture is Life, Director of Victoria2026 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, Honorary, Director, Dja Dja Wurrung Aboriginal Corporation, Honorary, Director, Western Bulldogs, Chair, Program Board, Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity, and Honorary Chair and Committee Member, Victorian Aboriginal Cricket Committee an has previously held positions including Honorary, Trustee, Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Trust, Honorary, Committee Member, Athletics Australia Reconciliation Action Plan, and a Sport Administration position as a long standing Director of VicHealth.

Belinda’s qualifications include Bachelor of Education (Physical Education). Belinda’s professional objective is to lead agendas that address social justice and inequities for First Peoples and other groups by engaging the broader community in leading that change.
Belinda is a proud Wotjobaluk/Dja Dja Wurrung woman who resides in Melbourne, Victoria.

Arthur Gillion is CEO of Kinlab, a global innovation firm dedicated to making sport better. Better for fans and participants. Better for business. Better for society.

Arthur and his team work with leading sport and lifestyle brands to deeply understand the people they serve and design experiences with impact. Kinlab’s partners include Cricket Australia, World Surf League and the Australian Sports Foundation.

Arthur has an insatiable desire to understand the relationship that people have with sport and lifestyle pursuits. He knows that putting the customer first is the secret sauce for sports businesses.

Arthur is a sports tragic and has dedicated his career to the industry. He started his professional life in Marketing for Powerboat P1, delivering the Powerboat World Championships across Europe and Superstock Championships in the UK. He began his career in Australia in 2010 as Marketing Manager of Hyundai A-League giants, Melbourne Victory, and during his five years with the club helped grow attendance, membership, fan experience, brand and digital.

In 2016, Arthur joined the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, where he was General Manager – Marketing and Experience. Arthur was responsible for the marketing and brand strategy for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix and Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix annual events. This included research and insights, creative strategy, advertising, digital channel performance, product development, customer experience and ticketing. Both events saw significant growth during Arthur’s time, and he feels fortunate for his role in growing and showcasing the Formula 1 and MotoGP brands on the global stage, contributing to Victoria’s visitor and experience economy.

Arthur is now using his wealth of experience and knowledge at Kinlab to help sporting organisations across the globe design experiences that change the world.

Adrian Tobin is Founder and Chief Design Officer of Kinlab, a global innovation firm dedicated to making sport better. Better for fans and participants. Better for business. Better for society.A research and strategic design expert, Adrian has dedicated his career to understanding people and designing experiences that have a positive impact in the world.

After 15 years tackling complex social challenges, Adrian launched Kinlab in 2017.Adrian and his team work with leading sport and lifestyle brands to deeply understand the people they serve and design experiences with impact. Adrian has researched and designed for global sport brands including Nike, Formula 1, Cricket Australia and Movember.

Adrian played a leading role in designing the digital vision for the Australian sport sector for the Australian Sports Commission. A vision that guides how the Australian Government invests in sports technology to achieve world-leading physical activity and high-performance outcomes.

Adrian is also the Founder and Chief Experience Officer for Crest Surf Clubs, a property development company creating wave venues around the world. Crest’s first surf club is currently under construction in New York (USA), being readied for a June 2025 opening.As a wave venues expert, Adrian has helped wave technology companies, property developers and investors collaborate to create successful surf lifestyle properties.

This includes Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch (USA), Alaia Bay (Switzerland) and Wisemans Surf Lodge (Australia).Adrian is a former professional surf ironman and lives with his family on the Tweed Coast, NSW. He is in the ocean at every opportunity.

David began his role as NBL CEO in May 2023. He comes to the League with a wealth of leadership experience have previously held positions at the AFL as General Manager of Operations, the Western Bulldogs as CEO and Nike as VP & GM of Emerging Markets.

During almost seven years at the AFL and 17 years at Nike, Stevenson held many senior executive positions in sports, commercial, operations, and retail both in Australia and Internationally across New Zealand, Asia Pacific, the USA and Global responsibilities with $5b revenue responsibility. Stevenson also has strong governance experience as the board chair of a state government health service.

During his tenure as CEO, the league has seen record growth in broadcast, attendance, digital and media metrics.

Martin is the Chief Innovation Office at Be. by Animoca Brands who specialize in the creation of blockchain enabled sports and entertainment experiences.

As a recognised leader in emerging technologies, digital innovation and transformation, Martin has worked with many global brands ranging from Barclays, NAB, SEGA, The British Army, RNLI, IKEA, Virgin, The Premier League, RAC, Treasury Wines and Simplot. Within Animoca Brands, he’s working with numerous sports brands on their future Web3 programs including the AFL, Queens Park Rangers, AFF and more.

Previously at WPP with Wunderman Thompson, he led their innovation and technology practices across Australia, driving enterprise technical transformation programs and delivering multi-platform solutions. With over 25 years’ experience in creative innovation and technology, he’s been at the forefront of many of the technical evolutions we’ve seen and is now supporting organisations into their Web3 future.

Troy de Haas is a Partner and Head of the Sport & Entertainment Practice for Asia-Pacific.

Troy has held senior executive positions within a range of organisations including Head of Sport at BMC in Switzerland, and Director of Sales & Marketing at Thanyapura sports resort in Thailand before founding TDH Sport & Entertainment marketing agency in Hong Kong.

As a former elite athlete, he has represented Australia at the international level in Mountain Running and Orienteering where he became the first ever Non-European to medal at the World Championship level. His innate understanding of all sports and the requirements of CEOs and boards throughout Asia-Pacific makes him a rare and trusted advisor to both clients and candidates alike.

Troy has experience in leadership having sat in various executive management groups which included leading one of the world’s most recognized endurance sports properties, BMC Racing (incl. road, mtb, triathlon & ambassadors). Prior to that, he was responsible for attracting prominent international talent to launch Thanyapura with it being awarded Asia’s Premier Sports Resort within a year and guiding Flight Centre Asia’s sports travel department to record sales.

He has spent the past two decades competing, studying, and working internationally with a proven track record of building lasting partnerships and cross-border relationships.

Sarah is the Chief Technology Officer – Enterprise for Microsoft Australia and New Zealand. In this capacity her role is to support the development of Microsoft’s industry strategy across a range of industries including retail, manufacturing, energy and telecommunications, as well as bringing innovation and insights to commercial customers, helping them plan for the future. Sarah is passionate about supporting veterans in their careers outside of the military and has recently been appointed as a co-chair for Microsoft’s global military board.

Prior to Microsoft Sarah served in the Australian army, followed by a decade travelling the world and working across a broad range of industries in both Europe and the Middle East. She has supported Think Tanks, built custom business applications and attended ballet for a living. Her varied experience and perspective across industries brought her back to Australia, first to telecommunications, and then to IT. Her degree in fluvial geomorphology from the University of NSW has only ever proved useful for boring friends on long road trips, but as a lifelong learner her MBA from the City of London University and current pursuit of a PhD are proving far more applicable.

A highly successful global sports industry leader based in New York, Glenn Lovett has previously held roles as Global CEO of Nielsen Sports and Regional MD, Europe for Octagon. Before joining Nielsen, Glenn was a key player in the transformation of private-equity-backed Repucom, the world’s leading supplier of sports media and commercial data, ultimately leading to its sale to The Nielsen Company. He has also held key strategy roles at Booz Allen Hamilton and Nike Australia, and was a former professional Australian Rules Footballer (AFL) and club leader for the Melbourne Demons.

Working within social media for 14 years now, Tyson has led the Australian Football League’s social media strategy over the past decade - from social’s infancy through to today where social plays a central role in almost all storytelling, products and events.

Tyson is a passionate believer in the ability of tech, innovation and new media to more deeply connect fans with the sports they love, to show a different side to the people behind the game, and to drive business outcomes.

Growing up in the country and with a background in community sport, Tyson believes strongly in the power of new media to take elite sport into the hands of fans anywhere and anytime, but also to amplify the unique stories emerging from the grassroots level.

Gavin Kirkman has served the PGA of Australia and its members for more than 15 years, including the past six as Chief Executive Officer. The PGA owns and operates the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia which exists to provide the best playing pathways to Australasian golfers, along with representing more than 2,400 plus vocational members who are charged with growing and servicing the game of golf in Australia and globally.

With more than 35 years’ experience in the golf industry, Gavin is committed to innovation and changing the perception of the game.

Collaboration has been a major focus for Gavin having built strong global relationships through the PGA World Alliance, the International Federation of Tours, the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour, along with working together with the peak bodies in Australia. The PGA of Australia has recently increased its collaboration with the WPGA Tour through providing shared services, while the partnership between Golf Australia has flourished under Gavin's leadership, highlighted by the move of the PGA's head office to the Australian Golf Centre as both organisations strive to make golf a sport for all and a fun sport for life.

Prior to working at the PGA, Gavin’s career has seen him in senior management roles at coveted golf clubs, facilities and brands, including senior executive roles with Panasonic, Club Corp and Morgan Stanley, Royal Pines and Lakelands Golf Club.

Cindy Hook has over 35 years of leadership experience in professional services with Deloitte, including more than seven years as a CEO. She has extensive global experience having lived and worked in the United States, Australia and Singapore. Cindy is known for her growth-focused leadership, her ability to drive transformative change and her track record of building strong, collaborative leadership teams that create innovative approaches for winning and delivering business.

From 2015 to 2018 Cindy served as the CEO of Deloitte in Australia with full P&L responsibility driving 15% CAGR in revenue during her tenure. In this role she initiated the integration of the firm across 19 geographies in Asia and was elected by her peers as the inaugural CEO of Deloitte Asia Pacific where she executed this vision and led a team of over 4,000 partners and 70,000 professionals. She was responsible for setting and delivering the ‘Tilt to Asia’ strategy that drove 50% growth from US$6B to $9B over her four-year term, through the global pandemic. She achieved this by driving regional investments and acquisitions, scaling technology consulting and cyber solutions, and deepening relationships with Deloitte’s clients and key alliance partners. In her CEO roles, she led significant growth of the advisory practices, including technology-enabled business transformation, ESG and climate change, end to end M&A amongst others.

Prior to becoming CEO, Cindy led Deloitte’s Audit & Assurance practice in Australia. During this time, Deloitte was named the ‘AFR/CFO Audit Firm of the Year’ and won an ‘Australian Design Award’ for its transformative and innovative audit services by leveraging advanced technology and analytics. Cindy understands the complexities of leading a highly regulated business and has a strong background in accounting and auditing having served as an audit partner for over a decade.

Cindy has extensive governance experience. As CEO she served as a member of the Deloitte Asia Pacific Board and the Deloitte Australia Board for over seven years, giving her a CEOs perspective on the benefits of a constructive relationship between the Executive and Board. Outside Deloitte, she is a member of the Economic Development Board of Singapore and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF). She currently serves as the Chair of the recently established GBRF USA which is building awareness and raising funds in the US. She was also a founding member of the Asia Corporate Leadership Council, a group of business and industry leaders who work together to advance thinking and know-how on corporate purpose and to positively influence regional business practices and policies.

Cindy understands the importance of building inspired leaders and creating purpose-led organizations and has demonstrated this across all aspects of her leadership. Cindy sees diversity, inclusion, and gender equality as business imperatives. As the Chair of Deloitte’s Asia Pacific Inclusion Council, she made these priorities across the region and took tangible steps to accelerate the pace of change. Cindy is an International Member of Chief Executive Women (Australia), a non-profit advocating diversity and women leadership and served as a special advisor to the Champions of Change Coalition, a coalition of Australian leaders redefining men’s role in furthering gender equality.

Cindy loves the outdoors and has a passion for skiing, hiking, and performance training. She and her husband Chris are the proud parents of two young men.

Elis is responsible for leading Goldman Sachs’ Sports Advisory Business in EMEA, whilst also covering additional locations around the world and working very closely with colleagues and businesses in the US. In doing so, Elis covers a large portion of the Global Sports ecosystem across all major Sports, including Federations, Leagues, Franchises and Clubs, as well as Sports Media, Entertainment and Tech business’.

Elis joined Goldman Sachs in 2010 and was named managing director in 2017.

Leigh has worked within the Sports & Entertainment sector for 20+ years, and is currently Head of the Growth Intelligence Centre / The Growth Distillery at News Corp (NCA), a dedicated centre-of-excellence focused on consumer research and audience intelligence to drive growth for NCA and its partners. Leigh is also currently part of NCA’s News Sport Network’s Leadership Team.

Prior to his time at News, Leigh was heavily involved in several Tier 1 Australian Sports Media Rights deals including the NRL’s revised Media rights negotiations during the shutdown to relaunch the 2020 NRL season, as well as working on behalf of Telstra in their AFL 2017-22 Broadcast Rights.

Andrew Every was appointed as Executive General Manager Strategy and Transformation of National Rugby League in June 2021. Andrew is serving as Acting Head of Participation, Pathways and Community since July 2021.

Prior to joining the NRL Andrew spent 7 years across media and sports roles at Telstra and 10 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Andrew is an experienced executive with expertise across consumer and digital media products including Subscription Television, Video and Audio Streaming Products, Publishing and Telecommunications. His experience includes revenue responsibility for over $700m of consumer media revenues. Andrew has deep experience in corporate and business unit strategy both as a consultant and as an executive.

At the National Rugby League Andrew is responsible for supporting the Commission and NRL Executive in developing and executing transformational strategy, growing participation across Australia in partnership with NSWRL and QRL, strengthening pathways to our elite game, Indigenous strategy, the NRL’s Reconciliation Action Plan and Community programs.

Outside of work Andrew is a board member of disability services charity Solve-TAD and volunteers as a surf life saver. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Commerce from UNSW, is a Member of the Institute for Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at the Sloan School of Business Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Brendan McClements became Chief Executive Officer of Visit Victoria in December 2019.

His appointment followed local and international leadership positions held with commercial organisations and government entities across a range of sectors, including sport, major events, financial services and food and beverage.

Before joining Visit Victoria, Brendan was the Global Head of Events for TLA Worldwide (2016-2019) and the CEO of the Victorian Government’s Victorian Major Events Company (VMEC) for nine years from 2007.

During Brendan’s VMEC tenure, Victoria acquired the 2015 Cricket World Cup, 2015 International Champions Cup (football) and Melbourne Winter Masterpieces Exhibitions at the National Gallery of Victoria, with each of these major events and attractions reinforcing Victoria’s acclaim as a global events and arts capital. Brendan also initiated and oversaw the creation of Victoria’s renowned ‘White Night’ event.

As General Manager of Corporate Affairs at the International Cricket Council (London and Dubai) from 2002 to 2006, Brendan led global communication, stakeholder engagement and reputation management strategies for the game’s governing body. Before that, at Cricket Australia (CA), he guided the sport through myriad on-and-off-field issues and opportunities, including cricket’s corruption crisis, as the administrator’s Head of Public Affairs (1999 – 2002).

Brendan was also the Australian Marketing Manager at British-headquartered insurance multi-national, Norwich Union (now Aviva), and was part of the corporate affairs team at Australian beverage giant, Carlton & United Breweries. He began his career at Basketball Australia.

Brendan holds a Bachelor of Arts (Communication and Media Studies) from RMIT University.

Janet is the head of Gilbert + Tobin’s Disputes + Investigations practice in Melbourne.

Janet is recognised as one of the pre-eminent commercial litigators in Australia. Janet’s client portfolio includes global corporations, ASX top 50, governments and regulators.

Janet is the current President of the Council of Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria, the first woman to hold the position since the Gallery was founded in 1861. In 2015, Janet was made a Member of the Order of Australia for her significant service to the community through the arts, health and major events sectors and as a legal professional. She was inducted onto the 2015 Victorian Honour Roll of Women by the Premier of Victoria. Janet was named one of Australia’s 10 Most Influential Women in the Westpac and Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence Awards 2015 and won the category for Culture. Janet was previously named one of Australia’s 100 Most Influential Women in the Westpac Banking Corporation and Australian Financial Review ‘100 Women of Influence Awards 2012 in the category of Boards and Management.

Janet is also currently a director of Hostplus, on the Council of Newman College, The University of Melbourne and Patron of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation. Janet’s previous appointments include Deputy Chair, Victorian Major Events Company, Director of National Australia Day Council, Bell Shakespeare Company, Tourism Australia and President of the Victorian Arts Centre Trust.

Annabelle is the Head of Content Verticals for TikTok Australia & New Zealand where she is responsible for the development of content strategy and partnerships with creator communities and media publishers across multiple verticals, with a strong focus on sport.

Prior to this Annabelle worked in Content Insights & Marketing at Facebook APAC (now Meta), and during her early career - content development at the Seven Network, McAvoy Media, Warner Bros. International Television Production and Eyeworks Television.

A values-led sports executive, spearheading footballs national Legacy'23 plan, an inclusive strategy aimed at leveraging the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™.

In her role as Head of Women's Football, Women's World Cup Legacy & Inclusion at Football Australia, Sarah leads a team that is squarely focused on driving long lasting social and economic change for football, working with key stakeholders, in football, all levels of government, and the corporate sector to achieve this.

As an athlete for 20 years, and former CommBank Matilda, Sarah represented Australia at football’s top tier, including at the 2004 Olympic Games, the 2006 and 2010 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2007.

Beyond Sarah’s professional playing career, she transferred the skills developed as an athlete, into leadership roles in football, accumulating extensive experience in driving gender equity in governance. Sarah is qualified in driving high performing teams and building frameworks that create more inclusive environments for grassroots and elite level sport.

As an agent of change, Sarah brings unique and progressive insights, adopting a results driven approach to business, with people at the centre of all decisions.

Will Lopes is the Chief Executive Officer of Catapult, a role he has held since November 2019. As the former Chief Revenue Officer of Amazon subsidiary Audible, Will brings world-class technology and growth experience from one of the world’s most successful technology businesses.

Consistent with Catapult’s strategy, a key focus for Will is accelerating the development and international roll-out of Catapult’s unique platform, underpinning its elite sports performance technology portfolio.

As CRO at Audible, Will was responsible for revenue growth across the company and was a key leader on the executive management team responsible for overall business performance. His experience at Audible spanned 18 years and he was present through its various corporate structures, including as a NASDAQ-listed public company and through its acquisition by Amazon in 2008 as a significant subsidiary.

Jacqueline Comer serves as the Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of Areto Labs, a community engagement and content moderation software firm led by women. Areto Labs specialises in creating safe and welcoming virtual communities for sports organisations, utilising cutting-edge machine learning software to track, moderate, and counteract instances of social media abuse directed towards athletes, leagues and teams. Jacqueline is responsible for spearheading the company's product development and technology initiatives, and has recently obtained a master's degree focused on leveraging machine learning to detect micro-aggressions. Over the course of her 20-year professional career, Jacqueline has held diverse roles, including as a sports journalist, creative director, and product manager.

Dr Bridie O'Donnell graduated Valedictorian from the University of Queensland Medical School and was awarded the JRS Lahz prize the following year for Most Outstanding Intern at the Mater Adult Hospitals.

She competed as an elite rower and an Ironman triathlete while working as a junior doctor, and then gave up working full time to race in as a professional cyclist in Europe and the United States from 2008-2012, working part time every summer as an ICU Fellow and Orthopaedic assistant to fund her cycling career.

Bridie represented Australia three times at cycling world championships, and then returned home to Melbourne to work at the Epworth hospital as a behaviour change physician and provide dietary and exercise advice to breast cancer patients. In 2016, she broke the UCI Women's Hour World Record riding 46.882km at sea level.

In 2017 Dr O'Donnell was appointed the inaugural head of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation. Her role in the Victorian Government led the first office of its kind in Australia and directs investment into the community to level the playing field for women and girls in sport and recreation.

In 2018 she published 'Life and Death - a cycling memoir’ detailing her experiences as a professional cyclist in Europe and the United States and the challenges of being an elite athlete in a system with significant gender inequality and power imbalances.

In 2020 she joined the SBS commentary team for the Tour de France and in 2022 joined the team in France to cover both the men’s race and the inaugural women’s our de Frances Femmes.

In 2021 Bridie graduated with a Master of Public Administration at the Australian and New Zealand School of Government through Melbourne Business School.

During the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bridie took on four key roles across two departments in the Victorian Government, including supporting the event industry in re-opening after lockdowns and managing outbreaks in sensitive settings across the state including for residents in aged and disability care.

In August 2022, she was appointed as Executive Director of Strategy and Coordination for the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee. Victoria 2026 will promote access, inclusion and equal opportunity across all aspects of the unique, regional Games delivery model, from the promotion of para athletes to commitment to workforce and volunteer inclusion.

Lisa is an internationally recognised business and thought leader and author of the book Inspired INC. become a company the world will get behind. She believes in and is inspired by the best version of the corporate sector.

As a former Vice President at Nike, she has worked internationally for almost 2 decades holding global leadership roles across Apparel, Corporate Strategy, Sales and Retail, the Nike Foundation and Nike’s global community impact.

As founder and chief strategist of Inspired Companies, Lisa and her team now support companies on how to transform into purpose led, resilient and inspired brands, capable of navigating the pace and complexity of the 21st Century marketplace.

Inspired Companies was created as a benchmark for the best version of the corporate sector. Companies that outperform their peers financially because they pursue and deliver big exciting ideas - in harmony with people and planet.

Marne Fechner was appointed Chief Executive of AusCycling in December 2020 and previous to this, was the CEO of Netball Australia following a long career in various state and national roles within the sport of netball.

Marne was appointed CEO of Netball World Cup Sydney 2015 and delivered the most commercially successful World Cup in the history of the event.

Formerly Head of Netball Australia’s Commercial, Marketing and Events Team, Marne has more than doubled Netball Australia’s commercial turnover since 2007 and was awarded the CEO Magazine Sport Executive of the Year in 2016.

Marne will now lead a team that will drive evolutionary change in the sport of cycling, with a mandate to develop AusCycling into one of Australia’s most successful sporting brands.

As Vice President, Marketing & Communications, NBA Asia, Sheila Rasu is responsible for the overall marketing, communications and social responsibility efforts for the NBA across Asia-Pacific.

Rasu has more than 20 years of experience in public relations and marketing. Before joining NBA Asia in May 2011, Rasu served as Senior Vice President of Fleishman-Hillard in Singapore, where she oversaw its consumer and healthcare practice and spearheaded various large-scale regional campaigns. Prior to that, Rasu held positions with Fulford PR and Mission Hills Group.

Throughout her career, Rasu has received a variety of professional distinctions including being named to Marketing Magazine’s ‘Rising Personalities under 35’ list, Top 50 Asia Women Leaders and earning Marketing Magazine’s ‘2010 Digital Campaign of the year award’.

Rasu earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Southern California. She resides in Hong Kong with her husband Kenny, her son Skai, and two rescue dogs.

Manoj Badale was born in Maharashtra but educated in England and studied economics at Cambridge University. Since 1998 he has co-founded over 40 digital businesses, through the venture-building group, Blenheim Chalcot (BC), that he co-founded with his business partner Charles Mindenhall.

A cricket lover, he has been investing, with BC, in cricket since 2006. In 2007, he set up a consortium to purchase the Rajasthan Royals IPL franchise and the team won the inaugural tournament in 2008 – although sadly that remains the only tournament win!

As the only English-based lead owner of an IPL franchise, Manoj has a unique perspective on the business of cricket, and sport generally, and advises a number of major sporting bodies.
Manoj’s IPL and business experience, which he has documented in the book ‘A New Innings’, provides an interesting perspective on the field of business and sport innovation.
He is also heavily involved in charitable activities, particularly as founding chairman of the British Asian Trust, whose found patron is King Charles III. He was awarded an OBE in 2018 for services to the economy and charity.

Andrew Parsons is a server of the Paralympic Movement and the athletes. He has been working in the Movement since 1997, starting as an intern at the Brazil Paralympic Committee and subseuqenlty rising the the ranks to serve as President of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee from 2009-2017 as well as President of the Americas Paralympic Committee from 2005-2009. He was elected the IPC President in 2017 and was re-elected for a second-term end of last year. Under his leadership, we saw two incredible Games in Tokyo and Beijing, delivered during challenging COVID times, and the launch of #Wethe15, a campaign to transform the lives of the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities who represent 15% of the global population.

A full list of his career in the Paralympic Movement:

Sports administration
Secretary General of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (2001-2009); Secretary General of the Americas Paralympic Committee (2002-2005) and Chef de Mission, Deputy Chef de Mission and Team Manager of Team Brazil in several international competitions such as Paralympics Games, Parapan American Games, World Championships and World Cups; President of the Americas Paralympic Committee (2005-2009), responsible for the III Parapan American Games Rio 2007 - first edition of the Games jointly organised to the Pan American Games; President of the IPC Regions’ Council (2006-2010); Member of the National Sports Council of Brazil (2009-2013); Member of the Executive Board of the Rio 2016 Bid Committee; Member-at-large of the IPC Governing Board (2009-2013); Chairperson of the IPC Paralympic Games Committee (2009-2013); President of Brazilian Paralympic Committee (2009-2017); Vice-president (2013-2017) then President (2017-) of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)

Membership of other associations
Chair of the Board of Trustees, Agitos Foundation (2017-); Foundation Board member, World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) (2018-); Board member, International Olympic Truth Foundation (IOTF) (2018-)
 
Awards and distinctions
International Fair Play Committee (CIFP) Diploma in recognition for gesture of fair play demonstrated during Paralympic Games Athens 2004; the Order of Rio Branco in the grade of Commander, by the Republic of Brazil (highest distinction offered by the country) (2012); the Order of Ipiranga, by the State of São Paulo (highest distinction offered by that state) (2015); Leader in Sports Management by the Brazilian business community (LIDE) (2013 and 2014); Medal of Sport Achievement by the Brazilian Army (2017).

Chatri Sityodtong is the Founder and CEO of ONE, Asia's largest global sports media platform with a worldwide broadcast to 179 countries.

According to Nielsen, ONE ranks amongst the world's top 5 biggest sports media properties (alongside NBA, F1, Champions League, EPL, etc) in terms of viewership and engagement. Through its marquee sports properties (ONE Championship and ONE Esports) and its passionate millennial community, ONE is a celebration of Asia’s greatest cultural phenomena, Martial Arts and Gaming, and the deep-rooted Asian values of integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, discipline, and compassion. ONE is on a mission to unleash real-life superheroes, tell stories, celebrate values, ignite dreams, inspire nations, and change the world.

Sityodtong is a self-made entrepreneur and lifelong martial artist from Thailand. He is also the latest star of The Apprentice, the award-winning, global reality TV show on Netflix. His rags-to-riches life story has inspired millions around the world on BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, and other major media. He was named Asia’s King of Martial Arts by the Financial Times, and Asia's 2nd Most Powerful Person in Sports by FOX Sports. Business Insider also ranked him as one of Asia's top 100 business leaders.

Inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame, Sityodtong has over 35+ years of martial arts experience. He is a certified senior Muay Thai instructor under the legendary Kru Yodtong Senanan. He also holds a Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Master Renzo Gracie.

Chatri Sityodtong holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Tufts University.

As Managing Director of NBA Asia, Ramez Sheikh oversees development and expansion of the NBA in Asia-Pacific, including Australia, India, Japan, Philippines, South Korea and other countries across Southeast Asia and Oceania. Sheikh directs all of NBA Asia and NBA India’s business groups, including media distribution, marketing and marketing partnerships, merchandising, events, digital media, and gaming. Sheikh reports to NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum.

Sheikh, who was appointed Managing Director of NBA Asia in 2022, previously served as Vice President and General Manager of Global Content & Media Distribution, where he played an instrumental role in the expansion of the NBA media and content business in Asia-Pacific, managing key relationships with broadcast, digital and social media partners and overseeing the launch of various new media, content and direct-to-consumer initiatives in the region.

Prior to joining the NBA in 2016, Sheikh was the Vice President of Network Distribution and Development at NBCUniversal APAC, a subsidiary of the Comcast Corporation, where he was charged with the strategy and deployment of its linear channels and branded destinations. Before that, Sheikh held various digital and network distribution and program syndication roles at The Walt Disney Company’s Disney Media Distribution division.

A graduate of the University of Virginia, Sheikh currently resides in Hong Kong.

Serial entrepreneur and businessman Larry Kestelman has followed his limitless passion for people and business and has a reputation for taking on passion projects for close to 30 years developing an impressive business portfolio over an expansive variety of industries.

Born in Odessa Ukraine, Larry is a migrant success story, becoming one of the most prosperous self-made
businessmen in Australia and regular inclusion on the under and over 40’s AFR Rich List. One of the passion
project was founding the telecommunications provider Dodo in 2001, before selling the business in 2013.

Larry is the Executive Group Chairman of the LK Group, which oversees close to 20 businesses in property,
private equity, technology, sport, marketing, hospitality and retail. The six star development Capitol Grand
in South Yarra is the jewel in the LK Property Group crown. Within Capitol Grand you find Yugen Dining and
Omnia Bistro & Bar which is part of LK Hospitality, both restaurants have been awarded two hats in 2023.

In 2015 Larry took ownership of the National Basketball League which has grown from strength
to strength and now includes 10 teams across Australia and New Zealand. The newest team the
Tasmania JackJumpers who play their home games at the recently completed MyState Bank Arena that
the LK Group renovated and will manage for the next 50 years. LK Group are proud to be revitalizing
the MyState Bank Arena along with the surrounding Wilkinson’s Point precinct opposite the famous Mona.

Larry still retains a minority owner of Melbourne United Basketball Club. He’s supported the team
for over a decade and has been instrumental in achieving record memberships and game attendance
for the club. The NBL itself has celebrated breaking records season on season. LK Group also owns
sportswear brand First Ever who provides uniforms for the league and custom uniforms for grassroots clubs
around Australia as well as investing in businesses leveraging the sporting connection.

Larry’s passion for business solutions has led to rapid growth for the outsourced solutions provider
Acquire BPO with over 7,500 people across Australia, Philippines and Dominican Republic, the expansion
of the human resources service provider Wall Street, performance marketing agency Frankly, virtualised networking systems provider Saisei and the establishment of Petra Industries. Petra brings together leading building material brands including Signorino, Multiform and Woodcut.

Queens Lane Capital is the private equity investment arm of the LK Group to invest in established
businesses looking to grow. In November 2020, QLC acquired the PAS Group which is inclusive of 166 retail
stores as well as a licensing business and saving some 1,000 local jobs in the middle of COVID19. By mid-2021
the portfolio had expanded to now include leading footwear & stylish apparel business Brand Collective,
the two companies have since been merged and now operate under Brand Collective.

2021 also saw Daniel’s Donuts becoming a part of QLC and thanks to their support, Daniel’s Donuts embarked
on a massive growth trajectory, opening new stores, bringing the total number in Victoria to 36.

Giving back to the community is important to Larry, which is why the LK Group has a strong Corporate Social Responsibility Plan headed up by Anita Pahor. The LK Group takes a considered and strategic approach to supporting community organisations with a particular focus on the needs of vulnerable and at-risk young people.
Larry is a big believer in his people and stands by the adage “you don’t know what you don’t know” and loves learning from everyone he meets. He surrounds himself with leaders and experts in their fields, fostering a culture of strong leadership, rewarding and celebrating people.

Life is Good!

Jay Monahan took office as the fourth commissioner of the PGA TOUR on January 1, 2017, having been appointed by the PGA TOUR Policy Board on November 7, 2016. He succeeded Tim Finchem, who held the position for more than 22 years starting June 1, 1994.

Monahan, who joined the PGA TOUR in 2008 as Executive Director of THE PLAYERS Championship, most recently held the position of Deputy Commissioner as of April 1, 2014 with Chief Operating Officer added to his title on April 1, 2016.

Prior to his move to the Office of the Commissioner, Monahan served as PGA TOUR Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, overseeing business development, corporate marketing and partnerships, title sponsor relations, retail licensing and media sales. Prior to being named CMO in March of 2013, Monahan was the Senior Vice President for Business Development where he was responsible for securing new sponsors and managing existing PGA TOUR title sponsorship relationships.

As commissioner of the PGA TOUR, Monahan serves on the board of directors of the International Golf Federation, the World Golf Foundation and the European Tour. He is also the co-founder and board member of Golf Fights Cancer, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for cancer-related charities and research organizations.

Before coming to the PGA TOUR, Monahan was executive vice president of Fenway Sports Group, leading the sales and business development team for the property ownership and representation divisions since 2005. Additionally, he directed FSG’s sponsorship sales operations for the Boston Red Sox, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, NASCAR’s Roush Fenway Racing and Boston College Athletics.

Prior to joining FSG, Monahan spent three years as executive director at IMG Worldwide, where he played an integral role in the development of the Dell Technologies Championship in Norton, Mass., and served as the first tournament director. Monahan began his sports sponsorship career as director of global sponsorships and branding programs at EMC Corporation. Previously, he worked at Arnold Advertising and Bob Woolf Associates.

Monahan graduated from Trinity College in 1993, where he was a four-year member of the golf team and a Division II Academic All-American his senior year. He earned a masters degree in sport management from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1995.

Jay and his wife, Susan, have two daughters, Sophie and Phoebe.

Catherine has – and does -wear many hats. Athlete. Coach. Local Committee Member. Volunteer. Anti-doping Officer. CEO. Board Director. Government Official. She’s the Mum of 2 wild little boys. Currently Catherine is a Board Director with the Queensland Rugby Union/Queensland Reds and CEO of Paralympics Australia.

Catherine is a passionate believer in the power of sport to unite, strengthen, inspire and catalyse change.

Her career in sport has straddled multiple countries, codes and levels of governance. Catherine returned to Australia having taken paths less travelled, acquiring a global cache of experience along the way.
In February 2022, she took up the role as CEO of Paralympics Australia, a role she says has it all. Purpose. Excellence. Social change. And the opportunity to play a role in shaping Australia's future through Brisbane 2032.

With over 15 years at the helm of high-profile marketing teams for Formula One, World Rugby, Rugby Australia and in various American sports, Marissa is a seasoned global sports C-suite executive. Always leading with the fan’s interests, she has launched global campaigns, rebuilt major federation websites, managed broadcast teams and created award winning content campaigns. Commercially focused, Marissa has helped to earn new partnerships and global sponsors in F1 and World Rugby, with fan engagement programs and ad campaigns that have sold out stadiums. Marissa is currently consulting for various sports and content organisations.

Stephanie is one of the Australia’s most accomplished sports media executives with nearly 25 years of experience in the industry.

Through her career she has overseen transformational commercial growth in Australian cricket and been a trail blazer in advancing women’s cricket, driving the broadcast coverage and equity agenda.

A member of the CA Executive Team, Stephanie has led the growth of Australian cricket’s global media rights sales over the past decade, including the recent renewals with the Foxtel Group and Seven Network and Disney Star in India, with her current portfolio also encompassing responsibility for major revenue streams including commercial partnerships, venue business, production, licensing and new rights.

James Rushton is the Founder and former CEO of DAZN Group the world’s largest sports streaming platform. Combining his passion for sports and technology James has led the creation of some of the most innovative and disruptive businesses in the sports media industry across both B2B and D2C verticals.
Previously, James held a variety of leadership roles at PERFORM Group including Chief Revenue Officer and Managing Director of APAC.
Having recently moved to Melbourne, James is an LP in Real VC where he is using his scale-up experiences to help grow some of the most exciting and innovative start-ups in Australia including the in-game advertising pioneers Livewire, to which James has recently been appointed as Chairman.

Charlotte Offord is the General Manager of NFL Australia and New Zealand, who is responsible for driving fan growth, football development and revenue generation. Charlotte has recently relocated to the Gold Coast from the UK, where she led marketing and fan growth for the NFL for over 10 years.

Prior to this role, Charlotte had a career in Sports Ticketing and Marketing at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as through Ticketmaster.

Roger Goodell is the eighth chief executive of the National Football League. He took office on September 1, 2006, 24 years after he joined the league where he held numerous football and business operations roles prior to being elected Commissioner.

Commissioner Goodell's priorities have focused on improving all aspects of the game for fans, players, and the clubs, while successfully growing the popularity of the NFL and its 32 teams around the world. In 2022, the NFL played its 100th international regular season game and its first regular season game in Germany. Global fan interest in the NFL has soared on all platforms, including the largest domestic audiences in television history, as well as enormous growth in digital and social media engagement.

Under Commissioner Goodell's leadership, the NFL has focused on improvements to player health and safety, benefits for retired players, the league's personal conduct policy, social responsibility programs, diversity in hiring practices, revenue sharing, stadium development, fan experience, media innovation, international development, officiating and rules changes. These enhancements have increased the quality, safety and enjoyment of the game.

Commissioner Goodell has guided the league to two 10-year transformative Collective Bargaining Agreements that secured labor peace for a generation with landmark agreements in 2011 and 2020. In the most recent agreement, the NFL and NFL Players Association agreed to increase benefits for all current and retired players, raise minimum player salaries, and expand active rosters to 55 players.

In 2020, he led the League through an unprecedented season amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. By adopting technology, transforming the offseason, preseason, and long-standing team schedules, and instituting broad safety protocols to protect players, coaches and staff, the league played all 256 regular season and 13 postseason games on schedule. The season culminated with a memorable Super Bowl, highlighted by the NFL honoring and providing 7,500 vaccinated health care workers free tickets to the season finale.

The following year, Commissioner Goodell successfully concluded long-term agreements with media partners Amazon, CBS, ESPN / ABC, FOX, and NBC to distribute NFL games on TV, cable and digital platforms through 2033.

He oversaw the first change to the NFL season format in nearly six decades with the reduction of the preseason to three games and increase in the regular season to 17-games for the 2021 season. That season also was notable for the return of the Super Bowl to Los Angeles after nearly 30 years when the Bengals and Rams met in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium. The latter took place following the return of NFL football to Los Angeles in 2016 after a more than two-decade absence.

Commissioner Goodell and his wife Jane are the proud parents of twin girls. He serves on the boards of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of New York City, National Football Foundation, GENYOUth Foundation, and The Paley Center for Media.

Sophie Moloney is an accomplished New Zealand media leader.

She joined Sky UK’s commercial legal team in 2003 and subsequently undertook a range of legal and commercial secondment roles in the Middle East with Sky News Arabia, Abu Dhabi Media, and OSN. During this time she also held a range of executive directorships.

Sophie returned to New Zealand with her family in 2018 to take up the role of General Counsel at Sky New Zealand, following which she enjoyed additional roles of Chief Legal, People and Partnerships Officer and Chief Commercial Officer before being was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in December 2020.

Sophie has a deep love of sport, arts and culture. With an All Black grandfather and growing up surrounded by, and participating in, sports and the arts, she has a deep appreciation for the important role that entertainment and sport plays in the communities of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Sophie is also passionate about leadership and development, particularly supporting young women leaders in business.

Kate is the President of the Melbourne Football Club and in 2021 led the Demons to their first premiership in 57 years. A highly experienced company Director, Kate is also Deputy Chancellor of Victoria University, Chair of the Metro Trains Advisory Board and member of the AFL Women’s Competition Committee. She is the former Chair of the Victorian Regional Channels Authority, Member of Ministerial Planning and Building Approval Process Review Board and Member of Ministerial Freight Advisory Committee.

Kate has extensive experience as a CEO and Senior Executive within the commercial, government and not-for-profit sectors. She was appointed CEO of the State Sports Centres Trust in 2022, is a former CEO of the Committee for Melbourne, Director of Deals, Investments & Major Projects for City of Wyndham and Chief Executive Officer of VicSport. As the former Executive Manager at Tennis Australia, Kate also led the master planning and commercial negotiations for the $1 billion dollar redevelopment of Melbourne Park – the home of the Australian Open Tennis Championship.

Kate is actively engaged as an independent expert commentator in the media and is a regular guest on the ABC News Breakfast Show and Q+A. An accomplished public speaker, Kate regularly presents at conferences, seminars, and business events.

Ian is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of SEEK. He commenced in both roles on July 1 2021.

Ian joined SEEK in April 2019 in the dual roles of Chief Operating Officer and CEO of Asia Pacific and Americas. Before joining SEEK Ian spent 11 years at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. He was CBA’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director from 2011 until 2018. Prior to joining CBA Ian was a partner of McKinsey and Company.

Ian is also the inaugural non-executive Chair of New Zealand Rugby Commercial, the commercial entity established by New Zealand Rugby, to house all its revenue-generating assets, in partnership with Silver Lake. He also has non-profit board roles in education and the performing arts, and advisory board roles in private equity and fintech.

Ian holds a Bachelor of Arts and Law (Honours) from the University of Auckland, and Masters of Law from Cambridge University (International Corporate Law) and New York University (International Relations).

Peggy O’Neal AO has a Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia. She also has a Diploma in Superannuation Management from Macquarie University. In December 2018, she was made an Honorary Doctor of Laws by Swinburne University for her work in gender equality and developing sport leaders.
In June 2019, Peggy was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her services to Australian rules football, financial services law and women in leadership roles.
Peggy has specialised in superannuation and financial services law for more than 25 years and is presently a consultant to Lander and Rogers and was previously a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills from 1995-2009.
Peggy has been president of the Richmond Football Club since October 2013, having served on the Club's board since 2005 and was president when the Richmond Football Club won the 2017, 2019 and 2020 premierships. In April 2018, Peggy was appointed by the AFL to its inaugural Competition Committee which advises the AFL Commission on issues regarding the design and future of the AFL competition.
In August 2014 she was appointed to chair the Victorian Minister for Sport's year-long Inquiry into 'Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation' and until June 2018 was convenor of the Minister's Change Our Game Champions program.
Peggy served for three years on Victoria's Ministerial Council on Women's Equality and in January 2020 became a director of VicHealth.
In June 2019, she was appointed to the Australian Institute of Sport Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement Advisory Committee and, from January 2020, has been a member of the AFL Mental Health Steering Committee. She is also co-chair of the Victorian chapter of the Minerva Network, which develops mentorships between leading Australian businesswomen and professional women athletes.

Peggy has been a non-executive director of several companies in the superannuation and financial services sectors. She is currently the chair of Vanguard Superannuation and is also a director of Infrastructure Specialist Asset Management.
Peggy is on the board of Women's Housing Limited, on the investment advisory panel of Home for Homes (an initiative of the Big Issue) and is an ambassador for micro-finance organisation, Opportunity International. She is also on the board of Australia Dementia Network Limited and the board of Fulbright Australia.
Peggy is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is also a member of Chief Executive Women and the Melbourne Forum.

Robyn Denholm is a leading global technology executive. She is Chair of the Board of Directors of Tesla Inc., Operating Partner of Blackbird Ventures and Chair of The Technology Council of Australia.

Robyn joined the Tesla Board in 2014 as an Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee. She was appointed to serve as Independent Chair of the Board of Directors in November 2018 and re-elected as Chair in 2020.

Robyn joined Blackbird Ventures as an Operating Partner in January 2021, in this role she works with the founders of later stage technology companies to help them scale and succeed.

In addition, Robyn is actively stewarding the Australian technology sector as Chair of The Australian Tech Council, which was launched in 2021, with an ambition to get one million people into Australian tech jobs by 2025.

Her global experience encompasses leadership roles across a range of leading companies, including Telstra, Juniper Networks, and Sun Microsystems. In her time at Telstra Robyn served as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Strategy, where she also served as its Chief Operations Officer.

In 2019 Robyn was awarded a Doctor of Business (Honoris Causa) from the UNSW. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia and holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Sydney and a Master's degree in commerce from the University of New South Wales and is a Member of Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Robyn is a passionate advocate for the technology industry as well as advancing a diversity of voices in the sector.

Todd has 20+ years of experience in leading and managing high growth FinTech businesses.

His passion is solution and business building and he has a proven record of taking de-novo concepts and fledgling businesses and developing them into industry warping leading positions. With a focus on helping tier-1 global financial services firms - the largest and most demanding customers in the most heavily regulated industry - manage their risk and regulatory obligations, quality of a team-wide execution were absolution requirements.

It is Todd's belief that execution will be the primary difference in who wins with blockchain, crypto, and machine learning technologies. New innovation is crucial, but without the right team that can execute, innovation can never achieve its potential.

Lior is a medical doctor with a passion for health technology, big data, DNA and personalization. He will be speaking on genetic testing for exercise prescription and injury prevention. Developing a cost-effective one-time test to help coaching staff personalize training and nutrition to help keep players injury-free

Libby is the Chief Executive Officer of Champion Data; a leading Sports Data, Technology and Broadcast team operating across diverse sports including thoroughbred racing, Australian Rules Football, Netball, Lacrosse and Golf. I joined Champion Data as Chief Operating Officer in 2015 after more than 7 years at Cricket Australia in Media Rights. Prior to that, I cut my teeth in government on the regulatory and policy side of digital, communications, broadcast and content. At Champion Data I have the pleasure of blending passions for inclusive and people-centred leadership, and sport, data, and technology.

A key aim of mine is to enable passionate, super clever people to help sport tell stories behind the game. I think it’s a privilege to work in sport and its ecosystem and I never take that for granted. I love hearing and learning from people’s stories as much as I enjoy enabling sports to bring theirs to life for fans. My wonderfully unruly children deserve a special mention for making me a better human being and showing me that kindness is my most important guiding value.

Pete Giorgio is a Principal in Deloitte’s Strategy practice and is the leader of Deloitte’s Sports practice. In his work with clients, Pete has helped with issues in a number of different areas including customer strategy, analytics, fan engagement/experience, growth strategy, innovation, technology, and organization excellence.

Pete joined Deloitte after spending 12 years with Monitor Group (a boutique strategy firm) and multiple IT strategy and development consulting firms. Prior to that, Pete served in the United States Air Force, achieving the rank of Captain.

Pete earned a B.A. in Computer Science from Amherst College where he was a four year varsity basketball player, three year starter, and still holds the single game rebounding record.

Pete currently lives in Belmont, MA with his wife and two children. He spends his time coaching youth basketball, fishing, cooking, pretending to still be competitive in various men’s basketball leagues, and digging holes in golf courses with his four iron.

Sports marketing professional with extensive experience from 25 years involvement in the business of sport across the UK, North America and Australasia.

Over 17 years in London Bart had several leadership roles as Executive Chair, Group CEO and Group COO at sports marketing agencies including TLA Worldwide, Chime Group plc’s CSM and Essentially Group plc. In 2019 he started a boutique events agency, Left Field Live, working with blue chip rights holders to take their content to new markets of strategic importance, with a focus on Asia Pacific and North America.

Bart moved from London to Melbourne in 2013 where he lives today with his wife and two children. For the first seven years in Australia he was a shareholder and Chairman of the NRL club Melbourne Storm and Super Netball team Sunshine Coast Lightning, finishing up those roles in May of 2020 to reconnect with his more than twenty years of work in rugby union.

Since May of 2020 Bart has been a member of the New Zealand Rugby Board, served as a New Zealand Rugby representative on World Rugby Council and an elected member of the World Rugby EXCO board. From August 2020 Bart has been a director of Rugby World Cup Limited, the arm of World Rugby tasked with the commercialisation and delivery of Rugby World Cups, both fifteens and sevens.

Bart has a first class global sports network with expertise ranging from broadcast rights, constitutional reform, major events promotion and delivery, high performance, commercial program development, player contracting, financial and data analytics.

A former practicing sports and commercial lawyer, with a BA and LLB from Otago University, a Masters in Commercial Law (Hons) from Auckland University, Bart had also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2010, (AMP 179).

Eddie is an accomplished businessman and one of Australia’s most acclaimed media personalities, with over 40 years’ award-winning experience.

In roles ranging from CEO of the Nine Network to top rating radio show host, hosting rating blockbusters including The Footy Show and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, live sport caller of the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, Melbourne Grand Prix, AFL Grand Final, McGuire is undisputedly regarded as one of the major influencers on the Australian media landscape.

Off the air McGuire owns one of Australia's fastest growing independent media production companies, JAM TV a division of McGuire Media, that produces sports and entertainment programs across all platforms of media around the world.

McGuire was President of the Collingwood Football Club for 23 years and led the Magpies to be one of the most successful sporting clubs on and off the field in the country.

McGuire was the inaugural President of the Melbourne Stars 20/20 Cricket Club helping establish the Big Bash League into one of the fastest growing sports and television products in the world.

Amongst his philanthropic leadership roles, he is Chairman of the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Foundation. He served on the Board of Victorian Major Events Company for 15 years at a time when Victoria was named the International Sports City of the decade. He is now on the Board of Visit Victoria.

Catherine Murphy is a presenter and journalist with ABC TV and radio. She presents sports news on ABC News Channel as well as News Breakfast. She's also a regular contributor on 'Offsiders' and co-hosts 'Saturday Morning Sport' on ABC Radio Melbourne with Matt Preston.

Lisa Walton works in Deloitte Digital at the intersection of human centred design, customer and digital strategy, and innovation. She has over 20 years’ experience working for global technology businesses, agile start-ups and digital consultancies here in Australia, NZ, UK and Singapore.

Lisa’s ability to navigate complex challenges and unleash the potential of teams was founded in her career as an elite Athlete, she competed at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games for the NZ hockey team the Black Sticks and won bronze at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. She is also the Executive Co-Chair of the Pride Pillar nationally at Deloitte.

Eyal brings to Track160 over 20 years of global experience in developing and executing strategies for growing business and operations from inception to large scale success. Prior to assuming the CEO position at Track160, Eyal held multiple senior executive positions such as General Manager at Gefen Technologies, Chief Revenue Officer at Perion (NSDQ: PERI), VP Business Development at SupportSpace (acquired by BestBuy, NYSE: BBY) and others.

Outside of running a successful tech company, Eyal practices many outdoor sports including competing in Triathlons, scuba diving and windsurfing.
Eyal holds a B.Sc in Industrial Engineering and Management from Tel Aviv

David Hill has spent a lifetime in the medium as a journalist, news anchor, documentary producer/director, Emmy Award-winning sports producer and executive, network chief and now, critically-acclaimed independent producer.

Hill has served as executive producer on many of the world's most prominent television programs, from the Oscars to the Super Bowl to American Idol, and holds numerous patents for production innovations. His creations include football's on-field first down marker and the now ubiquitous constant score and clock graphic (commonly known as the Fox Box).

In 2015, Hill launched Hilly, Inc., and the production company's first undertaking was to produce the 88th Oscars™ which aired on ABC in February 2016, receiving critical acclaim. In 2016 and 2017, Hill produced Alibaba Group's prestigious 11.11 Global Shopping Festival Countdown, as the international e-commerce giant sought to elevate its flagship event to new heights. This past November, the televised gala, held in Shenzhen, China, featured a number of international luminaries, including Nicole Kidman, Pharrell, Jessie J, Maria Sharapova, Real Madrid icon Luis Figo and renowned pianist Lang Lang, and Alibaba set a new Singles' Day record, posting over $25 billion in sales.

Hill was busy with other projects as well in 2017. Earlier in the year, he began advising F1 CEO Chase Carey, his former superior at FOX, on the global racing circuit's television production and was recently hired fulltime to update the sport's multi-platform presentation and offerings. Last summer, Hilly, Inc. and Barry Hearn's Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) co-promoted the U.S. Masters in Las Vegas. The tournament, televised by FS1, represented the first time the PDC World Series of Darts hosted an event in the U.S.

Hill, Australian by birth and naturalized American by choice, began his distinguished career as a 17-year-old copy boy at the Daily Telegraph in Sydney. Later, he became a television journalist, in front of and behind the camera, followed by a period as a documentary producer/director. Eventually, Hill shifted to live television production with Australia's 7 Network, followed by a move to sports at the Nine Network, working closely with the owner, Kerry Packer, creating The World Series of Cricket and Channel 9's Wide World of Sports.

In 1988, Rupert Murdoch lured him to England, hiring him to help launch Sky Television, Britain's first satellite distributed television service. He then became Executive Producer of Eurosport, the first pan-European sports service. Following that effort, Hill was responsible for the creation of Sky Sports, which, with the addition of the English Premier League, became a critical division of British Sky Broadcasting.

After the fledgling FOX network gained the rights to televise the National Football League's prestigious NFC package in late 1993, Mr. Murdoch dispatched Hill to the U.S. to serve as the first President of FOX Sports. Hill launched an innovative, fully functional major U.S. television network sports division in just eight months. Over the next 20 years he also directly or indirectly oversaw the launch of several media outlets, including FOX Sports Net, FOXSports.com, Big Ten Network, FOX Sports 1 and others.

In 1996, with FOX running in fourth place behind ABC, CBS and NBC in prime time, Hill was appointed its Chairman, and within three years, with shows like Ali McBeal, Family Guy and When Animals Attack, the network jumped to No. 2 overall and No. 1 in the key adult 18-49 demographic.

His next challenge came when News Corporation purchased the satellite video provider DirecTV, and Hill was appointed President, Entertainment in 2005. There, he developed enhanced viewing experiences such as NFL Sunday Ticket SuperFan and NASCAR HotPass.

During his time at the FOX network and at DirecTV, Hill continued running FOX Sports, which eventually grew into the FOX Sports Media Group in the U.S., later expanding worldwide.

For more than 20 years, Hill oversaw thousands of events aired by FOX Sports, and it's affiliated national and regional channels, including NFL Super Bowls (6), MLB World Series (14), NHL Stanley Cup Finals (5) and NASCAR's Daytona 500 (8). He also created and served as Executive Producer of countless studio shows, including FOX NFL SUNDAY, the most-watched NFL pregame show since its debut in 1994. Many of the techniques and innovations he introduced upon launching FOX Sports ushered in a modern era of sports television production.

In 2011, Hill shifted the lion's share of his focus to entertainment television when he was appointed executive producer of the long-running hit series American Idol, which he oversaw for three seasons, as well as running the National Geographic Channel.

Hill was described by Murdoch, for whom he worked for almost 30 years, as a "dynamic and imaginative leader who has changed the experience of nearly all major sports on three continents. Whether launching Sky Sports, the FOX network, FOX Sports or our regional sports networks, we owe him an enormous debt."

In 2017, Hill became the first executive/producer since Roone Arledge in 2001 honored with the Pete Rozelle Radio/Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Sports Video Group's Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2014. He also received Lifetime Achievement honors at the 63rd Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards in 2012, and at the New York Festivals Television & Film Awards in 2016. He currently sits on advisory boards for the Professional Fighters League, the Association of Tennis Professionals, Southern California Public Radio, INVIVO Media Group and Planetary Resources, a space exploration company.

Hilly, Inc. is currently involved in the development of a film (based on the life of Queen Isabella of Spain) and several television projects, ranging from eSports for ESL to a prime-time network game show. Earlier this year, the company produced and promoted the Masters Darts Championship in Las Vegas, the first World Series of Darts tournament ever held in the United States.

Michael Miller was appointed Executive Chairman Australasia of News Corp Australia in November 2015.

He has over 3 decades of experience working in senior executive roles in the media industry, most recently as the CEO of the publicly listed APN News and Media (now HT&E).

Michael is a former CMO of News Limited, and the Herald and Weekly Times, and has led media businesses in New South Wales, South Australia, New Zealand and Asia in the radio, digital, out-of home and publishing categories.

He is currently the Chairman of the Premium Content Alliance, the industry body representing Australia’s leading broadcasting, publishing and digital companies and he is a Director of REA Group and Foxtel.

Michael is a former Director of Fox Sports Australia, SKY Television Network (NZ), the Committee for Sydney and Warratahs Rugby.

Simon Cummins is the Global Head of Odgers Berndtson's Sports, Gaming & Media Practice placing senior leaders into all major Sports organisations and International Federations for the past 18 years. Prior to Odgers Berndtson, Simon was a Director of GEMS schools and a Director at Gabbitas. He was also a Headmaster for ten years and whilst at Millfield he was Head of the Prep and a member of the Management Group for all three Millfield Schools and Millfield Enterprises.

Simon’s non-executive and board experience has included a NGB, PR Agency, hospitality provider, experiential marketing agency, several schools and a Leadership Development Organisation. Simon currently Chairs the national charity, Sported and the digital marketing agency WePlay. Simon is an accomplished sportsman, having played rugby and cricket to a high standard. Skiing, cycling, sailing and golf now dominate his spare time. Simon was educated at Borough Road College, London and Bath Universities.

Rogers joined the VRC in September 2024. Her future plans for the Club include remaining a world class leader in racing and events, maintaining a strong Membership base and ensuring the horse is at the heart of all the initiatives the Club undertakes.

Rogers came to VRC from the AFL where she held the role of EGM Customer and Commercial, responsible for AFL’s revenue and fan divisions including corporate partnerships, AFL’s strategic Broadcast relationships across Seven Network, Foxtel and Kayo, Newscorp, Telstra and the league’s radio partners, advertising sales, licensing and retail, Club, Stadium & AFL memberships, premium hospitality products, ticketing and events, marketing, digital media including the AFL’s website (afl.com.au) and official App, Marvel Stadium and fan growth experience.

Prior to the AFL, Kylie was Managing Director of Mamamia, Australia’s largest women’s media company. She oversaw significant growth and profitability for the organisation in Australia and internationally.

Prior to these roles Kylie was one of Australia’s leading commercial and media executives, having worked at Network Ten for 17 years in a number of roles, including National Commercial Director.

Dr Ceri Evans is a consultant psychiatrist from New Zealand who helps leading organisations, businesses and teams perform under pressure. Ceri graduated in medicine with distinction from Otago University, completed a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University while playing professional football in the English Championship, and specialised in forensic psychiatry while completing a PhD in traumatic memory.

Ceri has served as Clinical Director of a Forensic Psychiatric Service, appeared as an expert witness in major court cases, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Now in private practice, Ceri has worked across the spectrum in high performance sport, corporate, medical, education and government environments. Author of Perform Under Pressure, he is perhaps best known for his work with the New Zealand All Blacks since 2010.

Ridley Plummer is leading the AO Metaverse strategy and overseeing the development of the Metaverse and Web3 projects for Tennis Australia.

Spearheading the AO Metaverse launch and AO Artball NFT's, Ridley is passionate about NFT and blockchain technology and its potential to evolve industries beyond physical events and into the virtual world.

Ridley has been instrumental in progressing the AO's launch into the Metaverse and has been with Tennis Australia and the AO for four years. Prior to this, Ridley had worked across a range of worldwide sporting events including the NHL and NFL Superbowl, working with Budweiser and Bud Light to activate in-stadium connected tech-product integrations.

Ridley's expertise extends from project management and product design to marketing innovation and event management, however, Ridley's passion lies in creating truly immersive experiences through the Metaverse, NFTs and Web3 to build brand awareness, drive meaningful connections and excite consumers about the future potential of these technologies.

Collette Roche is the Chief Operating Officer at Manchester United Football Club and in 2018 was listed by Vogue as one of the 25 most influential women working in Britain.

She joined from the Manchester Airport Group, where she was part of the Executive Team responsible for doubling the value of the group over a 5-year period, serving a variety of roles, including MD Manchester Airport and MAG Chief of Staff. Prior to this Collette held a number of senior leadership positions with several international companies including Ford Motor Group and Siemens.

Collette lives in Cheshire with her husband and two daughters.

Lien is the Singapore head of Gojek, a South-East Asian super app. Beyond ride-hailing,
Gojek’s footprint in Singapore includes Data Science, Business Analytics, Fraud
Analytics, Platform Cybersecurity as well as central functions such as Legal, HR,
Finance, Audit and Tax.

Prior to Gojek, he spent several years at McKinsey in both China and South East Asia
as the SEA Hd for Centre for Government. In 2016, he was deployed in Sierra Leone
for six months helping the government rebuild its healthcare sector post-Ebola crisis.
Lien started his working life in the Singapore Army as a Special Forces officer, leading
teams from squad size up to a battalion, and he led a platoon deployed for UN peacekeeping duties in East Timor within the AUS / NZ sector. He is a graduate of US Ranger school and Malaysia Command and Staff college, and has trained with various regional
Special Forces units.

Outside of work, he has summited Mount Everest and K2, run ultramarathons across
the Gobi desert, Namibian desert, Amazon jungle, skied to the North Pole, been solo
in the Arctic Circle in winter and endured climate extremes from -50°C to +50°C. He
also took part in XPD in Australia, an 800km adventure race that spanned the length
and breadth of Tasmania.

He is currently the President of Singapore Athletics and sits on other boards. Previously
he worked on strategy for Singapore Formula 1, sat on the Singapore Sporting Culture
committee, and has organised races and events of different formats including the
Singapore International triathlon and themed runs such as the RFYL Zombie race
amongst others.

He has degrees in mathematics from Berkeley and Cambridge, an MBA (with
Distinction) from the London Business School, and was the top foreign officer at
Command and Staff College, Malaysia

Bailey Mackey is of Ngati Porou, Tuhoe and Rongowhaata descent and fluent speaker of Maori. He has been a director on the New Zealand Rugby Board since 2020. Mackey is the Founder and CEO of Pango Productions – a privately owned film and television company, as well as the founder of tech startup and online production management tool KAHA.

Mackey is the representative for the Creative sector on the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council. In 2017, he was named Māori Entrepreneur of the Year. He holds a number of other key strategic governance positions and is a driven by the role sport can play in improving indigenous people’s social, cultural and economic outcomes

Patrick is the Chief Executive Officer of the Foxtel Group which has interests that extend from the traditional Foxtel business to advertising, sports production, entertainment creation and new streaming businesses. He was appointed to the role in January 2018 following his successful tenure as Chief Executive Officer of Fox Sports.

Since Patrick became Chief Executive Officer, the Foxtel Group has grown rapidly in streaming with the launch of Kayo Sports in late 2018 and the arrival of the highly anticipated entertainment streaming service, BINGE, in May 2020. Under his leadership, the Foxtel Group of today is a transformed technology-led streaming company with world-class sport and entertainment content, at the heart of the Australian home with more than 4.4 million subscribers.

Previously at Fox Sports, Patrick oversaw an extensive program of renewal and invigoration, including the rebranding of Fox Sports and the introduction of weekly entertainment shows that cemented the company’s reputation as the unrivalled home of sports and game-changing broadcast innovations.

In 2005, Patrick was appointed Executive Director of Content, Product and Delivery at Foxtel and was responsible for introducing a string of product and service innovations including Foxtel iQ, Mobile Foxtel, Foxtel On Demand and Ultra HD. In 2002, as Director of Digital, he lead the rebirth and reinvigoration of Foxtel as a digital product and reshaping its consumer proposition.

Patrick’s career in television began in 1998, at Southern Star Entertainment as Head of Non-Drama, before taking on the role of Chief Executive Officer, XYZ – the channel creation and production business – in 2000. At XYZ, Patrick successfully revitalised and relaunched the Lifestyle Channel, Channel [V], Music Max and The Weather Channel for the Foxtel and Austar platforms.

Professor Megan Davis is a professor of constitutional law and holds the Balnaves Chair in Constitutional Law and is Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous at UNSW Sydney. Professor Davis is an Acting Commissioner of the NSW Land and Environment Court.

Professor Davis was a member of the Prime Minister’s Referendum Council and the Prime Minister’s Expert Panel on the Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Constitution. Professor Davis is a globally recognised expert on Indigenous peoples' rights. Megan was an expert member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2011-2016) and is currently an expert member and Chair of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous peoples (2017-2022). In 2022 Megan will be a co-recipient of the Sydney Peace Prize for the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Todd is a venture capitalist and Managing Director at Techstars and General Partner of Wildcard Ventures investing globally in early stage sports, health and entertainment based startups. Techstars is one of the most active venture capital investors globally, making approximately 500 new investments per year in predominately seed stage start-up companies across the world. Wildcard Ventures is the venture capital arm of Tennis Australia and the Australian Open.

Prior to moving into venture capital, in 2013 Todd co-founded Unscriptd, a sports media technology start-up that was acquired in 2018 by Derek Jeter's media company, The Player’s Tribune. Prior to founding Unscriptd, Todd had a career in management consulting specialising in the sports and entertainment industry with clients such as Tennis Australia, Cricket Australia, National Rugby League, Australian Sports Commission, Adidas, Quiksilver and Nike. Todd is passionate about equality in sport and today sits on the Board of Directors for Netball Australia, the number one sport for women in Australia.

Julie Uhrman is the President and Co-Founder of Angel City Football Club (ACFC), Los Angeles' professional women's soccer team that debuted in 2022 in the National Women's Soccer League.

ACFC is one of the world's only majority female-founded and run professional sports teams. Uhrman founded ACFC with Academy Award-winning actress and activist Natalie Portman, technology venture capitalist Kara Nortman. She was most recently named a member of the 2023 Sports Business Journal (SBJ) Game Changer class. She was listed as one of the Ten Influencers of 2023 by SportsPro Media, one of the Most Influential People in Sports Business 2022 by the SBJ, a member of Adweek's 2021 and 2020 Most Powerful Women In Sports, one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company, and was named to the Creative 50 list by Ad Age. In May of 2023, Angel City Football Club was named Sports Team of the Year by SBJ and was the first women's team ever to win the category.

Julie is active in the Los Angeles sports and technology communities. She is a board member of the LA Sports and Entertainment Council, The Rose Bowl Institute, and the LA Sports Council, and an active executive in the LA Chapter of WISE (Women in Sports and Events), where she was recognized as a 2022 Women of Inspiration Honoree. She is also part of the DraftKings' All-Star Network as an Advisor to Drive by DraftKings.

Before ACFC, Uhrman served as the EVP and General Manager of OTT Ventures at Lionsgate, Head of Platform Business Development at Jaunt, a virtual reality content startup, and founder of OUYA, a pioneering Android-based game console.

• K2SM Inc. CEO 2022
• Dentsu Inc. Senior Vice President of 2018-2021
• DAZN. Board member 2018-2021
• Dentsu Sports Europe CEO 2007-2009
• Dentsu Inc. 1983-2021

Olympics
Worked closely with the IOC since 2001 on marketing and broadcasting rights bringing in TOP (The Olympic Partners) and broadcasters.
Worked on Advising for Local Organizing Committee.
Was fundamental in raising over US$3 billion dollars from local sponsorships for the recent 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

World Athletics (former IAAF)
Worked closely with WA since 2001 on Global Marketing and Broadcasting rights until the end of 2021.

World Cup Rugby
Worked with World Cup Rugby from 2019 on Sponsorships and Broadcasting.
Worked on Advising for Local Organizing Committee.
Was listed in at #19 by Rugby World in 2020 in their “50 Most Influential People in Rugby” edition.

FINA (Federation International de Natation)
Worked with FINA since 2003 on Global Marketing and Broadcasting rights until the end of 2021..

FIFA
Worked with FIFA since 2001-2021 on Marketing, Broadcasting and Hospitality rights for The World Cups and Club World Cups.

OCA (Olympic Council of Asia)
Worked OCA focusing on the Asian Games since 2002 handling the Marketing and Broadcasting rights.

Sarah Styles is the Director of the Victorian Government’s Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, charged with levelling the playing field for women and girls in sport and active recreation in Victoria.

Sarah was previously the inaugural Head of Female Engagement at Cricket Australia, and is passionate about unlocking the growth potential of women’s sport.

Sarah is also an owner of X-Golf, Australia’s leading network of indoor virtual golf centres.

James Johnson was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Football Australia in January 2020.

A qualified lawyer and retired footballer, James is a sports administrator who has represented governing bodies, clubs and players, including FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation and City Football Group.

Following his appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Football Australia, James released a vision for Australia’s largest participant, most diverse and globally connected sport. The XI Principles for the future of Australian Football (XI Principles For The Future of Australian Football | Football Australia), Australian football’s 15-year Vision is bold, progressive, and designed to unite and guide the sport’s decision making.

Since its release in 2020, James has been focused on bringing this vision to life and has already overseen meaningful change in Australian football, including:

• Successfully bidding to host the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup together with New Zealand. This will be the most significant event in Australian sport since the 2000 Sydney Olympics with some 1.5 Billion people expected to tune in from around the world.
• Transforming the governance of Australian football with the creation of a new model for its professional leagues (men and women) in December 2020, when he oversaw the completion of the ‘unbundling’ of the professional leagues from Football Australia. Now a separate entity, operated by the Australia’s professional football clubs, has been created and managed under the umbrella of Football Australia to run the daily operations of the professional leagues. This move has brought Australian football’s corporate governance and sporting structures in-line with the leading football nations around the world.
• The launch of our FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Legacy program (“Legacy 23”) which is aimed at increasing Australian football’s participation base (particularly women and girls); improving facilities across the country; maximizing opportunities to boost tourism and trade with our governments partners and empowering a new generation of women to lead on and off the pitch. Legacy 23 will ensure enduring benefits from hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 are enjoyed by generations to come.
• Successfully leading a commercial turnaround for the sport through its most difficult period. James has guided Football Australia with reimagine the value proposition of Australian football and completed record broadcast deals with CBSViacom Paramount+ and Network 10; record sponsorship deals with Commonwealth Bank Australia, Cadbury and Priceline. In the past 12 months, Football Australia has doubled its budgeted revenues with the sport now in a healthy position for future growth.

James is now leading key initiatives for Australian football including: the digital transformation of Australian football; creating new national-level competitions (men and women) and reimagining Australian football products as the game adapts to the evolving habits of football participants; introducing a new player transfer system; continuing to grow the commercial revenues for the sport; and building Australian football’s men’s and women’s national team (Socceroos and Matildas) into global iconic sports brands.

James has been a featured speaker at sports conferences across the globe and recently received international recognition through the Leaders Under 40 Awards which recognise the best global talent in the sports business.

Helen Milroy is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia but was born and educated in Perth. She is Australia’s first Indigenous doctor and child psychiatrist.

Currently Helen is the Stan Perron Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Perth Children’s Hospital and University of Western Australia and Honorary Research at the Telethon Kids Institute. Helen is the Chair of the Gayaa Dhuwi Proud Spirit Australia organisation and a board member of Beyond Blue. Helen has been on state and national mental health and research advisory committees and boards with a particular focus on Indigenous mental health as well as the wellbeing of children. From 2013-2017 Helen was a Commissioner for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and from 2017-2021 was a Commissioner with the National Mental Health Commission. In 2020, Helen was the joint winner of the Australian Mental Health Prize and named the WA Australian of the Year for 2021.

Helen is also an artist and published author and illustrator of children’s books. She has been shortlisted for several children’s literature awards and received the 2021 Whitley Award for best early childhood reader for Backyard Birds.

As Chief Marketing Officer, Heidi Browning leads the National Hockey League’s growth marketing strategy with a focus on digital, innovation and social media. With more than 25 years of marketing experience, including success with major brands in Silicon Valley, Browning brings a valuable mix of client, agency and media owner perspective to the NHL. Browning is known as a passionate pioneer in digital, mobile and social marketing and as an executive who advances new ideas and innovation within the industry. Inspired by the intersection of media, technology and culture, Browning studies generational trends in attention and brand engagement. Her experience marketing to Millennial and Gen Z audiences is essential for engaging young sports fans and will help guide her leadership of the NHL’s new fan database/analytics initiative.

Under Browning’s leadership, the NHL has experienced a 33% growth in followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. She spearheaded the introduction of eight new Twitter accounts, including six international language, @StanleyCup; @NHLGIFs; NHL Europe on Instagram; and TikTok, Weibo and WeChat accounts. As a result of a focused strategy on video content, video streams have increased 111% across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Since Browning’s arrival at the NHL, the League’s Instagram engagement has increased by 58%, while followers on that account increased 46%.

Prior to joining the NHL in 2016, Browning served as SVP, Strategic Solutions, at Pandora, overseeing the development of marketing experiences creating value for fans, bands and brands. Leveraging Pandora’s passionate fan base, first party data, and personalization, Browning’s team launched live music and content experiences pairing Fortune 500 clients with emerging and iconic artists.

As Senior Vice President of Client Solutions for Fox Interactive Media/MySpace, Browning evangelized the value of social media in the marketing mix and positioned brand communities as a new way to build audience, create engagement and establish a two-way dialogue between consumers and brands. She led the first in-depth consumer segmentation and ROI study for social media - Never Ending Friending, A Journey Into Social Networking, which quantified the impact of The Momentum Effect.

Browning is a sought-after featured speaker at industry conferences, including CES, SXSW, TEDx Women, Variety Entertainment Marketing Summit, Adweek and the Youth Marketing Summit, among others. Her honors include Adweek’s Most Powerful Women in Sports, Most Powerful Women in Music by Billboard and Forbes CMO Next among others.

Browning earned a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Colorado, Boulder and resides in San Francisco and New York.

Angela Ruggiero is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sports Innovation Lab, a fan intelligence and market research firm that exists to educate sports brands on who their fans are and how technology is changing their behavior. A four-time Olympian in ice hockey for Team USA, Ruggiero was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015. She served on the board of the International Olympic Committee from 2010-2018 and was the Chief Strategy Officer for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic bid.

She holds a B.A. from Harvard College, a M.Ed. from the University of Minnesota, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Andy Marinos joined Rugby Australia as Chief Executive Officer in February 2021.

For the five years previous, Marinos was Chief Executive of the Southern Hemisphere’s premier Rugby body, SANZAAR.

Marinos has also served as National Teams Manager, Acting Managing Director, and General Manager for Commercial and Marketing during his time at the South African Rugby Union (SARU) from 2008 to 2015.

Born in Zimbabwe, Marinos has broad experience in administrative roles internationally as well, including serving as Chief Executive of Newport Gwent Dragons in Wales as well as Chief Executive of Rodney Parade Stadium.

A former professional Rugby and Rugby League player, Marinos played for the Newport-based club 97 times and went on to represent Wales in eight Test matches.

Marinos also played Rugby League in Australia, having featured in one match for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 1996 as well as representing South Africa at the Super League World Nines in 1997.

Having moved himself and his family to Sydney, Marinos considers himself a proud migrant Australian.

Alan Gilpin is the Chief Executive Officer of World Rugby.

Alan leads World Rugby and the delivery of an ambitious strategic plan focused on the global growth of rugby, and making the sport more accessible and more relevant around the world. He is also responsible for the management of the globally-renowned Rugby World Cup brand.

Previously a lawyer, and with a strong track record in sport and business, Alan has been involved in the management and delivery of Rugby World Cup since 2001 in a number of roles.

Alan joined World Rugby from his previous role as Chief Operating Officer of official hospitality provider, Prestige Ticketing Ltd, where he oversaw the award-winning hospitality programme for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Prior to the London 2012 role, Alan spent nine years with IMG, including responsibility for commercial rights negotiation across Rugby World Cup 2003, 2007 and 2011.

Jeremy Loeliger is the Commissioner of the National Basketball League, having previously held the offices of Chief Executive Officer and General Manager.

Since his appointment in 2015, Jeremy has overseen the League’s emergence from the brink of bankruptcy to become a flourishing mainstream national sporting league that has captured the attention of basketball fans around the world.

In this period the NBL has undergone a major transformation and is now Australia’s fastest growing sporting league and widely regarded as the second best domestic basketball league in the world, after the NBA.

In his role, Loeliger has overseen the successful Next Stars program offering an alternative pathway for budding NBA superstars such as LaMelo Ball and Josh Giddey. The program has generated worldwide interest and enhanced the NBL’s status as a global entertainment product. He has also played a key role in establishing the NBL’s relationships in the NBA and China Basketball and building the league’s profile both domestically and globally.

Before joining the NBL, Loeliger was a partner of a national law firm, practising corporate and commercial law with a focus on mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets. In that time, he also carved out a successful sports law practice. He sat on the Executive Committee of the Victorian Chapter of the Australia China Business Council, is an Adjunct Fellow to Victoria University's Victoria Business Confucius Institute and is a champion of Sino-Australian trade and sports diplomacy.

Joe is an experienced founder with a history of success in media and technology. In 2015, he co-founded Brilio.net and led the business as Chief Executive Officer. Joe built Brilio into a leading, millennial-content publisher in Indonesia and a top-five, media website. In 2018, he exited Brilio through a sale to Kapanlagi Youniverse. Over the years, Joe has launched multiple businesses in Indonesia for clients through Seroja Partners, an Indonesian market expansion advisory practice he founded.

As SVP, Joe leads corporate development, corporate finance, strategic partnerships, and investor relations at Mobile Premier League (MPL). Prior to this role, Joe led international expansion as the head of the Indonesian business of MPL. Joe joined MPL in December, 2018.

About Mobile Premier League

MPL is currently Asia’s largest esports and skill gaming platform. With over 70 games across categories, such as fantasy, quizzing, esports and casual games on its Android and iOS apps, MPL is trusted by over 90 million users in India, Indonesia and the U.S. MPL also has multiple gaming studio and developer partners publish games on its platform.

Since its launch, MPL has been leading the esports revolution in India and Asia and recently forayed into the U.S. market. It has successfully launched Esports Arena to host fortnightly tournaments across marquee esports titles, such as Chess, World Cricket Championship and Pool, among others.

The company was founded by Sai Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra in 2018 and has since expanded its presence to over 5,200 cities and towns in India. MPL is also growing at a steady rate in Indonesia and the US.

MPL has a personnel strength of over 800 employees across offices in Bengaluru, India; Pune, India; Jakarta, Indonesia; Singapore, Asia; and New York, United States.

To learn more about Mobile Premier League, please visit www.mpl.us

Jeffrey Cole has been at the forefront of media and communication technology issues both in the United States and internationally for the past three decades. An expert in the field of technology and emerging media, Cole serves as an adviser to governments and leading companies around the world as they craft digital strategies.

In July 2004 Dr. Cole joined the USC Annenberg School for Communication as Director of the newly formed Center for the Digital Future and as a Research Professor. Prior to joining USC, Dr. Cole was a longtime member of the UCLA faculty and served as Director of the UCLA Center for Communication Policy, based in the Anderson Graduate School of Management. Cole founded and directs the World Internet Project, a long-term longitudinal look at the effects of computer and Internet technology, which is conducted in over 35 countries. At the announcement of the project in June 1999, Vice President Al Gore praised Cole as a “true visionary providing the public with information on how to understand the impact of media.” Twenty years into the project, the World Internet Project, through its unique data on Internet users around the world, is the leading, unrivaled international project examining the ways in which technology changes our lives.

Cole regularly presents trends and insights of the project to the White House, FCC, Congress, Department of Defense and heads of governments around the world. He has worked closely with the CEOs of GroupM, Ericsson, Telstra, Wesfarmers and others. On the advisory side, his long-term relationships have included Microsoft, Sony, Time Warner, AT&T, AARP, CBS, NBC, ABC, CPB, PBS, HP, Coca-Cola and many more as they learn to navigate the digital future. He also sits on Unilever’s (the world’s second largest advertiser) Global Digital Strategy Board.

In 2016 Cole was one of the founders of the Global Disruption Fund (GDF), a technology investment fund based in Australia (www.globaldisruptionfund.com.au). Cole is one of the members of the Investment Committee identifying innovative companies and those about to be disrupted, making investments based on his work. The Fund is now worth close to $1 billion and growing; it achieved a 40% return in its first year. Since 2017 he has written a popular and widely circulated column on disruption, media, technology and entertainment (www.digitalcenter.org/cole).

Under Cole’s leadership, the Center has conducted deep examinations of the entertainment, sports media, transportation and banking industries to identify where the next wave of disruption will occur. More than just identifying trends, the Center works closely with industry to create policies and make the concrete changes that will keep them competitive. That work includes all five (formerly six) motion picture studios, all four networks and now streaming companies, as well as sports networks, leagues, automotive companies and banks.

In the 1990s, Cole worked closely with the four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) dealing with television programming issues under an anti-trust waiver that allowed the networks to work together for the very first time. He issued annual reports to the television industry, Congress and the nation. Upon the release of the 1996 report, Cole held a joint press conference with President Bill Clinton, who referred to the Center for Communication Policy as “the premier educational institution setting trends in entertainment.” Nationwide there was unanimous praise for the quality of the reports and their contribution to the television content debate.

Cole has testified before Congress on television issues and has been a keynote speaker at more than 750 conferences on media and technology (many can be seen on YouTube). He has worked with the White House during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations on media and telecommunications issues. He regularly makes presentations across the U.S., Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

Cole was a member of the Executive Committee of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) from 1997 to 2001 and was the founding governor of the ATAS Interactive Media Peer Group. At UCLA, Cole taught over 35,000 students. In 1987 he received UCLA's Distinguished Teaching Award. In 2020 Cole received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor awarded to distinguished Americans including Presidents, Nobel Prize Winners and CEOs who exemplify a life dedicated to their community and the world at large.

Described as the ‘First Man of Sports’ in an article by SportzPower, India’s leading sports business publication, Ravi Krishnan is a key and prominent name in the business of Sports, Entertainment and Media in India. He has been awarded the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year in Service Business – Fitness’ award at the 5th edition of the Entrepreneur India 2015 Awards. Ravi was featured in Sports Illustrated at No. 27 in the 50 Most Influential People in Indian Sport (February, 2010). He was also featured in Business Today (2004) as one of India’s Top 25 Executives under the age of 40.

In April 2012, Ravi co-founded Stepathlon Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd. (SLPL), a global wellness company that aims to create an engage fans and communities across Sports, Media and Entertainment.
Ravi, a lawyer by training, was part of the four-member team that was sent, in 1995, to set up IMG’s operations in India. The ensuing 25 years has seen Ravi develop an enormous well of experience in conducting business in the Indian subcontinent. Through various sponsorship and marketing deals with India’s largest companies, Ravi has cultivated a formidable range of business and personal relationships. At IMG, he was instrumental in creating properties such as the Sahara Cup, The Aircel Chennai Open, (India’s only ATP event) Lakme India Fashion Week, Royal Challenge Indian Open Golf Tournament, Avantha Masters and Philips National Football League amongst many other events across several genres.

Ravi also played a key strategic role, in the capacity of Vice Chairman, with the Rajasthan Royals, champions of Indian Premier League 2008, in advising the Franchise on Commercial, Player, Operational and Strategic matters. In April 2009, Ravi returned to IMG India as the Managing Director South Asia/ Senior VP IMG. In addition to consolidating and growing events such as DLF IPL, Aircel Chennai Open, Lakme Fashion Week, Ravi was charged with developing potential new business opportunities in the field of Sports, Entertainment and Media. Other notable achievements include being involved in the formation of a Joint Venture with Reliance Industries Ltd to form IMG Reliance, which oversaw the securing of long-term arrangements with both the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the ALL India Football Federation (AIFF) to develop those Sports in India. With Stepathlon, Ravi has created a niche product in the health and wellness category which has become one of the biggest mass participation events across the globe.

John Harnden is the Chief Executive Officer of the Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust, responsible for the management of Australia’s largest sports and entertainment precinct, including Rod Laver Arena, AAMI Park – and home of the Australian Open.

John has extensive experience in leadership and executive management and is a highly regarded authority in sports business administration and major events – both nationally and internationally. He has over 30 years’ experience heading up major sporting, entertainment, media and tourism organisations.

John is also currently the Chair of ICC 2022 T20 World Cup Organising Committee and a Director of Cricket Australia. Previous roles include Chair of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, Chief Executive of the ICC 2015 World Cup Organising Committee, South Australian Cricket Association, Village Roadshow International Theme Parks, the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and he also served as Chief Executive of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.

In 2007, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to sport for his work on the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and in 2020 life membership of Motorsport Australia.

John holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) from the University of Adelaide, an alumnus of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program, and he is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Rachel is an international director and consultant with significant experience delivering business growth for brands, rights-holders, media and charities in Aotearoa New Zealand and globally. Over the past 20 years, she has worked in numerous commercial roles across Formula 1 and other motorsport, football, rugby, cricket, athletics, and more, based in Europe and APAC.

Inspired after working on the London 2012 Paralympic Games, for the past 8 years Rachel has been dedicated to advancing social change and driving financial investment into sport and not-for-profits in support of disabled people, women and girls and most recently, indigenous peoples.

Rachel recently stepped down from her role as Secretary General of the International Working Group (IWG) on Women & Sport and Chief Executive of Women in Sport Aotearoa, Ngā Wāhine Hākinakina o Aotearoa (WISPA). This very successful 4.5 year tenure included the staging of the 8th IWG World Conference on Women & Sport in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland over 4-days last November, attended by 1,850+ global sports leaders from over 300 organisations in 90+ countries.

Rachel launched her own business in January 2023. ‘Away We Go – Matike Mai’ specialises in supporting organisations at the intersection of business growth and social impact. Her purpose is to help progress equitable inclusion of all peoples in sport and society.

Matike Mai means ‘get up and go’ or ‘rise up’ in the indigenous culture of Aotearoa New Zealand. She was honoured to have been gifted this name by recognised mātauranga (Māori knowledge) expert, Moe Milne (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi). It represents her ongoing journey in Te Ao Māori (the Māori world), her commitment to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in Aotearoa, and her respect for the rights and cultures of indigenous peoples worldwide.

Andrew Abdo was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the National Rugby League (NRL) in September 2020. Prior to that Andrew was the NRL’s Chief Commercial Officer for 4 years, primarily responsible for revenue growth. During this period, Andrew led the growth of the game’s total revenues by 12% per annum (growing from $334m in 2015 to $528m in 2019).

Together with Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman Mr Peter V’landys AM, Andrew has played a pivotal role in keeping the NRL Telstra Premiership season safely on the field during the 2020 and 2021 COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the NRL become the first national sporting code to return to resume following the suspension of the season and in 2021, the entire competition was relocated to Queensland for the first time in the game’s history.

With a background in corporate finance, Andrew has led the commercial growth of the sport through innovations in sponsorship, events and digital experiences, including the creation of Magic Round and establishing an in-house creative agency for partners. He believes sport is about entertainment, about bringing people and communities together, and in helping deliver social change.

The Hon Julie Bishop served as Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 until 2018. She was the first female to be appointed to the role as well as the first female Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, serving for 11 years.

As Foreign Minister, Ms Bishop was responsible for strengthening Australia’s key strategic and economic relationships with Ministerial responsibility for more than 5,000 departmental staff, 110 overseas missions as well as government agencies Australian Secret Intelligence Service and Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research.

In 2014, she led the international response to the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine, and was awarded the Commander of the Order of Merit of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Under her leadership, the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper was developed providing a comprehensive policy framework for the next decade; a sports diplomacy initiative in the Pacific was implemented and the New Colombo Plan was established, enabling Australian undergraduates to live, study and work in the Indo-Pacific region. Within five years more than 40,000 students participated in the Plan.

In a political career spanning over 20 years, Julie also served as Minister for Education, Science and Training, Minister for Women’s Issues and Minister for Ageing.

Prior to entering politics, Ms Bishop was Managing Partner of the law firm Clayton Utz in Perth.

In 2020 Julie was awarded a Fisher Family Fellowship for the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs. In 2021 Julie was awarded the Kissinger Fellowship at the McCain Institute of International Leadership at Arizona State University.

Julie is the Chancellor of Australian National University, Chair of Telethon Kids Institute, Chair of Prince’s Trust Australia, member of the international advisory boards of Afiniti and the Human Vaccines Project and is the Patron of Shooting Stars (an education programme for young aboriginal girls)

She has also established a boutique advisory firm, Julie Bishop and Partners.

Julie has been a board director and number one ticket holder of the West Coast Eagles AFL Club.

Stefano Domenicali began his role as President & Chief Executive Officer at Formula 1® in January 2021, following his departure as Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Automobili Lamborghini. Mr. Domenicali joins Formula 1® on the back of an
illustrious career within the motoring industry, where he has had success within both motorsport and commercial roles.

After studying business administration at the University of Bologna he began his professional career in 1991 with Ferrari. At Ferrari he held various positions, including heading up the Direzione Sportiva F1 from 2004, before becoming Team Principal for the Formula 1® team in 2008, where he won a total of 14 titles in the F1 Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships.

From 2009 to 2014, Domenicali represented Ferrari in the FIA World Motor Sport Council and recently stepped down as the president of the FIA. Single Seater Commission, before joining Formula 1®. He was Vice President of New Business Initiatives at AUDI AG from November 2014 before taking over his most recent role as Chief Executive Officer in March 2016 at Lamborghini in Sant’Agata Bolognese.

Sanjog Gupta leads the Sports business for Star and Disney India which includes a portfolio of 17 channels. In this role, he is responsible for the business, product (programming & production), marketing, and strategy for the Sports network.

Sanjog has been pivotal in driving the Sports broadcasting space in India. Prior to his current role, he was the content head for sports where he shaped and delivered marquee national and international broadcasts watched in over 200 countries ranging from IPL to ICC Cricket World Cup. Sanjog also played a significant role in driving growth for home-grown Indian sports properties such as Pro Kabaddi League and Indian Super League. He pioneered the regionalization of sports broadcasts by delivering live feeds in seven languages and launching regional sports networks in Hindi-speaking markets, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka & Tamil Nadu. He has championed grassroots development in sports by launching properties such as KBD Juniors and partnering with the Sports & Youth Affairs Ministry to launch Khelo India, which seeks to drive youth participation in Sports. The delivery of interactive consumer experiences and deployment of live AR/VR on broadcast – both world firsts – along with the use of state-of-the-art production technology have been crucial milestones in his vision of putting Star Sports at the forefront of the global broadcasting space.

Having been with Star India for 10 years, Sanjog also led content development for Life OK – Star India’s GEC channel for two years, prior to his role in Sports. He has been in the broadcast industry for almost two decades and has donned content leadership roles across English & Hindi News, Hindi General Entertainment, and Sports.

He is also the Chairperson of the Sports & Youth Affairs Committee at FICCI. In this capacity, he has been influential in bringing the focus of corporate India to sports development and holistically driving a strong multi-sport ecosystem in the country.

Sanjog is a Graduate in Economics (Honours) from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi.

Richard Goyder AO is the chairman of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Qantas Airways Ltd, and the AFL Commission. He also chairs the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the Channel 7 Telethon Trust. Formerly he was Chairman of the Australian B20 (the key business advisory body to the international economic forum which includes business leaders from all G20 economies).

Richard was the Managing Director and CEO of Wesfarmers Limited from July 2005 to November 2017. In 2007, Richard transformed Wesfarmers with the successful acquisition of the Coles Group of companies. At more than $19 billion, this purchase was the biggest transaction in Australian corporate history. Wesfarmers became a top 10 Australian company, with more than 500,000 shareholders and with a workforce of more than 220,000 people, it became the country’s largest private sector employer.

He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2013 for distinguished service to business through executive roles and through the promotion of corporate sponsorship of the arts and Indigenous programs, and to the community.

Richard was named West Australian of the Year for 2021, recognising his commitment to the community through his philanthropic endeavours.

Gareth co-founded Two Circles – the industry-leading sports marketing and data technology company – following a successful athletics career, representing Great Britain in the 800 metres.

Gareth was Managing Director in the early years of Two Circles, leading the delivery of client work that helped revolutionize the UK sports landscape through a data-driven approach. This was recognised in 2014 when Two Circles was named Agency of the Year at the prestigious Sport Industry Awards, recognition Two Circles has received an additional two times since.

Since 2015 Gareth has acted as Chief Executive of Two Circles, and currently leads a global network of 350 in Europe and North America driving commercial growth for over 150 of the world’s leading sports properties including the Premier League, NFL, UEFA, Formula 1 and Wimbledon.

Since 2019 Two Circles has been part of Bruin Capital, the international investment and operating company founded by George Pyne.

A passionate gamer and creative marketer, Flo 'ElChikito' GUTIERREZ has been part of the gaming and esports space for more than a decade and has built an international reputation through multiple successful global experiences.

During his time in Red Bull from 2013 – 2019, he conceptualized and built their global esports and gaming strategy, before joining Team Vitality as CMO for 2 years.

An expert in 360 marketing, global and local strategies, Flo is also most enthusiastic about talent and event marketing. He joined Razer in 2021 as the Director of Global Esports to lead their global esports strategies.

Kelly is a sound business professional who has established a strong results driven career through the media and sport industries.

Having completed a Bachelor of Business majoring in Marketing, Kelly has held multiple Executive roles leading disciplines such as Marketing, Commercial, Consumer Business, Customer Experience, Member Acquisition and Retention, Stadium Operations, Major Events and Women’s Strategies.

She has a demonstrated ability in every core aspect of business including innovative strategic planning, stakeholder management, financial management, commercial growth and people management. She is a strong leader and passionate about building great leaders.

Kelly has spent the last 15 in the AFL industry working across AFL HQ, Western Bulldogs, Gold Coast SUNS and Marvel Stadium. She joined Netball Australia as CEO in 2021.

Kelly has also graduated from Harvard Business School completing the Authentic Leadership Program and is on the Board of Athletics Victoria.

Most importantly she is a proud mum to two beautiful girls.

Rod Eddington is Chairman of J P Morgan’s Asia Pacific Advisory Council and non-executive Chairman of Lion.

Educated as an engineer at the University of Western Australia and then Oxford University as WA’s 1974 Rhodes Scholar, Sir Rod’s career began in transport and aviation and he went on to become CEO of Cathay Pacific, Ansett Airlines and British Airways, before retiring in late 2005 and returning to Australia.

In 2005, Sir Rod was awarded a Knighthood by the British Government for service to civil aviation, in 2012 was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to business and commerce and in 2015 was honoured by the Japanese Government with the Grand Cordon of
the Order of the Rising Sun for his contribution to strengthening the economic relations between Australia and Japan.

Sir Rod is Chairman of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia and Chair of the Advisory Board for the Rugby World Cup Bid 2027. He also sits as a non-executive director on a number of Boards and served as the inaugural Chair of Infrastructure Australia from 2008-2014, a member of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) from 2014-2020 and President of the Australia-Japan Business Cooperation Committee (AJBCC) from 2006-2021.

Pip Marlow is Chief Executive Officer, Salesforce Australia and New Zealand. In this role, Pip is responsible for ensuring Salesforce delivers on its values of trust, customer success, innovation and equality for both our customers and our community across Australia and New Zealand.

Prior to Salesforce, Pip was Chief Executive Officer Customer Marketplace at Suncorp, where she was responsible for driving customer focus into all aspects of Suncorp’s business including strategy, customer care, partnerships and innovative solutions that add value for customers. Prior to joining Suncorp in 2016, Pip was at Microsoft for 21 years where she held a number of roles for them in Australia and the USA. This culminated in her role as the Managing Director of Microsoft Australia for 6 years.

Pip is also a non-executive director of the Rugby Australia (ARU), sits on the Vice-Chancellor's Advisory Board at UTS, is a member of Chief Executive Women (CEW), and is an Executive Ally for Pride Diversity. She is a passionate advocate for flexible and diverse workplaces that empower people. Born and raised in New Zealand, Pip lives in Sydney with her Scottish husband and her two American born daughters, Sophie and Lucy.

After 25 years working for some of the best companies in the world and a decade successfully leading the Global Sponsorship teams of Visa and The Coca-Cola Company, Ricardo launched Sport by Fort Consulting.

At Coca-Cola (Atlanta), Ricardo led the Company’s global portfolio of sports and entertainment partnerships, including the IOC, FIFA, UEFA, athletes, McLaren and countless entertainment properties.

Prior to this role, Ricardo was the SVP of Global Brand, Product & Sponsorship Marketing at Visa (San Francisco), where he was responsible for all global consumer marketing initiatives including branding, advertising, digital, design and sponsorships.

Ricardo also worked for the Group Danone (Paris), and held several other Marketing roles at Coca-Cola in Brazil, USA and India, and multiple roles at Kellogg’s and Unilever.

Ricardo obtained a Bachelor of Civil Engineering at the Universidade de São Paulo and has a Specialization in Business from Fundação Getúlio Vargas, both in Brazil.

Mel’s playing days included two successful World Cup and Ashes campaigns with Australia and a then world record hundred (131) on Test debut against England.

A qualified Physical Education teacher, Mel worked across cricket development and sports management before moving into fulltime broadcast and commentary in TV and radio across Australian and International cricket in 2017. This was initiated in 2015 after becoming one of the first four female commentators in the worlds most watched cricket competition the Indian Premier League. Her inclusion into the Big Bash that summer lead her to becoming the first T20 female cricket lead in Australia. This was then followed by the same accolade in the Pakistan Super League in 2017.

Alongside her commentary, Mel is fast developing an administrative and governance career. Sitting on the Victorian State Government Inquiry into Women and Girls in Sport, Mel was part of the taskforce that resulted in a 40% mandate for women on boards and led to the introduction of the Office for Women in Sport.

Mel also became Australian cricket’s first ever female state nominee for the board of Cricket Australia in 2019 and recently was nominated onto the International Cricket Council’s women’s committee.

Through her media and governance roles Mel is driven to helping the sports industry becoming a more diverse and inclusive space for everyone at all levels.

Joe is a Director at ColganBauer - a strategy consulting firm. Alongside his colleagues, Joe advises sport governing bodies, clubs and investment firms on matters ranging from the commercialisation of media and wagering rights, to collective bargaining agreements and competitive balance mechanisms.

In addition to several “watching briefs” at global clients, Joe and his colleagues most frequently provide short-term strategic support to internal client teams during their strategy setting and commercial rights deals processes. Like many of us, courtesy of COVID, Joe has traded the fuselage of a plane for the glare of a WebCam and never thought he’d crave terrible plane food as much as he does today.

Hamish McLennan has over 30 years’ experience in the media industry. He is currently Chairman of REA Group Limited (appointed 21 February 2012 and Chairman since 10 April 2012), a global online real estate advertising company, Chairman of HT&E Limited (appointed 30 October 2018), an Australian media and entertainment company, and Chairman of Rugby Australia (appointed June 2020).

Hamish is also a Non-Executive Director of the tech firm Claim Central Consolidated (since January 2020) and an independent director of Scientific Games, a US gaming and lottery company (since November 2020). He was previously Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman, News Corporation, and Global Chairman & CEO of Young & Rubicam (Y&R) in New York, part of WPP, the world’s largest communications services group. Mr McLennan joined Young & Rubicam in 2002 as Chairman and CEO of Y&R Brands Australia/New Zealand, one of the largest marketing services groups in Australasia, and led the firm’s global business operations from 2006 to 2011.

He was also previously Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (March 2014 to July 2015) and Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director (February 2013 to March 2014) of Australian media company Ten Network Holdings Limited. He has previously served on the Boards of Directors for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and the US Ad Council.

Greg Barclay is an Auckland-based commercial lawyer and an experienced company director, holding board positions with various New Zealand and Australian companies.
He has had a long career in governance and sports management. He is a founder, and shareholder in, a sport and event management company which for the past 20 years has provided various services to sports organisations in New Zealand. This mainly involves large-scale occasions such as rugby Tests, world tournaments, concert and cultural events.
Born in 1961, he holds dual New Zealand and Canadian citizenship. He has played, or has otherwise been involved in, cricket for most of his life, rising to senior men’s representative level, and was still playing club cricket up until when he was in his forties. He was also a keen (but not particularly distinguished) rugby player.
In 2007, Greg joined the board of Northern Districts Cricket and was chair of that organisation until he joined the NZC board in 2012. He was Chair of NZC from 2016, until he was appointed to the Chair of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2020. He has been on the ICC Board since 2014 and was a member of the board of Cricket World Cup 2015 that delivered the Men’s Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Greg is married to Sally, with whom he has three teenaged daughters. He has educated at the University of Canterbury and has a post graduate business qualification from Auckland University. He was a partner with law firm Claymore Partners up until 2015, when he stepped aside to become a consultant and to continue with his other business interests.

Andrew Georgiou is President of Sports at Discovery and responsible for all of Discovery’s sports businesses, including the recent launch of sport on discovery+, the Olympic Games, Global Cycling Network (GCN), Discovery Sports Events and represents Discovery’s interests on the Board of Formula E.

Andrew is responsible for all rights acquisitions across Discovery platforms, as well as the integration of all sales and marketing efforts across the Group.

Discovery’s sports businesses reach over 130m unique individuals per month across its owned and operated platforms and over 200m when including third party platforms.

Before joining Discovery, Andrew had a successful 13-year association with Group Lagardère, firstly as CEO of Lagardère Sports Asia and latterly Lagardère Sports and Entertainment where he served as Global Chief Executive Officer.

Prior to linking up with Group Lagardère, Andrew was CEO of the PGA TOUR of Australasia.

Andrew lives in London with his wife and four children.

Scott has been a globally recognised leader in digital, technology and business transformation for over 25 years. As a c-suite executive he guided Bertelsmann, Merrill Lynch, Sony, and the Hollywood studios into the digital age.

He co-founded iconic start-ups Computer Innovations, Data Broadcasting and Firstlook. Most recently prior to founding strategy consultancy FutureNext, Scott built Accenture’s Asia Pacific Media & Entertainment practice from the ground up with clients ranging from the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Mediacorp, NewsCorp, NHK, Shanghai Media Group, Singtel, Tabcorp and Telstra to Alibaba, Google, Facebook and Rakuten.

A resident of the bush of northern New South Wales, Scott is an alumnus of Queen’s University and MIT, chaired the Digital Advisory Panel to the Australian Sports Commission, is a Senior Fellow at The Annenberg Centre for the Digital Future (Los Angeles), and an All-Star Mentor with incubator TechStars.

Geoff Jones is the Chief Executive Officer of TEG and the architect of the company’s integrated model across live entertainment, ticketing and technology.

Geoff’s association with the company began in 2007 when he was appointed CEO of Ticketek. He spent three years aggressively growing Ticketek’s market share, partnerships and ticketing technology innovation.

After a stint as a Partner and Director of SEL, one of Australia’s leading sports and entertainment companies, Geoff returned in 2011 to lead the diversification of Ticketek and its affiliated companies into touring and data analytics.

TEG has expanded rapidly under Geoff’s leadership to become a global leader in live entertainment, ticketing and technology.

Geoff has previously held senior executive roles at IMG and Foster’s.

Andrew Westacott is the longest serving Chief Executive of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC).

Andrew commenced at the AGPC in 2006 as the General Manager - Operations before later being appointed Deputy CEO. He was appointed as CEO in February 2011. He is currently a Director of Karting Australia and a Member of the Organising Committee for the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame Awards. He has previously been a Member of the Formula 1® Commission and the Australian Motorsport Foundation.

Prior to commencing at the AGPC, Andrew started his professional life as a chemical engineering project manager before taking up senior positions in logistics, procurement and supply chain management with MasterFoods Australia New Zealand and Uncle Ben’s of Australia. He then moved into major events in 2005 and played a key part in the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games as Group Manager for Venue Delivery and Capital Projects.

He has a love of sport and sporting events and is committed to showcasing Melbourne and Victoria to the world through the Formula 1® Australian Grand Prix and the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Devneet (Dev) Bajaj is the Chief Corporate Development Officer at Dream Sports. He leads investments and global strategic partnerships in various sectors such as Fantasy Sports, Sports Technology, Skill-Based Gaming and many more. Dev also supports Dream Sports brands on future fundraising and strategic business planning.

Dev has over 17 years of experience across entrepreneurship, venture capital, private equity and investment banking. Prior to joining Dream Sports, Dev was a Venture Partner with Kalaari Capital, where he evaluated and managed early-stage investments in a variety of sectors including Fintech, Gaming, SportsTech, SAAS, and AgTech.

As an entrepreneur, Dev successfully founded and built MITRA, which is now one of India’s leading AgTech startups that was acquired by Mahindra & Mahindra in 2018. He began his career in investment banking in the US and worked with companies like Paine Schwartz, where he gained in-depth knowledge about investing in mid-stage buyout transactions.

Dev has a Masters in Business Administration from INSEAD and a Bachelors of Science from the University of Southern California. He is a passionate sports enthusiast and was a competitive tennis player.

Gillon McLachlan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Football League.

He has worked for the AFL since 2000, initially as a consultant in strategic planning and in November, 2003, was appointed General Manager, Commercial Operations.

He subsequently assumed additional responsibilities for broadcasting and major projects in 2006 and in 2008, was appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2008 with responsibility for AFL broadcasting, digital media, fixturing, venue agreements and stadia infrastructure.

In December, 2012 he was appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer, a position he held until his appointment as Chief Executive Officer on April 30, 2014 to succeed Andrew Demetriou.

Key outcomes in his various roles with the AFL have included the establishment of the AFLW competition, multiple broadcast deals, including the most recent multi- billion-dollar partnership, the largest in Australian Sports Rights History, the establishment of AFL Media, the $250 million dollar Marvel Stadium redevelopment, expansion of the both the AFL and AFLW competitions and leading the AFL industry through the Covid pandemic.

He has a Bachelor of Laws from Melbourne University, a Bachelor of Commerce from Adelaide University and completed the Senior Executive Program at Stanford University.

Sandiaga Uno is young, charismatic and likely to play some important role in the 2024 elections. Sandiaga tasking with leading the recovery of Indonesia’s tourism sector. His Ministry just launched the Sport Tourism program in collaboration with Sport Ministry. The two ministries will develop 3 big themes, namely sport tourism, sports side and industrial sports.

He graduated from Wichita State University, United States and George Washington University, United States. After completing his education at George Washington University, United States, Sandiaga Uno joined SeaPower Asia Investment Limited in Singapore.

In 1997, Sandiaga Uno founded a financial advisory company, PT Recapital Advisors with his colleague Rosan Perkasa Roeslani (current Chairman of Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry). In 2005-2008, Sandiaga Uno was elected as the General Chair of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI). In 2004, Sandiaga Uno also became Chairman of the Standing Committee for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (UMKM) of KADIN.

Sandiaga Uno is prominent Indonesian businessman. Sandiaga Uno presided five companies PT Adaro Indonesia, PT Indonesia Bulk Terminal, PT Mitra Global Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Intterra Resources Limited, and PT iForte Solusi Infotek.

In 2009, Sandiaga Uno was listed as the 29th richest person in Indonesia according to Forbes magazine. Two years later, Forbes released a list of the richest people in Indonesia. Sandiaga Uno occupies the 37th position with total assets of around US $660 million.

Sandiaga has delivered public lectures at many leading universities and various organizations abroad and engaged well with millennials. He is known to be very fond of sports including basketball, bicycle and even soccer.

Politics
In 2017, Sandiaga Uno was the Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta with Anies Baswedan as Governor of DKI Jakarta.
After a year, Sandiaga Uno resigned his position to participate in the 2019-2024 presidential and vice-presidential elections. Speculation is rife in Indonesia after President Joko Widodo appeared to have suggested that Mr Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, a vice-presidential hopeful in the 2019 election, would ‘very likely’ become his successor.

Hon Kate Jones has around 20 years experience in senior government and leadership positions. Kate served as a Minister in the Queensland Government for more than eight years in a range of portfolios including State Development, Education, Tourism, and Major Events.

Kate was also the Minister responsible for the successful delivery of the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and secured new major events to Queensland including the NRL Magic Round and global sports conference, Sport Accord in 2019.

Throughout 2020, Kate was instrumental in working with many national sporting codes to ensure they could continue to operate safely during the COVID-19 pandemic including staging the historic AFL Grand Final in Brisbane. She also served on the 2032 Olympic Candidature Leadership group.

Last year Kate was appointed to The Australian Rugby League Commission, the national governing body for Rugby League.

Kate now serves on a number of boards and works in leadership roles in both the tech and tourism industries.

Nick Hockley has established himself as one of sport’s top administrators having been a driving force behind the success of several major events, including the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015 and the ICC T20 World Cup in 2020, when 86,174 fans filled the MCG for the Women’s T20 World Cup final.

Now leading Cricket Australia as CEO, Nick has brought that commitment and drive to the governing body of Australia’s national sport. During his tenure Cricket Australia has successfully navigated two years of the pandemic, toured Pakistan for the first time in 24 years, won both women’s and men’s Ashes and T20 World Cups, as well as the Women’s Cricket World Cup and Commonwealth Games Gold Medal.

Nick is passionate about connecting communities through sport and growing the game worldwide, not only through engagement with all Australians but also with an eye to how Australian cricket can lead discussions around diversity, inclusion and integrity.

Nick hails from Birmingham in the UK but following the London Games moved to Sydney, where he lives with his wife and two daughters.

He studied geography at Oxford University and held senior corporate finance roles at PwC, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant, before moving into the sports arena. While his cricketing talents did not extend beyond representing Warwickshire at under-13 level, he played rugby union for Oxford, England Students and Moseley in Birmingham.

Amanda is Foxtel’s Chief Commercial and Content Officer, with responsibility for entertainment and sports strategy and acquisitions, the Foxtel linear and VOD product, and wholesale and channel partnerships. She was appointed to this expanded role in August 2020, after joining Foxtel as Chief Commercial Officer in 2018.

Amanda is a highly respected media executive with extensive experience across Australia’s free-to-air, broadcast, print, digital and streaming landscape. She has particular expertise in the structuring and negotiation of content rights, commercial development and media mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Foxtel, Amanda served in senior leadership roles at Nine Entertainment Co. including Group General Counsel and Commercial Director before assuming the position of Managing Director.

Earlier in her career, Amanda served as General Counsel for ACP Magazines managing legal affairs across Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and the UK.

Amanda has served the boards of several regulatory and corporate organisations in advisory roles as well as holding board positions with Australian media companies and sports bodies, including the Australian Rugby League Commission and the Australian Sports Commission.

Andy Penn became the CEO and Managing Director of Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications company, on 1 May 2015. At Telstra Andy is leading an ambitious change program transforming Telstra to be positioned to compete in the radically changing technology world of the future with 5G at its core.

Andy has had an extensive career spanning more than 4 decades across 3 industries - telecommunications, financial services and shipping. He joined Telstra in 2012 as Chief Financial Officer. In 2014 he took on the additional responsibilities of Group Executive International.

Prior to Telstra, Andy spent 23 years with the AXA Group, one of the world’s largest insurance and investment groups. His time at AXA included the roles of Chief Executive Officer 2006-2011 AXA Asia Pacific Holdings and Chief Financial Officer.  At AXA, Andy was instrumental in building one of the most successful Asian businesses by an Australian company sold to its parent in 2011 for more than A$10bn.

Craig is recognised as one of Australia’s most innovative and forward-thinking chief executives. His charismatic and passionate nature, together with his business acumen, has leveraged him to the forefront of sports administration and the leader behind Australia’s largest and most successful annual international sporting event.

In 2021, he was the driving force behind the Australian Open being the first Grand Slam tennis event (and first truly global sporting event) to be held safely and successfully during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite some enormous obstacles, AO 2021 was hailed a massive success and kick-started the international tennis tour at a time when it was most needed. This has since been followed by delivering AO 2022 at the height of the COVID Omicron wave in Australia and was again a massive success.
Craig’s incredible relationship with the players has long been a key to the success of the Australian Open right from when he was appointed Tournament Director for his first event in 2006. He was later appointed CEO of Tennis Australia in 2013.

In that time the Australian Open has broken attendance records and delivers more than $377 million in economic benefit to Melbourne each year while reaching a global audience of more than one billion households.

Craig has also led the introduction of successful initiatives to shift the historical decline in tennis participation including the rollout of digital platforms, which has increased access to courts by over 350%. He has led the diversification of Tennis Australia with the creation of a global production unit, the launch of a venture capital funds and a successful incubator partnership.

He also serves as the Chair of the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports (COMPPS) in Australia and is on the Board of Safety Culture and Rising (Melbourne’s International Arts Festival).

Prior to joining Tennis Australia, Craig was Director of Tennis at the University of Illinois, where he led the fastest tennis program turnaround in US collegiate history, breaking a 100-year-old record for most consecutive wins.

Jane Fernandez is the Chief Operating Officer, Australia, FIFA Women's World Cup Australia New Zealand 2023TM.

Jane led Football Australia’s successful bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, one of the world’s largest international sporting events. Previously, Jane was Head of Sport for the Australian Olympic Committee managing key aspects of Australia's participation in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, and Tournament Director of the AFC Asian Cup 2015. Jane is passionate about the power of sport and major sports events to drive social change and to leave a positive legacy.

Mr Neil Wilson was appointed the 22nd Chairman of the Club on 20 November 2020.

Prior to that Mr Wilson held the position of the VRC’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from January 2018 until November 2020. Neil is the first CEO to be appointed Chairman in the 160 year history of the Club.

Neil has been a member of the VRC Board since December 2012 and was elected Honorary Treasurer in February 2017, ahead of stepping into the Interim Chief Executive role in June 2017.

Neil is a Director on the board of Racing.com - Australia’s premier thoroughbred racing media organisation, as well as World Horse Racing – which is an alliance of five iconic global racing festivals, committed to celebrating the sport of horse racing and the incredible athletes who make it happen. Neil is also on the Racing & Sports Network (RSN) board.

Neil also serves on several other technology and digital Boards and Advisory Committees.

Neil’s passion for horse racing led him to the VRC. He has been a horse owner for over 30 years and was a breeder for a period of time. His prior career involves over 35 years’ experience in Information Technology working in corporate roles and as a founder of his own business (Charter Wilson) which was acquired by ASX listed company Oakton, a leading technology services company which employed over 1,300 people. Neil was the Chief Executive Officer of Oakton for nine years until it
was acquired by Dimension Data in 2014.

Neil is a Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) and a member of the Australian Computer Society (ACS).

Marina Go is an experienced Chair and non-executive director, and has been involved in a range of industries including media, retail, e-commerce, energy, health and manufacturing. Her involvement ranges from start-ups to publicly listed companies, not-for-profits and sports boards. Marina is Chair of Netball Australia, Ovarian Cancer Australia and The Walkley Foundation, and a non-executive director on the boards of Energy Australia, 7-Eleven, Autosports Group, Pro-Pac, Adore Beauty and Booktopia. She is a member of UNSW’s Business Advisory Council, ANU’s Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership (CAAL) Advisory Board, and author of the business book for women, Break Through: 20 Success Strategies for Female Leaders.

Marina is the 2021 recipient of the NSW Leadership Award from Women & Leadership Australia. Boss magazine named Marina as one of the 20 True Leaders of 2016. Marina has over 30 years of leadership experience in the media industry, having started her career as a journalist. Marina’s media executive roles included Private Media CEO and Head of the Hearst JV at Bauer Media. Marina is also a former Chair of the Wests Tigers NRL Club and was the inaugural Chair of the UTS Centre for Media Transition Advisory Board.

Josephine is a professional company director who works across a range of industries, including property, construction, finance, sport, the arts, medical research, and social services.

Josephine is Principal of Buildcorp, and serves on a number of private, public, government and not-for-profit boards, including The Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited, Growthpoint Properties Australia, the Australian Museum, Green Building Council of Australia, Centenary Institute of Medical Research, and the Buildcorp Foundation.

She is President of Australian Women’s Rugby and through Buildcorp has been a major sponsor of rugby in Australia for over 30 years.

In 2021, Josephine was appointed Chair of the Australian Sports Commission.

Josephine is a Fellow of the University of Sydney, and in 2017 she was recognised for her services to the community, the arts, and sports in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Sebastian Coe is the UK’s most prolific world record setter and arguably the greatest runner to compete for his country.

Born in London in 1956, Coe began his athletics career age 12, at Sheffield’s Hallamshire Harriers squad, where his father was his running coach. In 1977 he made his first mark as a professional athlete, winning the 800m at the European Indoor Championship. After a string of world records, Coe won his first Olympic medal in 1980 at the Moscow games, taking gold in the 1,500m. His second gold came in 1984 at the Los Angeles Olympics. His famous rivalry with fellow runner Steve Ovett dominated athletics through much of those years, and he quickly became the UK’s best known and most cherished athlete - setting 12 middle-distance world records.

Coe retired from athletics in 1990 and moved into politics. In 1992, he was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for Falmouth and Camborne, a seat he held for 5 years, when he became Private Secretary to William Hague, the Leader of the Opposition. In 2000 he was appointed a life peer, becoming Lord Coe of Ranmore.

With his sporting and political nous, Coe was asked to head London’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He led London to victory over Paris, with many pointing to his rousing speech at the 2005 vote in Singapore as the decisive moment. Despite early public cynicism, Coe helped win over the media and London went on to host a phenomenally successful Olympic Games, with Coe at the helm.

Following the games, Coe was elected Chairman of the British Olympic Association - a post he held until 2016. He is also Non-Executive Chairman of CSM Sport & Entertainment marketing agency. In 2015, he was elected President of the world governing body for athletics, World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), having been a Vice President since 2007. In 2020 he became a member of the IOC.

Packing his speeches with anecdotes from his time as an Olympic athlete, an MP, his chairmanship of London 2012, his turnaround of the British Olympic Association and his presidency World Athletics through troubled times, Lord Coe demonstrates to audiences his political and strategic expertise in guiding large organisations on the global stage.

His themes include leadership, collaboration, crisis management, building resilience, handling change and challenging the status quo. Lord Coe believes in creating a clear, strong vision for an organisation - a simple, transferable set of values which are adhered to at every moment and by every employee whatever their role. This vision, he contends, is key in times of change and turbulence.

Throughout his career Lord Coe has found success by leading from the front to make vision a reality. He turned London 2012 into one of the UK’s most successful missions of all time. Lord Coe brings energy, passion and innovation to all his work - qualities which captivate his audiences the world over.

Lord Coe’s example keynote speaking topics include, but are not limited to:

• Change, risk & handling uncertainty
• Teamwork and collaboration & breaking down silos
• Leadership & resilience
• Innovation & challenging the status quo

Coe, has four children, has received numerous honours throughout his life. He was the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year in 1979 and in 1982 he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). Eight years later he was made OBE. Following his appointment to the House of Lords, Coe was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) for his services to sport and in the 2013 New Year’s Honours List he was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH).

He relaxes by walking in the Peak District, supporting Chelsea FC and listening to jazz.

Two-time World Cup Champion and co-captain of the US Women’s National Team, Megan Rapinoe is a fan favourite and one of the team’s most technical players.

A vocal leader on and off the pitch, Megan helped lead the USWNT to the 2019 Women’s World Cup Championship scoring some of the biggest goals of the tournament. Megan took home the tournament’s two top honors – the Golden Boot for top scorer, and the Golden Ball for the best player in the tournament. Megan is an advocate for equality for all, and has been able to intersect her passion for humanity and authenticity. Megan and her teammates will get ready to go again as they prepare for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics this summer.

Adam Silver was unanimously elected NBA Commissioner on Feb. 1, 2014, by the NBA Board of Governors.

Silver presides over a global sports and media business built around four professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, Women’s National Basketball Association, NBA G League and NBA 2K League. He is dedicated to growing basketball around the world, embracing innovation and new technologies, increasing transparency and using basketball to bring people together and promote health and fitness.

Silver was named SportsBusiness Journal’s Executive of the Decade and has been ranked No. 1 on the publication’s annual list of the 50 Most Influential People in Sports Business. He was also named to TIME’s 100 Most Influential People, Fortune’s World’s 50 Greatest Leaders, and The Bloomberg 50, Bloomberg Businessweek’s list of 50 people who defined global business. Additionally, Silver has earned Sports Executive of the Year honors at the Sports Business Awards and was named Sports Illustrated’s Executive of the Year.

Prior to becoming commissioner, Silver served as NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer for eight years. He has been instrumental to many of the league’s signature achievements, including the negotiation of three collective bargaining agreements with the National Basketball Players Association; the development of the WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and the Basketball Africa League; the partnership with Turner Broadcasting to manage the NBA’s digital assets; and the creation of NBA China.

Before serving as the league’s second-in-command, Silver spent more than eight years as President and COO, NBA Entertainment. Since joining the league in 1992, Silver has also held the positions of Senior VP & COO, NBA Entertainment; NBA Chief of Staff; and Special Assistant to the Commissioner.

Silver was appointed to Duke University’s Board of Trustees in 2015. He received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015 from Duke University and in 2016 from the University of Chicago Law School, and was a recipient of the University of Chicago’s Professional Achievement Award in 2020. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and The Business Council, and serves on the Board of Trustees for The Rockefeller Foundation and as a Vice Chairman of the Board of the Lustgarten Pancreatic Cancer Foundation.

Before joining the NBA, Silver was a litigation associate at the New York law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where he concentrated on media and antitrust cases. He also served as a law clerk to Federal District Court Judge Kimba Wood in New York City. Silver graduated from Duke University and the University of Chicago Law School.

11/2020