The bulk of Ama’s career has been spent as a professional athlete culminating in captaining Team England to netball gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Alongside sport, Ama has worked as a lawyer in a variety of disciplines including family, corporate, charity and banking.

Recently an independent Board Member of the Organising Committee for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and as an ambassador and trustee for a number of charities Ama has a focus on the benefits of physical activity on health outcomes, using sport to help realise potential, and children & young people.

She regularly speaks and advocates for diversity and inclusion, improving life opportunities in areas of deprivation, cultural development and organisational change, leadership and mental health.

Philip Bernie is the Head of Content at BBC Sport – responsible for all video and audio output.

Philip joined the BBC in 1984 as a Production Trainee after leaving university.

He became an Assistant Producer on Grandstand, later becoming Editor of Football Focus and then Match Of The Day.

He has also been Assistant Editor and then Editor of Grandstand.

He was Editor of Sports Personality Of The Year from 1999 to 2005, during which time he won a Royal Television Society Award for the show.

He was Editor on the Olympic Games from 1992 to 2004, and on the Commonwealth Games from 1994 to 2002.

He was Editor of the World Cup in 1990 and 1994 as well as Euro 96, and was Executive Producer of the World Cup in 2002.

He was Editor of Wimbledon from 2003 to 2007 and founding Editor of both the BBC One series On Side and the BBC Two series Match Of The Day 2.

Prior to his current role, Philip was Head of Programmes and Planning in BBC TV Sport from 2005 to 2007, then Head of TV Sport Editorial from 2007 to 2009 and Head of TV Sport from 2009 to 2023.

Before joining TV Sport in 1987, Philip worked in various areas of the BBC including spending a year in Radio Sport and a year at the Breakfast Time TV programme.

Paul has 30 years of experience in the sports industry. He has worked in Club, Governing Body, Federation and Venue environments with both a UK and International focus. He has also worked in the HE and leisure sectors.

He very recently left his role as CEO at Commonwealth Games England after leading Team England to its most successful ever medal return of 176 at last years Birmingham Commonwealth Games

Clare BrieClare Briegal is Chief Executive Officer of World Netball (the International Governing Body for the sport of Netball). She was appointed in April 2014 and since then has driven the development and implementation of the Federation’s strategic plan.

Clare is a strong believer in the power of netball to empower its participants, particularly women and girls. She, and her team at the Secretariat, work with the WN Member Associations to develop the sport internationally and grow its profile.

Clare has a commercial background within the chemical industry and consumer durables sector. However, she has been actively involved in sport as an athlete, official and voluntary administrator since rowing at university. Clare is still competing as a master’s rower.

Clare is on the boards of British Rowing and Sport Liverpool and the Council of the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF).

Clare has an MBA from Manchester Business School, an MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and an MA in Biochemistry from Bryn Mawr College, USA.

Ben Calveley is currently the CEO of The British & Irish Lions since November 2018.

The British & Irish Lions is an iconic, globally renowned sporting brand, built upon 130 years of history andtradition with tours taking place regularly since 1888 made up of the best players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Prior to joining Lions Rugby, Ben worked as Head of Strategy and Corporate Affairs for the RFU from June 2011 working on corporate strategy, policy, public affairs, international relations, project and risk management, fundraising and events.

He also worked for UK Sport from 2007 where he led a team advising all Olympic and Paralympic sports on how to increase their influence within the International Federations to which they affiliate. Calveley joined UK Sport from PMP, the sports consultancy firm, where he led the Football division and managed complex domestic and international sport projects involving multi-disciplinary teams including advising on how to develop grass root and elite sporting systems in a number of international markets.

In 2021 he oversaw the successful delivery of the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa, undoubtedly one of the most challenging tours that the Lions have ever undertaken due to the global pandemic.

Ben began professional life working in Mergers and Acquisitions with Arthur Andersen and holds an MBA.

He lives in Buckinghamshire with his wife and three young children.

Adrian is an experienced, and commercially astute senior operator with over 20 years’ senior leadership and Board experience and in-depth knowledge of the British sport system. A well organised, highly motivated individual who demonstrates a sound knowledge of the practices and operations of sports governing bodies, government departments, funding bodies and associated partners; someone with extensive knowledge of high performance sport, talent development, sports participation, coaching, competition, and the staging of major events.

Adrian is currently leading Table Tennis England through a high performing journey of growth and success, governance and organisation development, commercial and digital transformation, and stakeholder engagement.

A highly regarded, bold, politically aware, and visible leader and ‘go-to person’ in the sector, Adrian also makes an impact in the wider sporting landscape bringing the benefit of strong relationships, and influence, with key stakeholders and decision makers across the UK, European and International community.

Ronan Dunne is Chair of Six Nations Rugby, the organising body of the Six Nations Championships and Autumn Nations Series.

Six Nations Rugby is committed to using its platform of the greatest rugby championship to build rugby at all levels, with its vision to make rugby the most engaging, entertaining and inclusive sporting experience for participants and fans alike.

Ronan also serves as a non-executive director of British multinational retailer, Marks & Spencer and strategic advisor to a number of companies in the telecom & technology sector.

Jon is the newly appointed Chief Executive of British Cycling.

Jon was formerly Chief Executive of the Rugby League World Cup 2021 (postponed until 2022) and has been involved in the project since the inception in late 2015 having successfully led the bid for the tournament. The tournament, the biggest in the sports 128-year history, featured the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments being run simultaneously for the first time and a significant social impact programme which tackled inequalities through providing opportunities in hard-to-reach communities.

Jon is a sports management graduate with over 28 years’ experience in the sports industry. Previous roles have included PGA European Golf Tour, Manchester FA which involved a secondment to UEFA, Managing Director of a sports consultancy company, Chief Operating Officer for the Rugby League World Cup 2013, Director of Readiness for the Tour de France Grand Depart in 2014, Director of Projects & People for the Rugby Football League and International Federation Tournament Commissioner for the Rugby League World Cup 2017, held in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Current board roles include UK Sport Major Events Panel, Director of the 2023 Cycling World Championships, a member of Global Institute of Sport Industry Advisory Board, also lecturer in various topics including leadership, futurology and diplomacy.

Victoria has had an outstanding career to date with many achievements, including being the Chief Executive Officer for Invictus Games 2016 in Orlando and the Military Project Lead for the first Invictus Games (London 2014), inspiring 14 nations and over 400 athletes to compete. She has completed 21 years’ service within the Royal Air Force culminating with the prestigious rank of Group Captain.

Victoria has served on numerous deployments around the world and prior to the inaugural Invictus Games she was the Base Support Commander for a Support Helicopter Base of 2000 personnel, which provided support to Operation Herrick, Afghanistan.

Victoria is a passionate sportswoman and dedicates most of her spare time promoting sport across various sectors. She is Chief Executive for GB Snowsport; Chair of GB Surfing; Chair and Custodian for the Rugby Centurions and Invictus Games Strategic Advisor for the UK Delegation Board.
In addition, Victoria is a Newspaper Reviewer for the BBC and a motivational speaker for Inspiring Women. Victoria also made a critically acclaimed West End debut as the Narrator in the musical Girlfriends, which is set on an RAF Bomber Command base during World War 2.

Victoria was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2004 following her deployment on Operations and for her commitment to RAF Waddington, and she was also subsequently appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2014 for her commitment to RAF Benson and to adaptive sports.

She is a mother of 3 young children and enjoys most sports including playing tennis, golf and spending time with her family.

Matt Holt is the Chief Executive Officer of GB Boxing, which is responsible for the delivery of the elite programme for Olympic boxing in Great Britain. Matt has been with the organisation since 2009 and in that time has led GB Boxing through the most successful period in history for Great Britain’s boxers. The Team GB performance at Tokyo 2020 was the best by a British team of boxers for over 100 years.

Matt has previously worked for Sport England and Birkbeck, University of London. Outside of work, Matt is kept busy with a young family, enjoys watching Liverpool FC and is in the early stages of an ambition to scale all Scotland’s Munros.

James started work at Sheffield & Hallamshire FA in 1992 where he was promoted to the position of Chief Executive Officer from September 2000 until leaving the organisation in June 2012. He transformed the organisation as it moved from solely governance to developing and promoting the opportunities of grassroots football in the community.

He formed Onside Sports in August 2012 as he wanted to combine his personal & professional experience in sport to deliver successful projects and use the power of sport to affect people’s lives for good. Onside Sports offered business & sport solutions to a wide range of commercial, not-for-profit and charitable organisations within and around the world of sport.

From September 2015, James was appointed as CEO of Skateboard England. Due a re-structure in the sport, he has been the CEO of Skateboard GB since November 2017. This role initially focused on setting up the structures and systems to support growth of the sport in the UK and prepare for skateboarding’s first Olympic inclusion in Tokyo 2020. The organisation has seen significant growth in the last few years as funding has been secured. During this time James has been a member of the World Skateboarding Commission, and has a remit within the international federation for leading on adaptive-skateboarding.

Hamish joined British Shooting in 2011 and is based in Ealing, West London.

As Chief Executive Officer he is the Accountable Officer for British Shooting and all its people and funding. He sees his role as helping to create the best possible environment for British Shooting athletes and staff to realise their potential in whatever way they contribute to our goals.

He enjoys seeing the hard work of athletes, coaches and staff come to fruition. He values spending time with the teams at training or competition and seeing what makes everyone tick.

Before joining British Shooting, he was head of the team that set up World Class Programme development when National Lottery funding started. Hamish has been a NED at World Snooker, England Lacrosse and Commonwealth Games England. He has been part of the Team England leadership team at 5 Commonwealth Games. He set up an independent sports consultancy and advised on London 2012 projects. He is a member of the FCO Olympics and Paralympics Legacy Team and Member of the NOC and NPC. Long long ago he was an international middle-distance runner.

Simon joined UK Sport in 2005, as part of a small team seeking to attract international sporting events to the UK ahead of London 2012.

Over the following years he has led various teams and projects within the organisation, including the expansion of its major and mega events strategy; its international relations work; the introduction of the Code for Sports Governance, the development of its integrity function, and more recently its new sporting system strategy. Simon has sat on the boards of several mega event delivery companies and has overseen public investment into hundreds of the world’s biggest sporting events. Prior to joining UK Sport, Simon was Head of Marketing for the International Badminton Federation, overseeing the sport’s global bidding processes, in addition to its broadcast and sponsorship operations and rights distribution.

Jane Nickerson has been CEO of Swim England since April 2017, providing leadership which is passionately focused on creating a society where everyone has the opportunity to learn how to swim, is supported to develop their skills, and is able to enjoy the water throughout their lifetime.

Jane has a deep understanding of the sport through the eyes of a swimmer and an administrator, from grassroots to elite level. As a youngster she swam competitively for City of Coventry and competed to national championship standard, whilst also taking an interest in the governance of the sport. One of her most treasured times, during the 1990s, was as an England and Great Britain swimming team manager.

Jane’s experience is a great asset to Swim England and provides her with the insight to successfully lead the organisation’s strategy which includes building new partnerships to increase awareness of the health benefits of swimming, encouraging everyone to enjoy the water and ensuring the development of talented athletes.

Jane feels fortunate to work in a sector that is based on fun and encourages all to embrace this in their day-to-day work. She joined Swim England in 1997 and, before her current role, held a range of senior management posts including Head of Administration, Director of Operations and Chief Operating Officer.

Jane graduated with B Ed majoring in History and English after studying Ethnography in France for 12 months. Outside of swimming, Jane is grounded by her voluntary work with the Samaritans and enjoys being active in a different volunteer-based organisation.

She was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to swimming during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

It is Jane’s belief that with positive thinking directed in the ‘right’ direction, everything is possible.

Tammy Parlour MBE co-founded Women’s Sport Trust in 2012 and leads the organisation as CEO.

Tammy works with leaders from across sport, media and business to understand how to practically raise visibility, increase impact and create a stronger women’s sport ecosystem. She was awarded an MBE in the New Year 2019 Honours List for services to gender equality in sport.

Tammy is a Master in the Korean martial art of Hapkido, having practiced for 40 years. She set up her own Hapkido and meditation school in the early 90’s and still coaches regularly. Tammy holds an MSc in Strength & Conditioning, and post-graduate study into Applied Sport Psychology.

With an interest in women’s football, she also volunteers as a Board Director for AFC Wimbledon Ladies FC.

Nick joined England Hockey as Chief Executive in November 2019, having held the same position with England Golf for the previous four years. Nick has a background in sports administration having worked for the International Cricket Council, UK Sport and the Youth Sport Trust.

Matthew Porter has been Chief Executive of the Professional Darts Corporation since January 2008, as well as a director of the PDC’s parent company, Matchroom Sport.

During that time, he has overseen the progress of the sport to unprecedented levels where it now pays out in excess of £14m prize money annually and has introduced a structure which provides a pathway from picking up a dart for the first time to being crowned World Champion, with the introduction of Development and Challenge Tours, as well as a World Series for elite players.

Porter was Chief Executive of Leyton Orient FC when the club was owned by Matchroom, as well as serving on the board of The Football League. In 2006 he was appointed as the youngest chief executive in English football by O’s chairman Barry Hearn, aged just 26. His appointment coincided with the Club’s promotion to League 1 and he oversaw their progression to an established side in the division which included narrowly missing out on promotion at the end of the 2013/14 season before the Club was sold.

Five times Olympic gold Medalist in five successive Games – Los Angeles, Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney, in the words of the former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch,

“Raises Sir Steve Redgrave to the highest rank of Olympic
participants.”

• NINE World Championships gold medalist, TRIPLE Commonwealth Gold Medallist.
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2000
• Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award 2000
• BBC’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011

Awarded 13 Honorary Doctorates from universities in the UK including Durham, Loughborough, Hull, St Andrew’s, Aberdeen and the University of London.

What makes his achievements more remarkable is that he won against a background of serious illnesses. He nearly missed the Atlanta Games due to colitis, for which he still receives treatment, and in 1997 he was diagnosed as diabetic, three years before winning his gold in Sydney.

Knighted in the New Year’s Honours List 2000, which accompanies his MBE in 1987 and his CBE in 1997.

In 2001 Sir Steve set-up his charity – The Steve Redgrave Trust, aimed at raising £5 million over five years for children’s charities. In April 2006 at the London Marathon, he broke the record for the most money raised by an individual, astaggering £1.8million and in doing so broke the £5 million target he set himself.

Sir Steve has published six books.

Kelly Simmons OBE took up the role of Director of the Women’s Professional Game
in September 2018 to help transform professional women’s football in England. She
has developed the FA Women’s Professional Game Strategy to drive the growth of all
aspects of The Barclays Women’s Super League and Barclays Women’s
Championship.
She was previously The FA Director of Development, overseeing the implementation
of a £200m four-year investment programme into children’s and grassroots football.
Kelly was awarded an MBE in 2002 for services to football and the OBE in 2021 for
services to women’s football. She received the BT Sports Industry Award for
‘Leadership in Sport’ in 2016. In 2020 Kelly was named in the ICC All-Star Best IX for
‘doing the most to advance women’s football globally’. In 2022 Kelly was awarded the
Arthur Bell Trophy at Sport and Recreation Alliance Annual General Meeting for her
contribution to sport. She is a Non-Executive Director of Women in Football,
championing gender equality within the football industry.

Sue is the Chief Executive of Badminton England. Her role is to lead the organisation, work with the board, the team and key volunteers to deliver the strategy, to develop and grow the sport, deliver major events for badminton (including Yonex All England Championships), developing the top performance athletes to compete in Olympic/Paralympic Games and other international competition and promote the fantastic, exciting sport of Badminton.

Previously, Sue was the Chief Executive at Volleyball England, where she oversaw the three disciplines of Volleyball, Sitting Volleyball and Beach Volleyball, working collaboratively to deliver huge improvements across the sport.

Prior to that, Sue was an Inspector for the Sport Grounds Safety Authority, who, as authors of the ‘Green Guide’, are unique as the world’s only government funded body set up specifically to develop safety at sports grounds. She has also had a key role in developing stakeholder relationships and working collaboratively with national and international sporting bodies, federations and organising committees.

She is a cyclist, road and velodrome, she previously played hockey at Midlands League level and was a past Taekwondo GB Veterans Champion.

Sue also holds one NED position at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground.

The final interesting fact about Sue is she has two sets of twins!

Georgina joined British Fencing in April 2014, successfully implementing a new insight-led strategic approach to increasing participation in fencing.

This followed her international fencing career, representing GB at many European and World Championships and spending several seasons ranked in the World Top 16. She holds 10 individual Senior National Championship titles, and has won several Commonwealth medals (including Gold in 2014). She still competes and most recently won individual bronze and team sliver at the 2022 World Veteran Championships.

Georgina is president of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) Women in Fencing Council, volunteers as an FIE Safeguarding Officer and is a recent graduate of the IOC Certificate in Safeguarding course.

Georgina is passionate about creating environments and opportunities for people to participate in sport where they can be safe, have fun and feel welcomed. Georgina also believes that fencing can be used as a powerful tool in social impact and was the driving force behind the creation of projects such as Muslim Girls Fence.

Prior to her role at British Fencing, Georgina worked as a COO, project manager, strategist and business consultant for a variety of companies including Legal & General and Accenture.

Georgina was awarded an MBE in 2022 for services to fencing.