Sports for Social Impact

Fred Turner is the executive director of Beyond Sport. He leads efforts to place sport at the heart of addressing the world's most pressing issues through funding, capacity building, partnerships and campaigning. He has led a period of transformational growth for the Foundation, resulting in new programs and initiatives supported by increased income and a diversification of partnerships and de...

Rachel May has worked in sport for Development since 2014. Previously as  Partnerships Manager for the Homeless World Cup Foundation and Project Manager for ENGSO. Rachel grew up in Aberdeenshire and was raised hiking – she loves snow and mountain-based sports. Rachel is qualified as a UK Mountain Leader and enjoys sharing new experiences with people outside. Mhor Outdoor is a not-for-profit socia...

Matt Readman joined Dark Horses in 2019 to lead the agency's strategic output having previously been Strategy Director at both AnalogFolk and WCRS. He has a long track-record of working in sport and creativity, and is passionate about how sport influences the biggest issues in our society. Dark Horses is a creative agency specialising in sport, fitness and wellbeing. Their people are all creativel...

Jamie Asante-Asare is the co-executive director of peace players international. Her journey towards fostering peace through sport began long before her involvement with PeacePlayers. Her collegiate experience laid the foundation for her passion for sports and its potential for positive change. Following her collegiate career, Jamie delved into the realm of peacebuilding, joining PeacePlayers as an...

Nicole Matuska is currently the U.S. Director at Women Win, a global non-profit leader in gender equity through sport. In this role, she has travelled to over 30 countries on three continents leading trainings and providing strategic consulting to organizational staff and coaches of sport for social change organizations advancing the rights of girls and women. Her love for sport and and its power...

Alicia Tyson is the Managing Director of the Canadian Sport Film Festival. She is a Health Promotion Specialist who works with communities and organizations to create social and physical environments that promote health and wellbeing for all. She has provided leadership and support to individuals as a fitness instructor and personal trainer and has led sessions in chronic disease prevention for mu...

Jennifer Scott - Jennifer is passionate about leveraging the power of sport to build leaders, capacity and communities.  As the VP, Community & Social Impact, she is responsible for the organization’s community initiatives, ensuring the club is a transformational force in the communities it serves.  Prior to joining the Whitecaps, Jennifer was the Director, Sport Burnaby, where she built partnersh...

Nick Kershaw is the energetic leader of the dream and revels in making a vision into a reality - bringing people together through the power of running. In 2015, Nick left his job in finance, placed all his possessions in two bags, and set on his way to create Impact Marathons around the world. He is deeply passionate about almost everything, and he brings his relentless energy to every meeting, ev...

Martin Sampson is CEO at the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA). He is a dynamic and passionate leader who has been engaging in Canada’s national conversation for twenty years. Passionate about fully realizing the role parks and recreation play in building healthy and vibrant communities, Martin is proud to lead a team that represents the interests of the dynamic parks and recreation...

Anton Klischewski is to promoting sustainability in professional and grassroots sports. He does this as the coordinator for sustainability and inclusion at FC Internationale Berlin 1980 e. V., the first sustainably certified amateur club in Germany. In addition, he is a consultant for sports and fair trade at the Action Alliance in Berlin and advise sports clubs, sports associations, politics and...

Tiago Guilherme is the Project and Policy Manager at ENGSO Youth. ENGSO Youth is the independent youth body of the European Sports NGO (ENGSO). ENGSO Youth focuses on the youth sport-for-all sector in Europe and represents young Europeans under the age of 35 in sports in more than 30 countries. ​ Since 2002, we have been at the forefront of youth sport advocacy at European level. Links: ENGSO Yout...

Brett Harrison is an experienced endurance athlete, coach and event organizer. He’s coached numerous runners to PRs, a US cross country team to the state finals, and loads of people from couch to 5K. Brett has lived in Tanzania since 2009, working in community development with a focus on increasing food security among rural people. Brett started Red Knot Racing Company in 2012, in order to fund ag...

Ryan Redondo is the CEO of Youth Tennis San Diego and Barnes Tennis Centre. Ryan has spent a career in racquet sports, first as a All-American tennis player then as a developer of emerging junior American tennis talent through his work at San Diego State University, University of the Pacific and Youth Tennis San Diego. Ryan is also Tournament Director of the WTA San Diego Open. Under Ryan’s leader...

Youthful Cities is a social enterprise that creates data-driven solutions to make cities more youthful — connected, open, dynamic, inventive, curious and playful — places. The Urban Work Summit is on the future of work in Canadian cities, designed and delivered by young workers, powered by the 2023  Urban Work Index (UWI) . Articles: Youthful Cities UWI: https://www.youthfulcities.com/blog/reports...

Jeremy Zoller specializes in edible landscapes, gardens and food forests through his company Sunshine Earth Works. He is an experienced finishing carpenter and has been working with several key local landscape and project management professionals for years. Jeremy has also co-managed a greenhouse heirloom tomato operation and has extensive board and volunteer experience in the local arts and cultu...

Paul Tingley is a five-time Paralympic medallist, he is considered one of the world’s top solo competitors in the sport of sailing. He has been involved with SailAble Nova Scotia since the mid-90s and, later, served on the AbleSail Network Canada board of directors. In 2020, he was elected Chair of the AbleSail Network. AbleSail Network guides and supports adaptive sailing programs across the coun...

Jana Janotova, is Engagement Officer for Sports for Nature at the IUCN. She is responsible for building and managing relations with and between the wider sports and nature conservation communities and helping develop sports’ capacity to champion nature and contribute to its protection and restoration. Jana came into the role with rich sustainability and sports experience, having worked on sustaina...

With 38 years of experience in the ocean and dinghy racing industry, Damian Foxall has spent most of his life competing on the water. In that time, he has logged 460,000 nautical miles as a professional racing sailor and has participated in 20+ Trans-Atlantics, 11 round the world races and holder of numerous World records. Damian Foxall is the sustainability program manager for the 11th Hour Racin...

Laura Smith is a Project Manager for Park People. She holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from Queen's University. Her planning interests include healthy community planning, equitable placemaking, and exploring marginalized peoples' experiences in city-building. Park People supports and mobilizes community park groups, community organizers, non-profits, park professionals and fun...

Laura Bernier is a Public Outreach Education Officer with Parks Canada. Parks Canada is the federal agency that manages and protects Canada's national parks and national park reserves. The Learn to Camp Programme is a partnership between Parks Canada and the MEC (Mountain Equipment Company), offering opportunities for newcomers to access national parks in new ways. Articles: Parks Canada: http...

Nikos Lemanis is a Co-Founder of Football Without Borders. Football Without Borders' mission is to harness the global power and reach of football, our mission is to raise awareness of inequality and to alleviate the plight of those displaced, underprivileged or oppressed. They believe that football is a uniting language. It can start conversations on every continent, promoting connections that wou...

Mark Lawrie is the Chief Executive of StreetGames. He leads the StreetGames Executive team and support them as they collectively deliver their mission and work towards their vision for children and young people.  StreetGames is one of the UK’s leading ‘sport for development’ charities – changing lives and transforming communities through the power of sport. Articles: StreetGames: https://www.stree...

Shelton Hawkins is the founder of Play in Colour and muralist for Project Backboard. He restores public basketball courts with large-scale artworks. He aims to create safe spaces where kids of all races and genders can become more active. Project Backboard is a 501(c)(3) organization, founded in 2015, whose mission is to renovate public basketball courts and install large scale works of site-speci...

Charles Frémont is the UEFA Innovation Hub Manager. UEFA – the Union of European Football Associations – is the governing body of European football and the umbrella organisation for 55 national associations. The UEFA Innovation Hub helps them shape the future of football through collaborative innovation. The world is experiencing unprecedented change and this brings great opportunities for footbal...

Dr. Louise de Lannoy completed her PhD at Queen’s University in 2019 in clinical exercise physiology. Her interests in population health and knowledge translation led her to join the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Team at the CHEO Research Institute in 2020 where she first became involved in Outdoor Play Canada while it resided within the CHEO Research Institute, growing with it as it...