LONDON 2023

Advisory Board

London 2024 will be announced shortly. Follow us on social for updates.

Chair

Stephanie Hightower

Stephanie is an American former hurdler and former president of USA Track & Field (USATF). She is a four-time U.S. Champion at 100 meter hurdles and a five-time U.S. Indoor Champion at 60 meter hurdles. She also won the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials, but was prevented from competing in the Moscow Olympics due to the boycott. She won a silver medal at the 1987 Pan American Games. Hightower became president of USA Track & Field in December 2008. She is the 8th President and CEO (and first female President and CEO) of the Columbus Urban League (CUL), Columbus’ oldest and most successful urban family advocate. Since taking the helm in 2011, Ms. Hightower has transformed the organization into a more relevant and effective force in helping individuals and families overcome poverty and achieve self-sufficiency — today’s civil rights struggle — by offering a holistic set of initiatives focused on economic transformation, foundational education and family was elected to the IAAF Council in August 2015.

Ian Lenagan

Ian chaired the IPO of his workforce management software company TeleWork Systems plc in 2000, at a valuation of £145m. Subsequently he concentrated on the acquisition and operation of professional sports clubs Oxford United FC and Wigan Warriors Rugby League Club.

During his period of ownership Ian oversaw the return of Oxford United Football Club to the Football League via a Wembley playoff victory in 2010.

Wigan Warriors Rugby League Club are the most successful Rugby League club of all time; during Ian’s period of ownership Wigan have won every honour available at club level nationally and internationally. He is equally proud of the successful establishment of the Women’s and Wheelchair teams in recent years. Ian remains Chairman and majority shareholder.

Since 2018 Ian also enjoyed successful spells as Football Association (FA) Board Director, English Football League (EFL) Chairman and continues to pursue major interests in businesses within Media, Entertainment, Technology and Education.

Vice Chair

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Spencer Moore

Spencer is Director of Strategy at CIMSPA (Charter Institute for the Management of Sport & Physical Activity) where he leads on Education standards and Regulation, Partnerships (Education / Employers / System Partners), and Workforce Governance.

Prior to that he worked at British Swimming as Head of Workforce Development, where he led on the redevelopment of the Swimming Teaching and Coaching qualifications and managed the training and awarding body arm of the organisation. Before joining British Swimming Spencer spent 8 years working in Further Education and it was during this time he was an Exercise Physiologist with the British Para-lympic Swimming team during the 2000 Sydney Olympic cycle.

Stuart Armstrong

Lorin Hamlin

Lorin Hamlin joined Under Armour in 2011 to manage the grand opening of the state-of-the art Innovation Lab, and serve as legal liaison between Innovation and the UA business units. She has built out that role to include business development, with a special interest in sports tech accelerator programs. Lorin now leads the Open Innovation practice at Under Armour, searching for the new and next idea to make all athletes better.

Andy Hicks

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Rebecca Hopkins

As CEO of The STA Group and a Founding Partner of Sightline Ventures, Rebecca is a sports communications specialist and entrepreneur with over 20 years’ international sector experience.

The STA Group is a events, information and consultancy business spanning global sports brands The Sports Technology Awards, The STA Startups, The Sports Technology Annual Review and The Sports Technology Power List, whilst Sightline Ventures invests in and advises sports tech businesses of all sizes.

Rebecca is a passionate advocate of equality and sustainability in sport, and has served on the Advisory Boards of Loughborough University’s Business School and the International Sports Technology Association. She has guest lectured for CIM and has appeared on numerous news channels as a sports media and technology pundit.

Kelly Simmons

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 FA Women’s Super League and FA 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’.

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Jo Tongue

With nearly 20 years in the Industry, Jo has experience across the board in sport, media and commercial opportunities. Jo Tongue is the Founder & CEO at Tongue Tied Management which she started in February 2015. She started out at the BBC as a sports reporter; she moved into online, radio and TV before joining independent agency Somethin’ Else and editing the flagship football show 606 for 10 years. An FA registered agent she is passionate about securing fair contracts for all clients be they male or female. Jo is a Director and board member of Women in Football, and a Trustee of both Jason Roberts’ and Michael Carrick Foundations

Joanna Cuthbert

Joanna had 15 years’ experience as a cheerleading athlete, coach and programme owner, before taking on the role of Chair at SportCheer England in September 2019.

She is passionate about improving access to the sport for people with disabilities, and played a key role in the founding and establishment of Team England ParaCheer; managing the team in 2016 and in 2017, when they took their first Gold medal at the World Cheerleading Championships.

Joanna trained as a contemporary dancer, and has a professional background in dance education and community engagement.

Rob Young

Rob is the co-founder and chief executive of Switch the Play Foundation, the UK’s only charity dedicated to supporting all sportspeople to successfully transition into life outside of sport. Originally established as a social enterprise in 2014 before converting to a charity in 2020, the Foundation supports hundreds of sportspeople each year with their personal development and planning for life beyond sport

Rob’s experience across a range of roles in sport includes Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games, work with National Governing Bodies of sport, professional sport, national and local government, and further and higher education. For six years Rob worked on the legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, for which he was awarded an MBE in 2013. Rob is also a Board Member of GreaterSport, the Active Partnership for Greater Manchester

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Anju Solanki

Prior to founding MEA Consulting, Anju gained 12 years of experience working within Investment Banking for Citigroup, Lloyds and Barclays where she successfully built her own franchise.

Having spent the majority of her career working on a trading floor, which demands women tap into their alpha personalities, Anju became increasingly passionate about the gender inequalities which women face, and this passion was further augmented when she became a mother.

Anju aspires for her daughter to grow up into a world in which organisations embrace female talent at all stages of a woman’s life. Anju has three sisters and was raised singly by her mother who dedicated her life to raising her four daughters, yet also achieved three universities degrees and worked all hours to support their dreams.

Anju believes ambitious and hardworking women are extraordinary assets to any team and organisation.

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Hannah Bostock

Hannah is a key member of the Creative Artists Agency’s (CAA) International Brand Consulting division. Having joined CAA in 2018 – the world’s largest sports and entertainment agency – Hannah leads accounts within Formula One and previously tennis and supports sponsorships in major UK and international events. Hannah specialises within strategic mapping, talent and influencer work, alongside campaign activation and delivery, whilst also leading the UK social impact division. Hannah is a founding member of CAA’s Women’s Sport project team which has been established to support and promote women’s sport through brand awareness and integration.

Hannah began her career at the British Film Institute which included the iconic BFI London Film Festival before going on to serve as corporate lead for Wings for Life, the spinal cord research foundation run by the founder of Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz. Hannah has a BMus degree in Music from Cardiff University.

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Billie Purdie

Billie is the Women in Esports Manager at the British Esports Federation, working at the forefront of the Women in Esports Initiative. The initiative aims to promote and raise awareness of diversity and inclusion in esports through its four key pillars, Competition, Community, Education and Safer Space.

Coming from a sports and fitness background, Billie has spent the past year in esports in roles such as events management and community management. She is passionate about making esports accessible to all, being able to provide equal opportunities and further promoting diversity in the esports industry.

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Paul Franks

Paul Franks is the Interactive Entertainment Lead for Coutts Commercial. He leads a team of bankers focussing on Computer Games development, esports and Streaming. He has spent over 20 years with the group.

Outside of work, Paul has two young children who he has become increasingly involved with coaching he sons mini rugby team and doing his best to defend against his daughters netball attacks! He also enjoys anything outdoors and trips away.

Daniel Wood

Dan works as a bridge between corporate and community in Street Sports, E-Sports and Education. As Founder and CEO of the agency AYNIAB Ltd (acronym for ‘All You Need Is A Ball’), his multiple roles include being a member of IFAC (International Federations Advisory Committee) for the Global Esports Federation with a focus on Active Esports, Co-Founder of the World Freestyle Football Association and Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Football.

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Steve Reynolds

I am a retired Police Officer with 34 years of policing experience. I served 29 years within Essex CID and retired as the Detective Chief Superintendent / Divisional Commander of Crime Division, a position I held for six years. I am an accredited Senior Investigating Officer and have led investigations into many murders and other serious crimes.

Upon retirement from Essex Police, I was appointed as a Senior Investigator for the Independent Police Complaints Commission where I led many high-profile investigations. I spent nine years at the IPCC before returning to Essex Police where I worked in Major Investigation Rooms, Major Crime and Serious Case Review. As a consultant I have been engaged in a range of investigations, mainly working for solicitors involved in private prosecutions, but also advising clients on police and regulatory matters.

In my spare time I play golf and support Tottenham Hotspur.

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Enric Rippoll

Founder and Managing Partner of ER SPORTS LAW & ARBITRATION

Spanish Lawyer, certified in 2005, specialized in International Sports Law and negotiation, advising Athletes, Clubs, Agents and Entities Governing Sports (national and international federations, associations etc ..)

As an International Sports Law specialized Lawyer, Mr. Ripoll provides legal advice to Clubs, Academies, Intermediaries, Athletes or National and International Associations not only in contractual matters such as employment or image rights contracts, but also in procedures regarding match-fixing, ethics, governance, financial fair play, doping, etc. He has a wide experience representing his clients before the jurisdictional bodies such as TAS, BAT, National and International Federations and ordinary courts.

In 2018 colleagues and clients across the world recognized him in the British publication “Who’s Who Legal” as one of the world’s leading lawyers in the Sports and Entertainment Law industry, and more recently, in 2021, was recognized us as one of the Industry Thought Leaders.

Professor and Lecturer in different programs and seminars and author of specialized articles on sports law.

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Rowena Samarasinhe

Rowena Samarasinhe is a commercial sports lawyer and businesswoman. Alongside managing commercial consultancy, GENSport, she is a Partner at Level Law, Expert Partner at Portas Consulting and is CEO of World 12s, an innovative new rugby tournament.

Having spent most of her career working primarily on the commercialisation of major events for international federations, her focus now is on developing authentic, innovative, and value-based commercial strategies and partnerships and she has worked with several high-profile athletes and sports teams around the globe. Rowena is passionate about changing perceptions within the industry and her own experiences both personal and professional have given her a unique perspective of sport from grassroots to high performance to the boardroom.

Rowena is also a member of the National Sports Council of Sri Lanka, and she is on the board of several organisations, including: the PSA World Tour; CIMPSA; and leadership advisory firm, Equiida