As Engagement Officer in the Sports for Nature team, Jana is responsible for building and managing relations with and between the wider sports and nature conservation communities, engaging Sports for Nature signatories in the Frameworks activities, and helping develop sports’ capacity to champion nature and contribute to its protection and restoration.

Jana came into the role with a rich sustainability-in-sports expertise and capacity building and training experience having worked on sustainability, public affairs and sport diplomacy in the Olympic movement (Czech Olympic Committee and the European Olympic Committees EU Office) for a decade.

Dr. Brian McCullough is the Program Chair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, and Director of the Center for Sport & Sustainability at the University of Michigan. He co-founded the Sport Ecology Group and is a leading authority in sport and environmental sustainability. His research focuses on strategic sustainability decisions in sport organizations. Dr. McCullough has authored over 60 peer-reviewed articles and contributed to initiatives like the UNFCCC’s Sports for Climate Action Framework. He has secured funding from global organizations, including the IOC, and led sustainability consulting projects for various sport organizations.

Lindita leads work on sectors engagement in climate action as part of UN Climate Change wider Global Climate Action work. She led development of both Sports for Climate Action and Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action and works closely with a variety of stakeholders to mobilise key actors and catalyse ambitious action towards decarbonisation. Before joining UN Climate Change, Lindita worked in public relations and coordinated projects promoting multi-stakeholder engagement in policy and sustainability. Lindita has an educational background in engineering, international relations and global energy & climate policy.

Omar is the Vice President, Industry Growth and Sustainability at the NHL. He leads initiatives focused on innovations and business strategies that are geared to address the future of hockey at the grassroots level by increasing youth hockey participation and fan avidity. He also leads NHL Green, the award-winning and globally acclaimed environmental sustainability initiative of the League.

Mitchell joined the NHL in 2012 as its first environmental sustainability director, and has led corporate social responsibility, public affairs and philanthropic efforts including management of the NHL’s Foundations. Omar holds an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, a Master of Architecture from Columbia University in the City of New York and is a lifelong Florida Gator.

Oluseyi (Seyi) Smith is a retired two-time Canadian summer (London-2012) and winter (Pyeongchang-2018) Olympian in athletics and bobsleigh. His sporting career spanned 16 years and included representing Canada multiple times beyond the Olympic Games.

Outside of sport, Seyi is a professional engineer with a speciality in renewable energy electricity generation. His passion for environmental sustainability along with his love for sport led him to found Racing to Zero, a sports focused environmental sustainability consultancy. His team of retired Olympians and sustainability professionals offer sustainability education, carbon inventories and sustainability strategy support to local, regional and national sports organisations in Canada.

Julie is an experienced sustainability professional with a particular focus on challenging strategies, management and strategic social, environmental, economic and ethical advice for a wide variety of international projects. She has led teams in several offices and oversees initiatives in other areas where innovative solutions are provided to resolve particularly challenging strategies and projects. She has worked on numerous projects abroad including in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Oceania, North America, South America and the Bahamas.

Julie has facilitated workshops and been invited as a guest speaker at international conferences and has facilitated strategic meetings with government officials, NGOs and opinion formers. She works as an existing relationship manager with UN Agencies and has a thorough understanding of how societies and their institutions, economies and environments interact to influence sustainable development and the adaptability of livelihoods and communities to both environmental and political change.

Julie has a particular focus on leading the delivery of net zero strategies within highly complex environments and organisations.

Tiberio is Associate Professor in Sustainability Management at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, a public University located in Pisa, Italy. His research interests range from corporate environmental management to sustainable consumption and production, from Environmental performance and LCA to circular economy. He is author of more than 60 international publications and project manager of numerous international projects funded mainly by European Commission. At Sant’Anna University he coordinates the Sport Sustainability Management research area, focused on environmental sustainability activities applied in different sports like Football, Biathlon, Athletics, Floorball, Canoeing, Sailing.

Michele Uva is UEFA Director of Social and Environmental Sustainability, appointed in January 2021.

He has dedicated an entire career to professional sport in several contexts, disciplines and environments. He has performed the role of CEO in sports organizations such as the Italian Football Association (FIGC), the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), professional football clubs (Parma and Lazio), basketball club (Lottomatica Roma) and volleyball clubs (Bologna, Treviso and Matera), as well as Deputy Commissioner in Italian Serie A football league.

Between 2017 and 2020 he was UEFA Vice-president.

Author of six books on sport and the football industry, he is currently a lecturer at several international universities.

Mr. Uva sits on the Board of Trustee of UEFA Foundation and on the Executive Board of the Advisory Foundation in Support for Football for the Goals.

Madeleine is a researcher, educator and advocate working at the intersection of sport and climate change. After earning her PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Minnesota in 2020 and a postdoc in strategy at University of British Columbia, Maddy joined the Institute for Sport Business at Loughborough University London where she developed the world’s first MSc in Sustainable Sport Business. She joined the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor in fall 2023.

Maddy is the founder and co-director of The Sport Ecology Group, an international consortium of academics who drive climate action in the sport sector through research and public education initiatives. Her research in sport ecology examines the impacts of climate change on the sport sector, with a focus on resilience and adaptation. She has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and several industry-facing reports that have gained global attention. Her work has been covered by the BBC, Time Magazine, ESPN, Sky Sports, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, and more. Her first book Warming Up: How Climate Change is Changing Sports (for Bloomsbury) will publish in 2024.

Prince is a Lawyer, Engineer, and Sustainability Expert. He has experience in various industries, including mining, oil and gas, construction, real estate, transport, banking, hospitality, tourism, and Sports. Previously, he worked for companies such as AngloGold Ashanti and Newmont Mining Corporation.

Currently studying Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Oxford. An alumnus of the following institutions: KNUST-Ghana, GIMPA-Ghana, the University of Twente in the Netherlands, and the University of Cambridge in England.

He is a member of the Ghana Bar Association and the Ghana Institution of Engineering, and holds professional certifications as an ISO 14001 Lead Auditor and a Sustainability and Climate Risk Professional, accredited by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). He is also a GRI-certified trainer in sustainability reporting disclosures.

Prince is the CEO of SUCCA Africa Ltd, a management consulting firm.

Mie is an award-winning social entrepreneur providing social responsibility consulting for pro sports in Japan with experiences with the NBA. Previously she worked with Tokyo 2016 Bid after earning her Master’s in Sport Administration from Ohio University. Through Sport For Smile, the first-ever platform in Japan harnessing the power of sport for social change, which has collaborated with UN and World Bank, Mie has led climate actions in Japanese sports, selecting and helping “Elite 8” sustainability top pro-sports clubs to accelerate their activities, and served as BBC Green Sport Awards judge panel in the inaugural year.

For over 20 years, Dr. Sheila Nguyen has championed the protection of our planet through the power of sport. Her impact has been recognized globally — named the inaugural Regional Leader (Oceania) by Sport Positive, awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership by BASIS (2022), and listed among the Australian Financial Review’s Top 100 Women of Influence (2019).

As Head of Sustainability for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, she led groundbreaking initiatives to embed sustainability into one of the world’s biggest tournaments. She also co-founded the Sports Environment Alliance, uniting sport and planet leaders to protect the places where we play.

Seán is the Climate Justice Officer with Bohemians – a first in the world of football. He works with the club to design climate responses that can be both led by and empower the club’s fans and their communities. He also works as the secretariat member with responsibility for strategy with the Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative – a global coalition of organisations working to secure children’s right to a safe and healthy environment.

He has supported the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in the development of authoritative guidance to States on the protection of children’s rights with respect to the environment and climate change. Previously he worked with the former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, in seeking to advance climate justice within the UN system and subsequently authored The People’s Transition: Community-led Development for Climate Justice with the European Foundation for Progressive Studies and the Think Tank for Action on Social Change.

Guillermo founded and has been Director of Acting Green Forum since 2021. A specialist in marketing and sports tourism, with more than 30 years’ experience, with the concern and challenge of professionalising the sports industry mainly in the southern hemisphere and promoting the importance of sports as a platform to achieve the goals of the SDGs, and the fight against climate change working with all stakeholders from athletes to leaders.

Allen is the official Sustainability Advisor to the NBA Green program and serves as Environmental Science Advisor to the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Clippers and Major League Soccer.

Dr. Hershkowitz is widely acknowledged to have created the movement to leverage sports to promote sustainability and, as the world faces its greatest climate emergency, he serves on the Steering Committee of UNFCCC Sport for Climate Action Framework. He led the effort to create the US-based Green Sports Alliance as well as Sport and Sustainability International. He also created the environmental
program for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Oscars telecasts, as well as the environmental program for the Recording Academy’s GRAMMY Awards. In 2022 Dr. Hershkowitz was listed by Sports Business Journal among its short list of “Executives to Know in Sports Sustainability.”

Kevin is a professor at the Department of Kinesiology of National Tsing-Hua University, Taiwan, R. O. C. He specialises in sports marketing, event management, and sports policy. He has been intensively involved in international multi-sport events, including the Kaohsiung World Games 2009, Taipei Deaflympics 2009, and the Taipei Universiade, and now is helping the World Master Games 2025. He and his team are also deeply passionate about environmental sustainability and committed to 
taking concrete actions to mitigate climate change.

Brian Wesaala is the Founder and CEO of The Football Foundation for Africa (FFA), a Pan-African initiative committed to driving socioeconomic transformation through sport. With over a decade of experience at the intersection of football, development, and diplomacy, Brian is a recognised thought leader on the role of sport in advancing youth potential and social innovation across the continent. He has been recognised nationally and internationally with awards for his efforts in educating the football ecosystem.

A former UN staffer based in Geneva for nearly ten years, Brian combines global exposure with deep grassroots insight. He has convened the Africa Football Business Summit, the continent’s premier sports business platform. He currently serves on the Steering Group of SPORTS20, a global initiative for sport and sustainable development.

Stefan is Managing Director at Wagner – office for CSR, marketing and communications and Marketing Initiator and 1 st Chairman of Sports for Future e.V.

After studying economics, holding positions at the T-Mobile Team (cycling) and HSV (Bundesliga Club Hamburg) as well as the HSV foundation “Der Hamburger Weg”, Stefan trained as a CSR manager and has since focused on strategy development and advice on the topic of sustainability. Stefan works with companies in the district of Vechta and in sports for Darmstadt 98, the Climate Arena, Bayer Leverkusen, VfL Osnabrück, the German Ice Hockey League, Adler Mannheim and the German Football Association, among others.

At TSG Hoffenheim he has been responsible for the corporate development department since 2017, in which sustainability is a central anchor.

Stefan founded Sports for Future in 2019 and in 2023 initiated the international non-profit platform “SPORTS20” as a framework for a fully transformed sports world.

Aileen is Chair of the Green Sports Alliance and Founder of 5 Tool Sports Group, certified B Corp.  Aileen has spent a career in brand strategy and market intelligence, and is a global thought leader in aligning sports revenue models and partnerships to the environmental, social and economic realities of today. 

Aileen began her career in Europe, with FIAT and Alfa Romeo, followed by a decade in technology before returning to sport. Her field of play has included the Winter Olympic Games, Tour de France, Major and Minor League Baseball, FIFA Women’s World Cup, Major League Soccer, the NHL, motorsports and multiple World Cups in alpine sports and cycling.  On the brand side, she has worked with Mercedes Benz, GM, EA Sports and Microsoft.  Aileen serves on the Boards of Equal Play FC and the Women’s Independent Soccer League (U.S.) and as an Advisor to Women in Sports Technology and the Sports Ecology Group.  On the 50th anniversary of Title IX, she was named a Sports Business Journal Gamechanger, for her pioneering work in socially and environmentally responsible sports management.

Haruki Sawada is Executive Director of Green Sports Alliance Japan, where he focuses on advancing the role of sport in shaping a blueprint for the future and enabling communities and corporations to access sustainable solutions. His work connects creative, practical approaches with stakeholders through the power of sport. Haruki holds a degree in Economics from Kyoto University (2002) and completed the coursework for a Ph.D. in Bioresources Science at Mie University in 2024. With a background across business, academia, and sustainability practice, he builds cross-sector strategies that link sport with climate resilience and social wellbeing.  

Double Paralympic medallist Alexandra Rickham has been working in sustainability in the sport sector as a consultant since retiring from full time competition in 2017. She combines her academic knowledge and insight with her practical experience in competitive sport and environmental operations to focus both on changing the sports industry and its practices, and on utilising sport’s platform to inspire change. Alexandra is very passionate about diversity and inclusion and ensuring the athlete’s voice is heard on sustainability and regularly participates on panels, podcasts and other speaking opportunities on these subjects.

David is a professional footballer for Wycombe Wanderers FC in EFL League 1, the first Sustainability Champion for the players union the PFA, and an ambassador for sustainability in football charity Football For Future and Planet League. 

David has used his position to promote better sustainability practices within the organisations he represents, whilst publicly calling out FIFA and UEFA for not showing the climate leadership that football needs. He was part of setting up a sustainability strategy and an EV scheme at Wycombe Wanderers, and hosting a workshop on sustainability and climate change for footballers with Football For Future.

As Engagement Officer in the Sports for Nature team, Jana is responsible for building and managing relations with and between the wider sports and nature conservation communities, engaging Sports for Nature signatories in the Frameworks activities, and helping develop sports’ capacity to champion nature and contribute to its protection and restoration.

Jana came into the role with a rich sustainability-in-sports expertise and capacity building and training experience having worked on sustainability, public affairs and sport diplomacy in the Olympic movement (Czech Olympic Committee and the European Olympic Committees EU Office) for a decade.

Dr. Brian McCullough is the Program Chair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, and Director of the Center for Sport & Sustainability at the University of Michigan. He co-founded the Sport Ecology Group and is a leading authority in sport and environmental sustainability. His research focuses on strategic sustainability decisions in sport organizations. Dr. McCullough has authored over 60 peer-reviewed articles and contributed to initiatives like the UNFCCC’s Sports for Climate Action Framework. He has secured funding from global organizations, including the IOC, and led sustainability consulting projects for various sport organizations.

Lindita leads work on sectors engagement in climate action as part of UN Climate Change wider Global Climate Action work. She led development of both Sports for Climate Action and Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action and works closely with a variety of stakeholders to mobilise key actors and catalyse ambitious action towards decarbonisation. Before joining UN Climate Change, Lindita worked in public relations and coordinated projects promoting multi-stakeholder engagement in policy and sustainability. Lindita has an educational background in engineering, international relations and global energy & climate policy.

Omar is the Vice President, Industry Growth and Sustainability at the NHL. He leads initiatives focused on innovations and business strategies that are geared to address the future of hockey at the grassroots level by increasing youth hockey participation and fan avidity. He also leads NHL Green, the award-winning and globally acclaimed environmental sustainability initiative of the League.

Mitchell joined the NHL in 2012 as its first environmental sustainability director, and has led corporate social responsibility, public affairs and philanthropic efforts including management of the NHL’s Foundations. Omar holds an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, a Master of Architecture from Columbia University in the City of New York and is a lifelong Florida Gator.

Oluseyi (Seyi) Smith is a retired two-time Canadian summer (London-2012) and winter (Pyeongchang-2018) Olympian in athletics and bobsleigh. His sporting career spanned 16 years and included representing Canada multiple times beyond the Olympic Games.

Outside of sport, Seyi is a professional engineer with a speciality in renewable energy electricity generation. His passion for environmental sustainability along with his love for sport led him to found Racing to Zero, a sports focused environmental sustainability consultancy. His team of retired Olympians and sustainability professionals offer sustainability education, carbon inventories and sustainability strategy support to local, regional and national sports organisations in Canada.

Julie is an experienced sustainability professional with a particular focus on challenging strategies, management and strategic social, environmental, economic and ethical advice for a wide variety of international projects. She has led teams in several offices and oversees initiatives in other areas where innovative solutions are provided to resolve particularly challenging strategies and projects. She has worked on numerous projects abroad including in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Oceania, North America, South America and the Bahamas.

Julie has facilitated workshops and been invited as a guest speaker at international conferences and has facilitated strategic meetings with government officials, NGOs and opinion formers. She works as an existing relationship manager with UN Agencies and has a thorough understanding of how societies and their institutions, economies and environments interact to influence sustainable development and the adaptability of livelihoods and communities to both environmental and political change.

Julie has a particular focus on leading the delivery of net zero strategies within highly complex environments and organisations.

Tiberio is Associate Professor in Sustainability Management at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, a public University located in Pisa, Italy. His research interests range from corporate environmental management to sustainable consumption and production, from Environmental performance and LCA to circular economy. He is author of more than 60 international publications and project manager of numerous international projects funded mainly by European Commission. At Sant’Anna University he coordinates the Sport Sustainability Management research area, focused on environmental sustainability activities applied in different sports like Football, Biathlon, Athletics, Floorball, Canoeing, Sailing.

Michele Uva is UEFA Director of Social and Environmental Sustainability, appointed in January 2021.

He has dedicated an entire career to professional sport in several contexts, disciplines and environments. He has performed the role of CEO in sports organizations such as the Italian Football Association (FIGC), the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), professional football clubs (Parma and Lazio), basketball club (Lottomatica Roma) and volleyball clubs (Bologna, Treviso and Matera), as well as Deputy Commissioner in Italian Serie A football league.

Between 2017 and 2020 he was UEFA Vice-president.

Author of six books on sport and the football industry, he is currently a lecturer at several international universities.

Mr. Uva sits on the Board of Trustee of UEFA Foundation and on the Executive Board of the Advisory Foundation in Support for Football for the Goals.

Madeleine is a researcher, educator and advocate working at the intersection of sport and climate change. After earning her PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Minnesota in 2020 and a postdoc in strategy at University of British Columbia, Maddy joined the Institute for Sport Business at Loughborough University London where she developed the world’s first MSc in Sustainable Sport Business. She joined the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor in fall 2023.

Maddy is the founder and co-director of The Sport Ecology Group, an international consortium of academics who drive climate action in the sport sector through research and public education initiatives. Her research in sport ecology examines the impacts of climate change on the sport sector, with a focus on resilience and adaptation. She has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and several industry-facing reports that have gained global attention. Her work has been covered by the BBC, Time Magazine, ESPN, Sky Sports, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, and more. Her first book Warming Up: How Climate Change is Changing Sports (for Bloomsbury) will publish in 2024.

Prince is a Lawyer, Engineer, and Sustainability Expert. He has experience in various industries, including mining, oil and gas, construction, real estate, transport, banking, hospitality, tourism, and Sports. Previously, he worked for companies such as AngloGold Ashanti and Newmont Mining Corporation.

Currently studying Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Oxford. An alumnus of the following institutions: KNUST-Ghana, GIMPA-Ghana, the University of Twente in the Netherlands, and the University of Cambridge in England.

He is a member of the Ghana Bar Association and the Ghana Institution of Engineering, and holds professional certifications as an ISO 14001 Lead Auditor and a Sustainability and Climate Risk Professional, accredited by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). He is also a GRI-certified trainer in sustainability reporting disclosures.

Prince is the CEO of SUCCA Africa Ltd, a management consulting firm.

Mie is an award-winning social entrepreneur providing social responsibility consulting for pro sports in Japan with experiences with the NBA. Previously she worked with Tokyo 2016 Bid after earning her Master’s in Sport Administration from Ohio University. Through Sport For Smile, the first-ever platform in Japan harnessing the power of sport for social change, which has collaborated with UN and World Bank, Mie has led climate actions in Japanese sports, selecting and helping “Elite 8” sustainability top pro-sports clubs to accelerate their activities, and served as BBC Green Sport Awards judge panel in the inaugural year.

For over 20 years, Dr. Sheila Nguyen has championed the protection of our planet through the power of sport. Her impact has been recognized globally — named the inaugural Regional Leader (Oceania) by Sport Positive, awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership by BASIS (2022), and listed among the Australian Financial Review’s Top 100 Women of Influence (2019).

As Head of Sustainability for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, she led groundbreaking initiatives to embed sustainability into one of the world’s biggest tournaments. She also co-founded the Sports Environment Alliance, uniting sport and planet leaders to protect the places where we play.

Seán is the Climate Justice Officer with Bohemians – a first in the world of football. He works with the club to design climate responses that can be both led by and empower the club’s fans and their communities. He also works as the secretariat member with responsibility for strategy with the Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative – a global coalition of organisations working to secure children’s right to a safe and healthy environment.

He has supported the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in the development of authoritative guidance to States on the protection of children’s rights with respect to the environment and climate change. Previously he worked with the former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, in seeking to advance climate justice within the UN system and subsequently authored The People’s Transition: Community-led Development for Climate Justice with the European Foundation for Progressive Studies and the Think Tank for Action on Social Change.

Guillermo founded and has been Director of Acting Green Forum since 2021. A specialist in marketing and sports tourism, with more than 30 years’ experience, with the concern and challenge of professionalising the sports industry mainly in the southern hemisphere and promoting the importance of sports as a platform to achieve the goals of the SDGs, and the fight against climate change working with all stakeholders from athletes to leaders.

Allen is the official Sustainability Advisor to the NBA Green program and serves as Environmental Science Advisor to the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Clippers and Major League Soccer.

Dr. Hershkowitz is widely acknowledged to have created the movement to leverage sports to promote sustainability and, as the world faces its greatest climate emergency, he serves on the Steering Committee of UNFCCC Sport for Climate Action Framework. He led the effort to create the US-based Green Sports Alliance as well as Sport and Sustainability International. He also created the environmental
program for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Oscars telecasts, as well as the environmental program for the Recording Academy’s GRAMMY Awards. In 2022 Dr. Hershkowitz was listed by Sports Business Journal among its short list of “Executives to Know in Sports Sustainability.”

Kevin is a professor at the Department of Kinesiology of National Tsing-Hua University, Taiwan, R. O. C. He specialises in sports marketing, event management, and sports policy. He has been intensively involved in international multi-sport events, including the Kaohsiung World Games 2009, Taipei Deaflympics 2009, and the Taipei Universiade, and now is helping the World Master Games 2025. He and his team are also deeply passionate about environmental sustainability and committed to 
taking concrete actions to mitigate climate change.

Brian Wesaala is the Founder and CEO of The Football Foundation for Africa (FFA), a Pan-African initiative committed to driving socioeconomic transformation through sport. With over a decade of experience at the intersection of football, development, and diplomacy, Brian is a recognised thought leader on the role of sport in advancing youth potential and social innovation across the continent. He has been recognised nationally and internationally with awards for his efforts in educating the football ecosystem.

A former UN staffer based in Geneva for nearly ten years, Brian combines global exposure with deep grassroots insight. He has convened the Africa Football Business Summit, the continent’s premier sports business platform. He currently serves on the Steering Group of SPORTS20, a global initiative for sport and sustainable development.

Stefan is Managing Director at Wagner – office for CSR, marketing and communications and Marketing Initiator and 1 st Chairman of Sports for Future e.V.

After studying economics, holding positions at the T-Mobile Team (cycling) and HSV (Bundesliga Club Hamburg) as well as the HSV foundation “Der Hamburger Weg”, Stefan trained as a CSR manager and has since focused on strategy development and advice on the topic of sustainability. Stefan works with companies in the district of Vechta and in sports for Darmstadt 98, the Climate Arena, Bayer Leverkusen, VfL Osnabrück, the German Ice Hockey League, Adler Mannheim and the German Football Association, among others.

At TSG Hoffenheim he has been responsible for the corporate development department since 2017, in which sustainability is a central anchor.

Stefan founded Sports for Future in 2019 and in 2023 initiated the international non-profit platform “SPORTS20” as a framework for a fully transformed sports world.

Aileen is Chair of the Green Sports Alliance and Founder of 5 Tool Sports Group, certified B Corp.  Aileen has spent a career in brand strategy and market intelligence, and is a global thought leader in aligning sports revenue models and partnerships to the environmental, social and economic realities of today. 

Aileen began her career in Europe, with FIAT and Alfa Romeo, followed by a decade in technology before returning to sport. Her field of play has included the Winter Olympic Games, Tour de France, Major and Minor League Baseball, FIFA Women’s World Cup, Major League Soccer, the NHL, motorsports and multiple World Cups in alpine sports and cycling.  On the brand side, she has worked with Mercedes Benz, GM, EA Sports and Microsoft.  Aileen serves on the Boards of Equal Play FC and the Women’s Independent Soccer League (U.S.) and as an Advisor to Women in Sports Technology and the Sports Ecology Group.  On the 50th anniversary of Title IX, she was named a Sports Business Journal Gamechanger, for her pioneering work in socially and environmentally responsible sports management.

Haruki Sawada is Executive Director of Green Sports Alliance Japan, where he focuses on advancing the role of sport in shaping a blueprint for the future and enabling communities and corporations to access sustainable solutions. His work connects creative, practical approaches with stakeholders through the power of sport. Haruki holds a degree in Economics from Kyoto University (2002) and completed the coursework for a Ph.D. in Bioresources Science at Mie University in 2024. With a background across business, academia, and sustainability practice, he builds cross-sector strategies that link sport with climate resilience and social wellbeing.  

Double Paralympic medallist Alexandra Rickham has been working in sustainability in the sport sector as a consultant since retiring from full time competition in 2017. She combines her academic knowledge and insight with her practical experience in competitive sport and environmental operations to focus both on changing the sports industry and its practices, and on utilising sport’s platform to inspire change. Alexandra is very passionate about diversity and inclusion and ensuring the athlete’s voice is heard on sustainability and regularly participates on panels, podcasts and other speaking opportunities on these subjects.

David is a professional footballer for Wycombe Wanderers FC in EFL League 1, the first Sustainability Champion for the players union the PFA, and an ambassador for sustainability in football charity Football For Future and Planet League. 

David has used his position to promote better sustainability practices within the organisations he represents, whilst publicly calling out FIFA and UEFA for not showing the climate leadership that football needs. He was part of setting up a sustainability strategy and an EV scheme at Wycombe Wanderers, and hosting a workshop on sustainability and climate change for footballers with Football For Future.

As Engagement Officer in the Sports for Nature team, Jana is responsible for building and managing relations with and between the wider sports and nature conservation communities, engaging Sports for Nature signatories in the Frameworks activities, and helping develop sports’ capacity to champion nature and contribute to its protection and restoration.

Jana came into the role with a rich sustainability-in-sports expertise and capacity building and training experience having worked on sustainability, public affairs and sport diplomacy in the Olympic movement (Czech Olympic Committee and the European Olympic Committees EU Office) for a decade.

Dr. Brian McCullough is the Program Chair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, and Director of the Center for Sport & Sustainability at the University of Michigan. He co-founded the Sport Ecology Group and is a leading authority in sport and environmental sustainability. His research focuses on strategic sustainability decisions in sport organizations. Dr. McCullough has authored over 60 peer-reviewed articles and contributed to initiatives like the UNFCCC’s Sports for Climate Action Framework. He has secured funding from global organizations, including the IOC, and led sustainability consulting projects for various sport organizations.

Lindita leads work on sectors engagement in climate action as part of UN Climate Change wider Global Climate Action work. She led development of both Sports for Climate Action and Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action and works closely with a variety of stakeholders to mobilise key actors and catalyse ambitious action towards decarbonisation. Before joining UN Climate Change, Lindita worked in public relations and coordinated projects promoting multi-stakeholder engagement in policy and sustainability. Lindita has an educational background in engineering, international relations and global energy & climate policy.

Omar is the Vice President, Industry Growth and Sustainability at the NHL. He leads initiatives focused on innovations and business strategies that are geared to address the future of hockey at the grassroots level by increasing youth hockey participation and fan avidity. He also leads NHL Green, the award-winning and globally acclaimed environmental sustainability initiative of the League.

Mitchell joined the NHL in 2012 as its first environmental sustainability director, and has led corporate social responsibility, public affairs and philanthropic efforts including management of the NHL’s Foundations. Omar holds an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, a Master of Architecture from Columbia University in the City of New York and is a lifelong Florida Gator.

Oluseyi (Seyi) Smith is a retired two-time Canadian summer (London-2012) and winter (Pyeongchang-2018) Olympian in athletics and bobsleigh. His sporting career spanned 16 years and included representing Canada multiple times beyond the Olympic Games.

Outside of sport, Seyi is a professional engineer with a speciality in renewable energy electricity generation. His passion for environmental sustainability along with his love for sport led him to found Racing to Zero, a sports focused environmental sustainability consultancy. His team of retired Olympians and sustainability professionals offer sustainability education, carbon inventories and sustainability strategy support to local, regional and national sports organisations in Canada.

Julie is an experienced sustainability professional with a particular focus on challenging strategies, management and strategic social, environmental, economic and ethical advice for a wide variety of international projects. She has led teams in several offices and oversees initiatives in other areas where innovative solutions are provided to resolve particularly challenging strategies and projects. She has worked on numerous projects abroad including in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Oceania, North America, South America and the Bahamas.

Julie has facilitated workshops and been invited as a guest speaker at international conferences and has facilitated strategic meetings with government officials, NGOs and opinion formers. She works as an existing relationship manager with UN Agencies and has a thorough understanding of how societies and their institutions, economies and environments interact to influence sustainable development and the adaptability of livelihoods and communities to both environmental and political change.

Julie has a particular focus on leading the delivery of net zero strategies within highly complex environments and organisations.

Tiberio is Associate Professor in Sustainability Management at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, a public University located in Pisa, Italy. His research interests range from corporate environmental management to sustainable consumption and production, from Environmental performance and LCA to circular economy. He is author of more than 60 international publications and project manager of numerous international projects funded mainly by European Commission. At Sant’Anna University he coordinates the Sport Sustainability Management research area, focused on environmental sustainability activities applied in different sports like Football, Biathlon, Athletics, Floorball, Canoeing, Sailing.

Michele Uva is UEFA Director of Social and Environmental Sustainability, appointed in January 2021.

He has dedicated an entire career to professional sport in several contexts, disciplines and environments. He has performed the role of CEO in sports organizations such as the Italian Football Association (FIGC), the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), professional football clubs (Parma and Lazio), basketball club (Lottomatica Roma) and volleyball clubs (Bologna, Treviso and Matera), as well as Deputy Commissioner in Italian Serie A football league.

Between 2017 and 2020 he was UEFA Vice-president.

Author of six books on sport and the football industry, he is currently a lecturer at several international universities.

Mr. Uva sits on the Board of Trustee of UEFA Foundation and on the Executive Board of the Advisory Foundation in Support for Football for the Goals.

Madeleine is a researcher, educator and advocate working at the intersection of sport and climate change. After earning her PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Minnesota in 2020 and a postdoc in strategy at University of British Columbia, Maddy joined the Institute for Sport Business at Loughborough University London where she developed the world’s first MSc in Sustainable Sport Business. She joined the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor in fall 2023.

Maddy is the founder and co-director of The Sport Ecology Group, an international consortium of academics who drive climate action in the sport sector through research and public education initiatives. Her research in sport ecology examines the impacts of climate change on the sport sector, with a focus on resilience and adaptation. She has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and several industry-facing reports that have gained global attention. Her work has been covered by the BBC, Time Magazine, ESPN, Sky Sports, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, and more. Her first book Warming Up: How Climate Change is Changing Sports (for Bloomsbury) will publish in 2024.

Prince is a Lawyer, Engineer, and Sustainability Expert. He has experience in various industries, including mining, oil and gas, construction, real estate, transport, banking, hospitality, tourism, and Sports. Previously, he worked for companies such as AngloGold Ashanti and Newmont Mining Corporation.

Currently studying Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Oxford. An alumnus of the following institutions: KNUST-Ghana, GIMPA-Ghana, the University of Twente in the Netherlands, and the University of Cambridge in England.

He is a member of the Ghana Bar Association and the Ghana Institution of Engineering, and holds professional certifications as an ISO 14001 Lead Auditor and a Sustainability and Climate Risk Professional, accredited by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). He is also a GRI-certified trainer in sustainability reporting disclosures.

Prince is the CEO of SUCCA Africa Ltd, a management consulting firm.

Mie is an award-winning social entrepreneur providing social responsibility consulting for pro sports in Japan with experiences with the NBA. Previously she worked with Tokyo 2016 Bid after earning her Master’s in Sport Administration from Ohio University. Through Sport For Smile, the first-ever platform in Japan harnessing the power of sport for social change, which has collaborated with UN and World Bank, Mie has led climate actions in Japanese sports, selecting and helping “Elite 8” sustainability top pro-sports clubs to accelerate their activities, and served as BBC Green Sport Awards judge panel in the inaugural year.

For over 20 years, Dr. Sheila Nguyen has championed the protection of our planet through the power of sport. Her impact has been recognized globally — named the inaugural Regional Leader (Oceania) by Sport Positive, awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership by BASIS (2022), and listed among the Australian Financial Review’s Top 100 Women of Influence (2019).

As Head of Sustainability for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, she led groundbreaking initiatives to embed sustainability into one of the world’s biggest tournaments. She also co-founded the Sports Environment Alliance, uniting sport and planet leaders to protect the places where we play.

Seán is the Climate Justice Officer with Bohemians – a first in the world of football. He works with the club to design climate responses that can be both led by and empower the club’s fans and their communities. He also works as the secretariat member with responsibility for strategy with the Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative – a global coalition of organisations working to secure children’s right to a safe and healthy environment.

He has supported the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in the development of authoritative guidance to States on the protection of children’s rights with respect to the environment and climate change. Previously he worked with the former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, in seeking to advance climate justice within the UN system and subsequently authored The People’s Transition: Community-led Development for Climate Justice with the European Foundation for Progressive Studies and the Think Tank for Action on Social Change.

Guillermo founded and has been Director of Acting Green Forum since 2021. A specialist in marketing and sports tourism, with more than 30 years’ experience, with the concern and challenge of professionalising the sports industry mainly in the southern hemisphere and promoting the importance of sports as a platform to achieve the goals of the SDGs, and the fight against climate change working with all stakeholders from athletes to leaders.

Allen is the official Sustainability Advisor to the NBA Green program and serves as Environmental Science Advisor to the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Clippers and Major League Soccer.

Dr. Hershkowitz is widely acknowledged to have created the movement to leverage sports to promote sustainability and, as the world faces its greatest climate emergency, he serves on the Steering Committee of UNFCCC Sport for Climate Action Framework. He led the effort to create the US-based Green Sports Alliance as well as Sport and Sustainability International. He also created the environmental
program for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Oscars telecasts, as well as the environmental program for the Recording Academy’s GRAMMY Awards. In 2022 Dr. Hershkowitz was listed by Sports Business Journal among its short list of “Executives to Know in Sports Sustainability.”

Kevin is a professor at the Department of Kinesiology of National Tsing-Hua University, Taiwan, R. O. C. He specialises in sports marketing, event management, and sports policy. He has been intensively involved in international multi-sport events, including the Kaohsiung World Games 2009, Taipei Deaflympics 2009, and the Taipei Universiade, and now is helping the World Master Games 2025. He and his team are also deeply passionate about environmental sustainability and committed to 
taking concrete actions to mitigate climate change.

Brian Wesaala is the Founder and CEO of The Football Foundation for Africa (FFA), a Pan-African initiative committed to driving socioeconomic transformation through sport. With over a decade of experience at the intersection of football, development, and diplomacy, Brian is a recognised thought leader on the role of sport in advancing youth potential and social innovation across the continent. He has been recognised nationally and internationally with awards for his efforts in educating the football ecosystem.

A former UN staffer based in Geneva for nearly ten years, Brian combines global exposure with deep grassroots insight. He has convened the Africa Football Business Summit, the continent’s premier sports business platform. He currently serves on the Steering Group of SPORTS20, a global initiative for sport and sustainable development.

Stefan is Managing Director at Wagner – office for CSR, marketing and communications and Marketing Initiator and 1 st Chairman of Sports for Future e.V.

After studying economics, holding positions at the T-Mobile Team (cycling) and HSV (Bundesliga Club Hamburg) as well as the HSV foundation “Der Hamburger Weg”, Stefan trained as a CSR manager and has since focused on strategy development and advice on the topic of sustainability. Stefan works with companies in the district of Vechta and in sports for Darmstadt 98, the Climate Arena, Bayer Leverkusen, VfL Osnabrück, the German Ice Hockey League, Adler Mannheim and the German Football Association, among others.

At TSG Hoffenheim he has been responsible for the corporate development department since 2017, in which sustainability is a central anchor.

Stefan founded Sports for Future in 2019 and in 2023 initiated the international non-profit platform “SPORTS20” as a framework for a fully transformed sports world.

Aileen is Chair of the Green Sports Alliance and Founder of 5 Tool Sports Group, certified B Corp.  Aileen has spent a career in brand strategy and market intelligence, and is a global thought leader in aligning sports revenue models and partnerships to the environmental, social and economic realities of today. 

Aileen began her career in Europe, with FIAT and Alfa Romeo, followed by a decade in technology before returning to sport. Her field of play has included the Winter Olympic Games, Tour de France, Major and Minor League Baseball, FIFA Women’s World Cup, Major League Soccer, the NHL, motorsports and multiple World Cups in alpine sports and cycling.  On the brand side, she has worked with Mercedes Benz, GM, EA Sports and Microsoft.  Aileen serves on the Boards of Equal Play FC and the Women’s Independent Soccer League (U.S.) and as an Advisor to Women in Sports Technology and the Sports Ecology Group.  On the 50th anniversary of Title IX, she was named a Sports Business Journal Gamechanger, for her pioneering work in socially and environmentally responsible sports management.

Haruki Sawada is Executive Director of Green Sports Alliance Japan, where he focuses on advancing the role of sport in shaping a blueprint for the future and enabling communities and corporations to access sustainable solutions. His work connects creative, practical approaches with stakeholders through the power of sport. Haruki holds a degree in Economics from Kyoto University (2002) and completed the coursework for a Ph.D. in Bioresources Science at Mie University in 2024. With a background across business, academia, and sustainability practice, he builds cross-sector strategies that link sport with climate resilience and social wellbeing.  

Double Paralympic medallist Alexandra Rickham has been working in sustainability in the sport sector as a consultant since retiring from full time competition in 2017. She combines her academic knowledge and insight with her practical experience in competitive sport and environmental operations to focus both on changing the sports industry and its practices, and on utilising sport’s platform to inspire change. Alexandra is very passionate about diversity and inclusion and ensuring the athlete’s voice is heard on sustainability and regularly participates on panels, podcasts and other speaking opportunities on these subjects.

David is a professional footballer for Wycombe Wanderers FC in EFL League 1, the first Sustainability Champion for the players union the PFA, and an ambassador for sustainability in football charity Football For Future and Planet League. 

David has used his position to promote better sustainability practices within the organisations he represents, whilst publicly calling out FIFA and UEFA for not showing the climate leadership that football needs. He was part of setting up a sustainability strategy and an EV scheme at Wycombe Wanderers, and hosting a workshop on sustainability and climate change for footballers with Football For Future.