NEW SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENTS! – FIND OUT MORE
The IWG Global Summit 2026 will bring together leaders, practitioners, researchers and changemakers from across the world to explore what it will take to move Beyond the Breakthrough for women and girls in sport and physical activity.
Beyond the Breakthrough is about lasting progress, not isolated success stories. It is about how proven ideas, policies and programmes are embedded, adapted and sustained across different contexts, creating shifts that cannot be turned back.
Across three dynamic days, the Summit will bring together global voices from sport, business, policy and education to share what works, challenge thinking and explore practical solutions across leadership, participation, investment, innovation and visibility in sport.
This is not a Summit about big ideas alone. Delegates will leave with insights, models and approaches they can take back to their organisation, community or country, alongside a global network helping to make progress unstoppable.
Held every four years and building on more than 30 years of global impact, the IWG Global Summit is positioned as the ‘Davos of Women’s Sport’, bringing together influential leaders, decision-makers and changemakers to shape the future of gender equality in sport.
The time
is now
Summit
News
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Summit
Themes
The Summit is organised around these five areas because through our global network, we know this is where there is huge appetite for knowledge and practical learning. Beyond the Breakthrough connects them all: it’s not about celebrating progress, but about making it last – showing how ideas are embedded, adapted and sustained in different contexts.
The programme continues to evolve as additional speakers and session details are confirmed. Full access to session booking, personalised scheduling and the complete delegate experience will be released to registered ticket holders through the Summit event app in June.
Investment
Investment is not just about headline-grabbing announcements, but about creating the resources, partnerships and financial commitments that sustain progress over time.
How do financial commitments, partnerships and budgets embed lasting progress for all women and girls, creating change that cannot be turned back, not just funding that makes news?
LEADERSHIP
Lasting progress depends on leadership becoming embedded within organisations, systems and cultures, not resting with individual champions alone.
How do governance, accountability and decision-making embed lasting progress for all women and girls, so change becomes part of how organisations operate, not just what individuals do?
VISIBILITY
Lasting visibility is created through everyday presence, not just moments of attention.
How do media, narrative and cultural strategies embed lasting visibility for all women and girls across different contexts, normalising participation and creating the conditions for progress, not just celebrating peak moments?
Innovation
Innovation moves beyond pilots and prototypes to everyday practice.
How do new ideas, test-and-learn approaches and innovative mindsets create real breakthroughs for all women and girls – and then get embedded and adapted across different contexts, so innovation becomes part of how organisations work, not just one-off experiments?
PARTICIPATION
Real progress means creating opportunities that keep women and girls involved, supported and able to thrive over time.
How do participation opportunities get built around what communities actually need, shaped by local realities and supported so more women and girls can take part, stick with it, and go further – not just open access, but lasting involvement?
Investment
Investment is not just about headline-grabbing announcements, but about creating the resources, partnerships and financial commitments that sustain progress over time.
How do financial commitments, partnerships and budgets embed lasting progress for all women and girls, creating change that cannot be turned back, not just funding that makes news?
Leadership
Lasting progress depends on leadership becoming embedded within organisations, systems and cultures, not resting with individual champions alone.
How do governance, accountability and decision-making embed lasting progress for all women and girls, so change becomes part of how organisations operate, not just what individuals do?
Visibility
Lasting visibility is created through everyday presence, not just moments of attention.
How do media, narrative and cultural strategies embed lasting visibility for all women and girls across different contexts, normalising participation and creating the conditions for progress, not just celebrating peak moments?
Innovation
Innovation moves beyond pilots and prototypes to everyday practice.
How do new ideas, test-and-learn approaches and innovative mindsets create real breakthroughs for all women and girls – and then get embedded and adapted across different contexts, so innovation becomes part of how organisations work, not just one-off experiments?
Participation
Real progress means creating opportunities that keep women and girls involved, supported and able to thrive over time.
How do participation opportunities get built around what communities actually need, shaped by local realities and supported so more women and girls can take part, stick with it, and go further – not just open access, but lasting involvement?
Main
Stage
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO PLAY THE GAME AND INVEST IN IT? CAN ATHLETES DO BOTH… AND SHOULD THEY?
When
Where
Main Stage
Time
Theme
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FINANCING WOMEN’S SPORT: POWERING SYSTEMIC CHANGE IN EMERGING ECONOMIES
When
Where
Main Stage
Time
Theme
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RETHINKING LEADERSHIP: A BOLD NEW PLAYBOOK
When
Where
Main Stage
Time
Theme
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Session
Spotlights
With a packed three-day agenda featuring influential global voices, practical insight and bold conversations across leadership, investment, innovation, visibility and participation, there will be no shortage of valuable sessions to choose from. These are just a small selection of the conversations, ideas and perspectives that will shape the IWG Global Summit 2026.
Show By
Spotlight
Thursday 8th July, morning
Michele Kang in Conversation with Annamarie Phelps OLY MBE
Leadership
Thursday 8th July, morning
Rethinking Leadership: Leading through Challenge
Innovation
Friday 9th July, morning
Athlete-focused innovation: ethics-first technology in the face of online abuse
sHIFT\
Sessions
Shift\Sessions are where the Summit moves from talk to action.
Designed around the five Summit focus areas of leadership, investment, innovation, visibility and participation, these interactive sessions will explore what needs to shift to make progress stick, and how ideas, policies and approaches can be embedded, adapted and sustained across different contexts.
Bringing together global perspectives, practical learning and honest conversation, Shift\Sessions are designed to help delegates move beyond theory and explore what actually works in practice. Through panels, workshops, discussions and collaborative formats, delegates will be able to build a personalised agenda shaped around the challenges, opportunities and priorities most relevant to their work.
Whether you are shaping strategy, delivering programmes, influencing policy or driving organisational change, Shift Sessions will provide practical insight, fresh thinking and actionable ideas you can take back to your organisation, community or country.
Continental
Sessions
Continental Sessions bring the global conversation into regional context, creating space to explore how progress for women and girls in sport and physical activity is shaped by different systems, cultures, resources and realities around the world.
Taking place on Day Three of the Summit, each session will bring together delegates from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania for interactive, locally grounded discussions focused on the challenges, opportunities and priorities most relevant to their region.
Aligned to the Beyond the Breakthrough focus, these sessions will explore how progress is embedded, adapted and sustained in different contexts, recognising that there is no single pathway to change. Delegates will share what works, learn from regional experience and explore how ideas and approaches can be adapted to create lasting impact within their own communities and systems.
Together, the Continental Sessions create a truly global exchange of insight and experience, connected by a shared ambition to make progress for women and girls in sport unstoppable.
Show By
Region
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