AGENDA

Thursday 9 July 2026

LOCATION
THEME
SESSION TITLE
SPEAKER(S)
DAY 1 – MORNING: 9:00 – 12:30
Main Stage
Welcome
Welcome to IWG Women in Sport Global Summit
  • Annamarie Phelps OLY CBE Chair, IWG
Main Stage
Keynote
Keynote address
Speaker to be announced shortly
Main Stage
Keynote
Keynote address
  • Kelly Beaver MBE, Chief Executive Ipsos UK and Ireland
Overview: This keynote sets the agenda for the Summit – revealing how attitudes towards gender equality are shaping experiences in sport and physical activity, and what this means for organisations seeking to lead meaningful, inclusive change.
Main Stage
Leadership
Rethinking Leadership: Leading through Challenge
  • Moderator: Michelle Moore
  • Prof Laura McAllister CBE, UEFA Vice President
  • Dave Clarke OBE PLY, Chief Executive Paralympics GB
  • Sarah Powell, CEO, British Gymnastics
  • Additional panellists to be announced shortly
Overview: What does great leadership look like today? Featuring some of the most influential leaders in global sport, this session combines cutting-edge research and real-world insight to challenge traditional models and explore how inclusive leadership can unlock potential and drive high-impact organisations.
The Hive Lounge
Coffee
Coffee Break
Main Stage
Awards
The 2025 IOC Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) Champions Award – Europe Winner Ceremony
  • Spyros Capralos OLY, President of the European Olympic Committee
  • Michele Kang, Founder and CEO, Kynisca Sports International
Overview: Presentation of the IOC Gender Diversity & Inclusion Award to 2025 Europe Winner Michele Kang, recognising her outstanding contribution to women’s football through significant investment and lasting structural change.
Main Stage
  • Annamarie Phelps OLY CBE, Chair, IWG
  • Michele Kang, Founder and CEO, Kynisca Sports International
Overview: Following the presentation, Michele Kang joins Annamarie Phelps in conversation for a must-see discussion on the vision, investment and leadership driving the transformation of women’s football – and the opportunities ahead for the global game.
Main Stage
Investment
The Business of Women’s Sport
  • Moderator: Yvonne Harrison, CEO, Women in Football
  • Amanda Staveley, CEO, PCP Capital Partners
  • Fabio Azevedo, President, International Volleyball Federation
  • Additional panellists to be announced shortly
Overview: What is driving the growth of investment in women’s sport – and where are the biggest untapped opportunities? Featuring leading voices from across sport and investment, this session explores the business case, the uneven pace of growth across markets and what this means for the future impact and value of sport globally.
The Hive Lounge
Lunch
Lunch & Insight Stage Sessions
Insight Stage programme to be announced shortly
Overview: A two-hour lunch has been designed to create space for meaningful connection, offering delegates extended time to network, build relationships and continue discussions. A programme of Insight Stage sessions will run throughout, providing additional opportunities to engage with key themes.
DAY 1 – AFTERNOON: 14:30 – 19:00
Main Stage
Keynote
Keynote address
  • Kirsty Coventry OLY, President, International Olympic Committee
Overview: Session details to be confirmed shortly
Main Stage
Awards
The 2025 IOC Gender Equality, Diversity and Incluson (GEDI) Champions Award – World Winner Ceremony
  • Kirsty Coventry OLY, President, International Olympic Committee
  • Abhijit Bhattacharya, IOC Gender Diversity & Inclusion Award Winner 2025
Overview: The IOC Gender Diversity & Inclusion Award is presented to 2025 Global Winner Abhijit Bhattacharya, former captain of the Indian men’s national volleyball team, recognising his impactful grassroots work advancing inclusion through sport in rural India.
Main Stage
Visibility
Full details of this Visibility session will be confirmed shortly
  • Jo Osborne, Head of Women’s Sport, Sky
  • Additional panellists to be announced shortly
Overview: Session details to be confirmed shortly
The Hive Lounge
Coffee
Coffee Break
Main Stage
Keynote
From Insight to Impact: Rethinking Innovation in Women’s Sport
  • Prof Fiona Chambers, Founder, Strategic Design@UCC
  • Rohn Malhotra, Managing Director, SportsTechX
  • Lucy Mills, Founder & Chief Catalyst, READY Sport Global
  • Additional panellist to be announced shortly
Overview: Exploring the shift from insight to action, this session examines what innovation in women’s sport looks like in practice. It considers where the greatest opportunities lie, how the landscape is evolving, and how to innovate with intention to drive meaningful, lasting impact.
Main Stage
Closing Words
Closing Remarks
  • Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson PLY, Chair, Sport Wales
The Hive Lounge
Networking
Reception and Insight Stage Sessions
Details to be announced shortly

AGENDA

Friday 10 July 2026

LOCATION
THEME
SESSION TITLE
SPEAKER(S)
DAY 2 – MORNING: 9:00 – 12:30
Main Stage
Welcome
Welcome to IWG Women in Sport Global Summit – Day 2
Host to be confirmed
Main Stage
Keynote
Keynote address
  • Lord Sebastian Coe OLY, President of World Athletics
Overview: Session details to be confirmed shortly
Main Stage
Participation
Session details to be confirmed shortly
  • Richard Allcroft OBE, President of World Wheelchair Rugby
  • Lynne Cantwell, Head of Women’s Strategy, Irish Rugby Football Union
  • Naseem Akhtar BEM, Founder and CEO Saheli Hub
  • Stephanie Hilborne OBE, CEO, Women in Sport
Overview: Session details to be confirmed shortly
The Hive Lounge
Coffee
Coffee Break
Shift Session
Visibility
Who’s Responsible for Visibility in Women’s Sport?
  • Tammy Parlour MBE, CEO & co-founder, Women’s Sport Trust
  • Additional speakers to be announced shortly
Overview: Who is responsible for visibility in women’s sport? This session explores why visibility is often inconsistent, the growing role of athletes in driving it, and what responsibility different stakeholders must take to sustain it over time.
Shift Session
Leadership
Designing Leadership Programmes for The Future: Part 1 – Lessons from the Last Decade
  • Ellen Barwise, Director of Development and CGA Relations at Commonwealth Games Federation
  • Jules McGeever, Co-Founder of EqualCareers
  • Sergey Lyzhin, ASOIF
  • Dorcas Amakobe, Executive Director, Moving The Goalposts
Overview: The first of a two-part session, this discussion focuses on designing effective leadership programmes, drawing on lessons from the past decade. It explores what works across different regions, how approaches are evolving and how to build inclusive, high-impact programmes for diverse cohorts.
Shift Session
Leadership
Driving change: International Federation perspectives on practices encouraging women as coaches
  • Moderator: Sebastian Pereira OLY, Executive Manager for Education and Development, Brazilian NOC
  • Professor Clare Hanlon, Sustain Alberti Women in Sport Chair, Victoria University
  • Dagmara Gerasimuk, Development Manager, International Biathlon Union (IBU)
  • Dr Sandra Corak, Education Director, International Judo Federation (IJF)
  • Professor Elizabeth Pike, Project Director Women in Sport High Performance pathway, University of Hertfordshire
Overview: Presenting research on International Federation practices that are showing positive signs of encouraging women as coaches, a checklist of practices to stimulate organisational action and audience interaction, and a panel of managers discussing learnings to drive organisational change.
Shift Session
Innovation
Athlete-focused innovation: ethics-first technology in the face of online abuse
  • Moderator: Lucy Mills
  • Kasey Machin, Founder & Chief Operations Officer, Areto Labs
  • Vidhya Ramalingam, Founder and CEO of Moonshot
  • Georgia Evans
  • Additional panellists to be announced shortly
Overview: Athlete-focused innovation that puts protection at the centre of growth in women’s sport. This session explores what ethics-first technology looks like in practice and how safer digital environments can strengthen athlete welfare, build trust and support long-term value.
Shift Session
Participation
Freedom to Move
  • Eve Holt, Head of Policy & Implementation, Greater Manchester Combined Authority
  • Kelly-Marie Rodgers, Strategic Lead, GM Moving
Overview: Exploring what it takes to create safe, welcoming and inclusive spaces for women and girls, this session focuses on the concept of ‘freedom to move’. It highlights the role everyone can play, the need for whole-system change and how collaboration can unlock lasting impact across communities.
Shift Session
Session details to be confirmed shortly
  • Council of Europe & UEFA
Overview: Session details to be confirmed shortly
Shift Session
Leadership
Designing Leadership Programmes For The Future: Part 2- A Vision for the Future
  • Yasmina Eissa, Youth Leader
  • Llio Parry, Youth Leader
  • Erin Gillen, Youth Leader
  • Dr Jordan Matthews, Development Manager, Senior Lecturer, WSLA, University of Chichester
  • Additional speakers to be announced shortly
Overview: Building on Part 1, this session looks ahead to the future of leadership development, exploring new perspectives on who leadership programmes are for, the skills needed for the next generation and how to create environments that support leaders at every stage of their journey.
Shift Session
Visibility
Session details to be confirmed shortly
Speakers to be confirmed shortly
Overview: Session details to be confirmed shortly
Shift Session
Innovation
Fan-Focused Innovation: Co-Design the World’s First Women’s Sport Museum
  • Chris Paouros, Co-Founder, Untold
  • Jenny Mitton, Women’s Sport Consultant
  • Liz Ward
  • Ruth Shaw OBE, Co-Founder, Untold: The Home of Women’s Sport
Overview: Exploring how women’s sport is recognised and remembered, this session looks at the vision for the world’s first women’s sport museum. It considers how co-creation can reflect lived experiences and what it means to build a future museum through participation, shared ownership and contribution from the communities it represents.
Shift Session
Participation
Shaping the Journey: The Athlete’s Voice
  • Moderator to be announced
  • Becky Downie MBE OLY, British Artistic Gymnast
  • Martine George, Head National Coach for Women’s Artistic Gymnastics, British Gymnastics
Overview: Focusing on the athlete voice, this session explores how better experiences for women in sport can be shaped through openness, challenge and strong values. It considers how confronting issues can strengthen both performance and community, and how values-led leadership benefits everyone.
The Hive Lounge
Lunch
Lunch & Insight Stage & Posters
Insight Session programme to be announced shortly
Overview: A two-hour lunch has been designed to create space for meaningful connection, offering delegates extended time to network, build relationships and continue discussions. A programme of Insight Stage sessions will run throughout, providing additional opportunities to engage with key themes.
DAY 2 – AFTERNOON: 14:30 – 19:00
Shift Session
Investment
Investment vs Sustainable Growth
  • Moderator: Christina Philippou
  • Vikram Banerjee, Managing Director, The Hundred
  • Abiola Ijasanmi, Founder & CEO African Sports Investor
  • Sally Munday, CEO, UK Sport
  • Additional panel members to be announced shortly
Overview: Exploring the tension between investment and sustainable growth across global markets, this session examines whether current funding models are building lasting, independent businesses or short-term gains. It considers how capital and ownership structures can support long-term values, and the trade-offs between rapid growth and building foundations that endure.
Shift Session
Leadership
Panel details to be confirmed shortly
  • Prof Leanne Norman, Professor of Women in Sport, Loughborough University
  • Nicole LaVoi, Director, Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, University of Minnesota
Overview: Session details to be confirmed shortly
Shift Session
Innovation
Community-Innovation: Design, Adapt and Sustain Gender Inclusive Solutions
Speakers to be announced shortly.
Overview: Exploring innovation in action, this session highlights how solutions are being designed and adapted to overcome cultural, contextual and systemic barriers to gender equality. Featuring insights from Olympism365 Innovation Hub innovators, it examines what it takes to design, scale and sustain gender-inclusive approaches for lasting social impact.
Shift Session
Participation
Shifting the Story
  • Nicky Hawkins, Communications Consultant
  • Kate Cocker, The Presenter Coach
Overview: A practical session exploring the power of storytelling in shaping how we think, act and lead. It focuses on understanding the stories that influence our work and how being intentional about the stories we tell can shift mindsets, behaviours and outcomes.
Shift Session
Investment
Session details to be confirmed shortly
  • Baz Moffat, CEO & Co Founder, The Well HQ
  • Dr Emma Ross, Co Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, The Well HQ
Overview: Session details to be confirmed shortly
Shift Session
Leadership
From Podium to Boardroom
  • Dr Araba Chintoh, Chair, World Rugby Women’s Player Welfare Steering Group
  • Dame Denise Lewis OLY, President, UK Athletics
  • Sue Day MBE, Director of Women’s Football & Para Football, The Football Association
  • Sophie Christensen CBE, PLY
Overview: Exploring the journey from elite performance to senior leadership, this session examines how to design impactful athlete leadership pathways that extend beyond sport. It considers why leadership journeys often diverge for women and men, and what can be done to create more equitable and effective routes into senior roles.
Shift Session
Participation
The Role of Men and Boys
Stronger Together: A World-Leading Conversation About Why Men Need to Join Forces with Women for Gender Equality in Sport
Panellists to be announced shortly
Overview: Exploring the role of men in advancing gender equality in sport, this session considers why meaningful progress depends on shared responsibility and collective action. It looks at how men and women can work together to drive change and create more inclusive, equitable environments across the sector.
Shift Session
Investment
Session details to be confirmed shortly
Speaker to be announced shortly
Overview: Session details to be confirmed shortly
Shift Session
Leadership
Built to Last: Power, Pressure and the Future of Women’s Leadership
  • Ngozi Weller, Director & Principal Consultant, Aurora
  • Obehi Alofoje, Co Founder, Aurora
Overview: Exploring the realities of power, pressure and sustainability in leadership, this session examines how structures and culture can contribute to burnout and attrition. It offers practical frameworks to help leaders protect their wellbeing and agency, and the language to challenge unsustainable norms and lead more sustainably.
Shift Session
Visibility
Session details to be confirmed shortly
  • Jacqueline Bourke, Senior Director of Creative EMEA, Getty Images
Overview: Session details to be confirmed shortly
Shift Session
Innovation
Founder-Focused Innovation: Women Entrepreneurs on the Frontlines of Sport Innovation
  • Moderator – Preeti Shetty, CEO, Upshot
  • Leigh Burns, Founder and CEO, Lacuna Sports
  • Rebecca Hopkins, CEO, The STA Group
  • Alvina Chen, Founder and CEO, Feldspar
Overview: Exploring innovation from the frontlines, this session highlights how women founders are identifying unmet needs in sport and building solutions that create value for athletes, fans and communities. It examines what it takes to innovate under pressure, and why supporting more women-led ventures is key to unlocking future growth across the sector.
Shift Session
Participation
The Oceania Impact Network – Strength of the Pacific approach: Proof that another way is possible
  • Andrew Lepani, Team Leader, Team Up
  • Liz Dawson MNZM, President, New Zealand Olympic Committee
  • Ala-Cassandra Singh, Coordinator, Oceania Impact Network
  • Inoke Bainimarama, Executive Director, Oceania National Olympic Committees
Overview: Exploring the strength of the Pacific approach to community-led, collaborative change, this session highlights how the Oceania Impact Network is demonstrating that another way is possible. It examines the power of working across organisations, centring community voice and leading differently to drive meaningful and lasting impact.
Main Stage
IWG Secretariat Handover Ceremony 2026-2030
Overview: Marking a significant moment for the global women and sport movement, this ceremony sees the handover of the IWG Secretariat from the UK to Brazil for the 2026–2030 cycle, signalling the next phase of leadership and international collaboration.
The Hive Lounge
Reception

AGENDA

Saturday 11 July 2026

LOCATION
THEME
SESSION TITLE
SPEAKER(S)
DAY 3 – MORNING: 9:00 – 12:45
Main Stage
Welcome to IWG Women in Sport Global Summit – day 3
Main Stage
Session details to be confirmed shortly
Speaker to be announced shortly
Main Stage
Keynote
Keynote address
Speaker to be announced shortly
The Hive Lounge
Coffee
Coffee Break
Main Stage
Continental Sessions
Continental Session – Americas
Full details of continental programme to be confirmed soon
Continental Sessions
Continental Session – Europe
Full details of continental programme to be confirmed soon
Continental Sessions
Continental Session – Africa
Full details of continental programme to be confirmed soon
Continental Sessions
Continental Session – Asia
Full details of continental programme to be confirmed soon
Continental Sessions
Continental Session – Oceania
Full details of continental programme to be confirmed soon
The Hive Lounge
Lunch
Full details of continental programme to be confirmed soon
DAY 3 – AFTERNOON: 14:00 – 16:00
Continental Sessions
Continental Session – Americas
Full details of continental programme to be confirmed soon
Continental Sessions
Continental Session – Europe
Full details of continental programme to be confirmed soon
Continental Sessions
Continental Session – Africa
Full details of continental programme to be confirmed soon
Continental Sessions
Continental Session – Asia
Full details of continental programme to be confirmed soon
Continental Sessions
Continental Session – Oceania
Full details of continental programme to be confirmed soon
Continental Sessions
IWG Global Summit Close