We are delighted to be supported by our Steering Group, consisting of inspirational and accomplished women within the sports industry, who are ready to help you accelerate your career.
This senior group of executives represent diverse backgrounds, job descriptions, experiences and specialities that make them the perfect advisors for the NEW ERA initiative.
Louise Bach
Carlsberg
Carlsberg
Kim McConnie
Tourism & Events Queensland
Tourism & Events Queensland
Kim is an accomplished marketing leader with a rich background in sports marketing, brand sponsorship, broadcasting and rights holding. She brings more than 25 years experience to TEQ, having achieved excellent results in her previous roles utilising a consumer-centric approach, and is the first female to be permanently appointed as TEQ’s Marketing Group Executive.
Leading Pepsi Sports Sponsorship, as part of PepsiCo, Kim oversaw the prestigious Super Bowl half-time show from 2014 to 2017, featuring artists including Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Cold Play, Beyonce and Lady Gaga. Kim also worked across PepsiCo in Bangkok, overseeing North and South East Asia including China, New York, Melbourne and Sydney.
Returning to Australia in 2017, Kim was appointed the General Manager for the Big Bash Leagues, using her expertise in US sports entertainment to make the BBL and WBBL the family entertainment spectacles they are today.
Most recently, Kim was the Director of Marketing at Kayo Sports where she developed Kayo into one of the world’s most comprehensive sports streaming services. Her leadership drove Kayo’s subscriber base to nearly 1.5m sports fans and helped it achieved its highest ever net promoter score.
Alexandra Willis
Premier League
Premier League
Alexandra is a marketing, digital media and communications specialist, currently employed as Director of Digital Media and Audience Development at the Premier League. Formerly Communications & Marketing Director at Wimbledon and a former sports journalist, Alexandra’s role is to help sporting organisations appeal to the next generation of sports fans and event-goers through the development of content, products and direct to consumer offerings, while also demonstrating that sport can thrive on brand and tradition alongside innovation and new technology.
Thayer Lavielle
Wasserman The Collective
Wasserman The Collective
Fiona Morgan
SailGP
SailGP
Fiona joined the global purpose-driven sports entertainment league SailGP last year with a mission to help make sustainability and inclusivity essential to the fabric of sport. Fiona is the mastermind of the SailGP Impact League – a world-first in sport which sees athletes race to win two podiums: one for sporting performance and one for the planet. The league champions authentic, committed and impactful initiatives and rewards positive sustainability and social actions.
Fiona has an exceptional track record of shaping social impact strategy, promoting gender equality and campaigns for some of the world’s most high-profile sports brands and talent. She was the driving force behind Sky’s corporate and social purpose team, The Bigger Picture, and led the Sky Ocean Rescue consumer campaign, which reached an awareness of over 50 million people across Europe and resulted in behavioural change among its customers towards plastics. Fiona is proud to be an Ambassador for Meaningful Business, an advisory board member at 17 Sport and a Non-Executive Board Member of the Manchester Originals a team in the new Hundred tournament shaking up and growing the game of cricket.
Erica Kerner
Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered
Melissa Soobratty
Professional Squash Association
Professional Squash Association
Melissa Soobratty is the Head of Media and Marketing at the Professional Squash Association.
She has accrued a wealth of experience in the fields of sports media, OTT, business development, strategy and production over the years both in Europe and Asia. Her previous roles include Vice President, Media at Football Marketing Asia (FMA), Business Development Director, APAC at Endeavor Streaming plus commercial roles at StarHub, Setanta Africa, Fox Sports and BBC Worldwide.
Sarah Beattie
Six Nations Rugby
Six Nations Rugby
Sarah joined Six Nations Rugby in 2020 as a key hire to strengthen the executive team and support the implementation of the organisations strategic vision. A fundamental area of the strategy Sarah is responsible for delivering, is the creation of the most unmissable and engaging sporting experiences for fans through the organisations year-round offering of international rugby Championships and Series’.
Sarah has forged over 15 years’ experience in marketing and communications, within the sports and technology industries, prior to joining Six Nations Rugby. Sarah was VP of Marketing, Expansion at DAZN after her role as Global Director of Communications and PR within the business. Prior to this, Sarah held senior roles within brands such as telecoms business, Three, as Head of PR and Social, and Head of Employer Brand.
Kate Miller
ECB
ECB
Benny Bonsu
Olympic Channel
Olympic Channel
Benny Bonsu is an award-winning industry leader and the Director of Daily Content at The International Olympic Committee (Olympics.com).
She was previously the Head of Editorial for Women’s Sports at GiveMeSport, where she led one of the most successful launches of the coverage of Women’s Sport in the UK. Upon starting this role in 2019, Benny historically became the UK’s first female sports editor. Before that, she undertook various high-profile on-air endeavours, working alongside broadcasting behemoths BBC, Sky Sports, BT Sport, Modern Times Group, LOCOG 2012, and Alibaba to cover and produce award-winning content on and around FAWSL, English Premier League, NBA, NFL, London 2012 Olympics to name a few.
Renowned for her charismatic, direct, and irrepressible approach in sport, she is one most respected leaders by her industry peers, athletes, and the new generation of future sport leaders. Her distinguished body of work has garnered plaudits far and wide; receiving nominations and awards for “Sports Leader Under 40 of the year,” “Sportswoman of the Year” at the 2018 Baton Awards, whilst also a finalist in the 2017 edition of the esteemed Women’s Trust Award “Best Media Individual of the Year” category, to name a few.
Bonsu is on the board of directors for Basketball England, the Sports Journalists Association, and African Health Now. An advocate for diverse newsrooms in the UK and developing future talents for the sports industry.
Aarti Dabas
Formula E
Formula E
Gabrielle Guedj
ATP Media
ATP Media
Gabrielle Guedj is the Director of Commercial Rights Sales & New Business Development at ATP Media, previously at IMG and its subsidiary SNTV for 22 years as Senior Vice President in Media looking after various territories in Europe and MENA..
A sociologist by formation Gabrielle has lived in France, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco in her formative years. She has studied in the Czech Republic ( and is a fluent Czech speaker ) and lived in her native France before relocating to the UK where she has been based for most of her professional life.
Laura Cordingley
Chelsea FC Foundation
Chelsea FC Foundation
Sharon Fuller
NBA
NBA
Sharon Fuller is Founder of Rational Collective, a specialist consultancy to support clients across the sports industry in Content Creation & Strategy, Media, Rights, Innovation and Digital Product Development.
She is the former Chief Content Officer at the eSkootr Championship and was previously Global Head of Central Content at Red Bull Media House and Editor at BBC Sport. She has been involved in innovation and tech-driven development in sports broadcasting throughout her career and she and teams she has overseen have won multiple awards for innovation in sports coverage.