New Speakers Announced for 20th Making Football Matter Conference in Athens!
In already less than three weeks we will kick off the 20th EFDN Conference (13-15 November) in Athens, Greece. The topic of this EFDN Conference will be “Making Football Matter”, which will take place at the OPAP Arena, the stadium of EFDN Member AEK Athens. The programme is already unveiled and we are happy to confirm the presence of the following speakers:
Lizzie Adams – Community Football Relationship Manager
Lizzie joined the Premier League in December 2022. She currently manages relationships between external partners and the Premier League Community Team focused on investment for grassroots women and girls’ football. Lizzie’s role also includes feeding into the wider policy work of the Premier League and working closely with the network of Club Community Organisations across the English football pyramid. Lizzie is Chair of Trustees for RefugeeYouth, a small charity supporting young refugees and asylum seekers in South London and Captain of Dartford FC Women’s team who play in the 5th tier of the English women’s football pyramid.
Isabelle Pitt, Senior EDI Manager – Gender Equality Lead
Isabelle is an experienced Equality and Diversity practitioner. She combines evidence-based analysis with insights into organisational culture to deliver more equal, happier and productive organisations.
Jayna Patel – Premier League Kicks Manager
Jayna manages the Premier League Kicks programme currently delivered by 90 professional football Club Community Organisations. Her role includes planning and designing the programme, monitoring its progress, reporting to funders and stakeholders and supporting the organisations and staff that deliver it. Jayna is the lead on Gender Equality for the Premier League Charitable Fund s and also oversees the Premier League’s women and girl’s leadership programme Premier League Changemakers. Outside the PLCF, Jayna Chairs the FA’s South Asian Women in Football Advisory Group and is a Trustee of the Miss Kick Foundation.
Matt Pounder – Senior EDI Manager at the Premier League
Matt joined the Premier League in July 2018. Matt’s current role is Senior EDI Manager, with responsibility for disability inclusion and the Premier League Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standard (PLEDIS). An integral part of Matt’s role is to support Clubs to achieve against the challenging and progressive PLEDIS framework by being inclusive organisations that are representative of the communities they serve. Matt is an independent member of the FA’s Disability Football Committee and an Independent Director at British Blind Sport.
Nicky Reid – Chief Executive at SPFL Trust
Nicky Reid was appointed Chief Executive (CEO) at the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) Trust in September 2017 becoming the first female CEO at the national level of the game in Scotland, having previously served in programme and general manager roles during a decade at Hampden Park. She is responsible for steering the strategic direction of the SPFL Trust and represents the organisation on the national and international stage. Nicky has overseen a complete transformation of the SPFL Trust into a multi-million pound charity, delivering funding and programme specific activity across all 42 associated community trusts and SPFL clubs, and more recently with the new SWPL. She previously spent seven years at Falkirk Football Club and the Falkirk Football Community Foundation. The SPFL Trust is an independent registered charity.
Gabor Deregan – Executive Director of The International Fair Play Committee
Gabor Deregan is the Executive Director of the International Fair Play Committee. He has more than 10 years of experience in promoting Fair Play values on international level and he is a Fair Play Awardee. Furthermore, he is a Graduated Expert in Sports Law. He was a speaker during the 18th EFDN Conference in Budapest as well. The CIFP has an important educational role to play in supporting fair play, promoting a better understanding of fair play values and preventing adverse behaviour. In cooperation with various national governing bodies such as ministries, Olympic committees, sports federations, media and sports press associations the CIFP encourages and welcomes the establishment of national fair play committees.
Take a look at the EFDN Conference website for the full programme and more information about the speakers.
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