featured speakers
Andrew is Managing Director at 17 Sport where he oversees the company's global operations, leadership team and client delivery ensuring the agency continues to execute world-class, high-impact work for its partners. Over more than a decade working at the intersection of impact and business, Andrew has helped organizations define what they care about and bring it to life through sports activations, community programs and creative executions. His work spans some of the world's most recognized brands, including Nike, adidas, Google, Deloitte, the IOC and UEFA, delivered at major sporting events such as the Women's World Cup, UEFA Euros, and the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. Originally from the USA, Andrew is now living in Berlin, Germany with his family.
Charlotte is Director and Co-Head of the Sustainability Advisory Services practice within Houlihan Lokey's Financial and Valuation Advisory business. She has nearly two decades of experience in sustainability-focused roles spanning the nonprofit and financial services sectors. Prior to Houlihan Lokey, she co-led the global ESG Financing and Advisory team at Credit Suisse and led sustainable banking activities for the Americas at Credit Agricole CIB. Following her postgraduate studies, she joined ESG Analytics, a firm focused on driving insights and enhancing sustainability performance in private equity. After ESG Analytics was acquired by Sustainalytics, a leading ESG ratings provider, she helped expand the group's sustainable finance offerings by building out its newly formed Sustainable Finance Solutions team, focused sustainable debt transactions. She began her career at Green Seal, a sustainability certification organization, leading marketing and stakeholder engagement. Charlotte is an adjunct faculty member with Bard College's MBA in Sustainability program and has guest lectured at London Business School, Columbia University, New York University and the Swiss Finance Institute. Charlotte holds a B.B.A. in International Business from James Madison University and an M.S. in Sustainability Management from Columbia University.
Chris works with brands, properties, and athletes to think bigger and more creatively about their ability to drive societal and environmental progress.
Dana O’Donovan is the Purpose Leader at Deloitte, responsible for managing the organization's purpose ambitions and actions. This includes Deloitte’s investments, commitments, and social impact across areas aimed at driving positive outcomes for our people and communities. Dana oversees a portfolio that encompasses advancing Deloitte’s $1.5 billion social impact investment, driving Deloitte’s own sustainability commitments and actions, fostering collaborations with Deloitte clients, embedding trust throughout Deloitte’s operations through its shared values, and providing innovative opportunities for Deloitte’s people to embed purpose into their careers. Dana draws on more than 25 years of experience as a strategist focused on social impact. She has been an advisor in conjunction with Deloitte Consulting LLP to many nonprofit, corporate, and philanthropic leaders on shaping and strengthening their approaches. Dana shaped Deloitte’s purpose strategy while also leading Monitor Institute by Deloitte. She has also been a nonprofit executive, having led human assets strategy at Teach for America. Dana writes about purpose and social impact topics and has been published in several academic journals and major publications. Dana also serves on multiple nonprofit and philanthropic boards. Dana graduated from The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill where she was a Morehead-Cain Scholar.
Daniel Matson is Commercial Director at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, leading the Club’s commercial transformation as Yorkshire enters a bold new era under its Chasing Glory 2026–2036 strategy. Over a career spanning nearly two decades, Daniel has shaped growth and innovation across some of the world’s most recognised brands and sports properties, including Envision Racing Formula E, Red Bull, the Premier League and Harrods. His experience spans scaling start-ups, brand rejuvenation, turnarounds and growth at scale. Across his career, Daniel has harnessed commercial innovation and the power of sport to create positive impact - building purpose-driven platforms that connect brands, rights holders and audiences to strengthen cultural relevance, create long-term value and drive commercial performance. Daniel is also an Advisory Board Member of the CMO Council and lives in Yorkshire with his young family.
I began playing tennis at the age of 3 and became a semi-professional player.At the same time,I graduated from Strathclyde University in Scotland and Kedge Business School in Bordeaux.My professional journey started in 2004 at Nike, where I worked in Sports Culture Marketing, before transitioning to the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy as Marketing & Commercial Director. In 2011, I launched O2 Management, a boutique talent representation firm dedicated to supporting world-class, purpose-driven athletes. The roster of athletes represented includes Iga Swiatek, Nicolas Mahut, Mary Pierce and others. In 2014, Serena Williams asked me join her team to help refine her brand platform with purpose and secure mission-aligned commercial opportunities. In 2019,I co-founded 17 Sport, an innovative global purpose-driven sports marketing and investment firm operating at the intersection of sports, business, and purpose.Recently named by Fast Company one of the most innovative companies,17 Sport is transforming the business of sport into a force for good. As a certified B-Corp, 17 Sport empowers global brands, properties and athletes to activate their brand purpose through sports, enhancing brand relevance, driving business performance and delivering social and environmental impact.Additionally, 17 Sport advises investors on deploying financial capital to achieve both business returns and social impact outcomes.
Filippo Veglio is Chief of Social & Environmental Sustainability at UEFA, European football’s governing body. He works in partnership with Europe’s national associations, leagues, and clubs to roll out the targeted measures and investments set out in UEFA’s Football Sustainability Strategy 2030. Prior to joining UEFA, Filippo spent 16 years at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), where he was a member of the Senior Management Team. A Swiss national, Filippo was formerly a professional tennis player.
Fiona Morgan is the Chief Brand Officer at Whisper, where she leads global brand strategy and commercial growth for the award-winning production powerhouse. Joining in March 2026, Fiona is a key architect of Whisper’s next chapter, focused on disruptive storytelling and driving a future-focused, 50:50 gender-balanced leadership team. With a career spanning Sky, XIX Entertainment, and her groundbreaking role as Chief Purpose Officer at SailGP, Fiona has a 20-year track record of scaling iconic brands and athletes, including Lewis Hamilton and David Beckham. A pioneer in purpose-led growth, she established the world’s first ""Podium for the Planet"" and remains a leading advocate for diversity and women’s sport. Fiona also founded Second Nature Sisters, a community dedicated to empowering women in purpose and their careers, and serves as an advisor to the British Paralympic Association.
Guillaume Sabran joined UEFA in 2005 and is currently the Chief of Sponsorship & Licensing. He oversees all sponsorship and licensing activities across UEFA National Team competitions and UEFA’s core initiatives. In his role, Guillaume is responsible for maximising interest in these competitions by developing effective sponsorship and licensing strategies, ensuring their high quality implementation, and strengthening the equity and appeal of UEFA’s properties. His remit also includes shaping and executing UEFA’s commercial strategy, driving revenue growth, managing UEFA’s marketing agencies, leading sales and account management activities, and overseeing partnership activation. Before joining UEFA, Guillaume worked at FIFA, where he managed key sponsorship accounts within the marketing department. He also gained experience at the sports marketing agency ISL, the PR agency Ogilvy, and the ski equipment brand Salomon.
Katee Hui is the Founder of Hackney Laces, one of the UK's largest football communities for girls and women. Built on a model of community-led sport for development, Laces reduces barriers and creates pathways for women and girls in football and in life. A UEFA-C licensed coach, Katee grew it from a single team in 2011 into a social franchise network supporting thousands of girls, women and non-binary players, on and off the pitch. Katee was named a BBC Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero for London, a Top 100 Changemaker by the Big Issue, and awarded an MBE in the King's Birthday Honours List 2023 for her service to young women and grassroots football. A regular speaker on platforms including ESPN, The Independent, BBC London, and the BBC World Service, she champions equity in sport and community-led change. In addition to Laces, Katee supports purpose-led brands on strategy, impact and communications.
Joanne is the Director of Host Relations for UK & Ireland 2028, the Local Organising Company for UEFA EURO 2028. Following her role as General Manager for the bid, Joanne leads the delivery of Host Relations in this unique partnership of five footballing nations and their respective Government Partners, including the relationship with the tournament’s Host Cities; the overarching delivery of the tournament’s social impact and sustainability programmes; and the communications & campaigns across the UK and Ireland. Working closely with UEFA, the power of this partnership and a UEFA EURO tournament, brings the exciting opportunity to stage the most accessible EURO ever, growing a more diverse and inclusive game and driving positive social impact for communities. Joanne has more than 25 years of professional experience delivering major international events in complex multi-stakeholder environments. With a background in national and local government, Joanne has previously held senior management positions for a range of international and multi-sport events and is also currently the Director of Governance on the Board of Commonwealth Games Scotland (Team Scotland).
Jordan Guard is the Founder and Managing Director of the Women's Sports Alliance (WSA), powered by 17 Sport. The WSA is the world's first creative lab designed by female athletes, for female athletes. We are on a mission to advance 10,000+ female athletes every year in discovering their authentic brand positioning that redefines the commercial value of women’s sport. A former international footballer, Jordan represented Wales and made her UEFA Women's Champions League debut for Cardiff City in 2013. She retired from the game in 2020 and founded the WSA the same year to close the commercial gap she had seen from the inside. She has worked with organisations including FIFA, Aston Martin F1, WSL Football & Commonwealth Games, and in 2025 was named in the RAISE Power 100 of women's sport and awarded Managing Director of the Year.
Kathryn is a Sales Director at Two Circles, an international sports and entertainment marketing business that leverages data and knowing fans best to help organisations grow audiences and revenues. Working with some of the biggest names in sport and entertainment, Two Circles grows the volume and value of fan relationships across all channels, driving revenue across sponsorship, media rights, retail and licensing, and ticketing. Since 2023, Kathryn has led the commercial programme for UEFA Women’s Football, overseeing the development of brand partnerships across UEFA’s portfolio of women’s competitions and connecting leading global businesses with one of the fastest-growing areas of sport. This work forms part of Two Circles’ exclusive mandate to commercialise UEFA Women’s Football rights, which the agency has held since 2018.
KELLY SIMMONS OBE Kelly is a senior consultant advising international federations, leagues, clubs and investors in women’s professional sport. From 2018-2023, Kelly was the Director of the Women’s Professional Game for the FA in England, where she led the transformation of the women’s professional game into one the world’s leading domestic systems securing record sponsorship and media deals. Prior to this Kelly was Director of Development for The FA, overseeing the delivery of a £200M four year plan for children’s and grassroots football. Kelly is also a NED of Women in Football.
Mark Harrison is the host and ringleader of The Convenor, a platform that provides inspiration and information to help individuals embark on significant professional transformation. Entrepreneurially, he founded the MH3 Collective, a group that matches ideas with people to drive commercial and societal impact. The Collective includes Humanity, T1, Sidekick, SponsorshipX, the Black Talent Initiative, and Park Street Education. His approach to life, work, and community is grounded in passion, people, profit and purpose. This approach manifests itself in volunteerism, entrepreneurship, travel, public speaking, event attendance, podcasting, squash, sports, reading and connecting. Often, this approach appears vividly in the way Mark fights for the underestimated. MH3's past community involvement included serving as the Board Chair of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto and as a Board Member of the CAMH Foundation and the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences/The JUNO Awards. He also received the Black Business and Professional Association's Harry Jerome Award, the Association of Canadian Advertisers’ 2022 Gold Medal Award, induction into the 2025 American Marketing Association Marketing Hall of Legends, and the 2025 Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada Hall of Fame. MH3 is CBC Toronto Metro Morning’s business columnist, regularly discussing marketing, the workplace, and entrepreneurship.
Mike Geddes leads the USA practice of 17 Sport, a global, purpose-led sports marketing, advisory, and investment firm. Over the last 25 years Mike has been one of the leading voices at the intersection of ‘sports and purpose’: As a reporter for the BBC he reported from five continents on topics like corruption, racism and hooliganism as well as on the world’s biggest sporting events before moving into non-profit leadership in underserved communities in the UK, South Africa, Colombia, Cambodia and many others. As a social entrepreneur he has co-founded several startups including Oakland Roots, the first, purpose-driven professional sports team in the United States. As the first ‘Chief Purpose Officer’ in American pro sports, he helped grow the Roots to a $100M valuation including leading the most successful community investment round in American pro sports history. He has written and spoken on the topic on CNN, MSNBC, Forbes and others and at many academic institutions and is an accomplished and experienced public speaker and moderator. He is a Climatebase Fellow (Cohort 4) and Voiz Academy graduate.
With 30+ years of experience helping brands and sports properties maximize their return on investment, Neill embraces purpose as a key strategic business driver to deliver positive social, environmental, and business outcomes.
Paula Kowalska is a marketing and partnerships professional with nearly a decade of experience designing and managing commercial partnerships across sport, esports and the charity sector. Currently, she serves as the Head of Marketing and Partnerships at the Kinetic Foundation, a London-based football and education charity which uses sport to empower young people to reach their potential on and off the pitch.
Co-founder of ENSO, a future design company. He's helped Google, SpaceX, Khan Academy and COP28 design what's next. Futures happen by default or by design.
Shannon Carter leads player development at Hackney Laces, where she shapes the pathways that help players grow, on the pitch and beyond it. She holds an MSc (Honours) in Sports Management and Development and also works as a Trauma Informed Practitioner in secondary education at Football Beyond Borders, using football as a tool to support young people and unlock their potential. Shannon is a current Premier Division player at AFC Leyton and has featured in anumber of campaigns including EE's Women's Euros campaign, reflecting her wider role in championing the women's game and the community around it.
Stuart McReynolds joined Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities in November 2022 and serves as Chief Operating Officer. In this role, he provides enterprise leadership across strategy execution and organizational performance, helping guide the design and delivery of investments, programs, and partnerships that enable children and youth across Canada to experience the transformational benefits of sport and play. Throughout his career, Stuart has held provincial, national, and international advisory and trustee roles, providing strategic counsel to governments, charities, academic institutions, and multi-sector partnerships focused on sport, physical activity, inclusion, and community development. Prior to joining Jumpstart, he served as President & CEO of Abilities Centre, a national charity recognized for its leadership in accessibility innovation. He has also held leadership roles with the Canadian Paralympic Committee and is a former high-performance athlete who represented England at the varsity level and played professionally in Europe. Stuart holds a BA (Hons.) in Sport & Leisure Management from Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from Auckland University of Technology, NZ. He brings extensive expertise in sport-for-development, systems leadership, and social impact, and was recently awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his contributions to Canada.
Tammy Parlour MBE is CEO and co-founder of the Women’s Sport Trust and one of the UK’s leading advocates for women’s professional sport. Since co-founding the Trust in 2012, she has helped drive change across the industry, working to make women’s sport more visible, commercially sustainable and valued in its own right. With a background in learning and development, Tammy brings a strong focus on the systems, cultures and leadership needed to create lasting change. Alongside her work at the Women’s Sport Trust, she is a board director and Chair of AFC Wimbledon Women and serves on The FA Women’s National League Board, representing clubs in the Southern Premier Division. Tammy was awarded an MBE in 2019 for her contribution to gender equality in sport.
Thomas Bulitta joined Lidl International (Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG) in 2022 and is currently Head of Partnerships Sport, leading the strategic direction and overall management of all international sports sponsorships with a strong focus on football, handball and active lifestyle. He is responsible for developing and executing the global sponsorship strategy to sustainably sharpen brand positioning and engage new target audiences. In his role, Thomas oversees the data-driven identification of relevant sports platforms, specifically focusing on finding partnerships that enable Lidl to make a genuine impact in their respective fields.
Tristan is Head of Fundraising at Kinetic Foundation, a London-based charity combining football and education to help young people achieve their potential. An experienced fundraising professional, Tristan has worked in the non-profit sector for more than 15 years with a number of roles in the sport for good space. He oversees all income generating activity at Kinetic, with a particular focus on building long-term strategic partnerships that achieve, evidence and celebrate social impact.
Key Details
Theme: The Business Case for Purpose
October 15-16, 2026
Gtech Community Stadium (London, UK)
Why Attend
This is not a traditional conference; it is a working summit for decision-makers interested in activating sport in a purpose-led way. Attendees will leave with an aligned peer network, data-backed insights, and the strategic commercial toolkits to transform sponsorship from an outsourced marketing expense into the single greatest driver of value.
Purchase Passes
CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
The Context
The sports and entertainment industry has reached an inflection point. The era of treating purpose as a localized CSR initiative or a superficial marketing badge is over. Today, global brands are under scrutiny from consumers, regulators, and shareholders alike to prove that their investments deliver tangible value. In a highly competitive sponsorship market, the ultimate differentiator is no longer just reach; it is authentic, measurable impact.
the challenge
For senior executives, the central challenge is no longer why purpose matters, but how to execute it profitably. Leaders are trapped between the commercial mandate to drive immediate business growth and the long-term strategic necessity to tackle systemic issues like climate action, gender equity, and inclusion.
To date, the industry has struggled to bridge this gap, often treating commercial returns and social impact as mutually exclusive goals.
The SPX Purpose League Summit
The SPX Purpose League Summit, powered by 17 Sport, is designed to solve this tension. This in-person summit gathers the architects of modern sponsorship to establish the business case for purpose.
Through case studies, collaborative workshops, and peer-to-peer sessions, the summit will move past theory to deliver actionable frameworks on:
Commercial Integration: How to structure sponsorships where purpose actively accelerates revenue, brand equity, and market share.
Rigorous Measurement: Moving beyond "awareness metrics" to define what true social, environmental, and financial impact looks like on a balance sheet.
Resilient Leadership: Unpacking the operational and cultural leadership required to execute authentic, long-term purpose strategies in a fragmented market.
who should attend
The SPX Purpose League Summit will bring together senior decision-makers from global markets who define the strategies, activate sponsorships, and hold the budgets.
We invite executive leaders, including:
Brands & Corporates: those working across marketing, sponsorship, and sustainability looking to prove commercial value and authentic impact;
Rights Holders & Governing Bodies: commercial leads, board members, and community and impact executives, driving the next era of partnership revenue;
Investors & Agencies: founders, partners, and investment officers looking to future-proof their portfolios and client strategies.
The Summit serves as a practical forum for those looking to turn purpose into a core driver of business value.
our partners
Founded in 2005, Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities is a national charity that enables lifelong success through affordable sport and works to remove barriers to make life better for kids across Canada. Jumpstart joins the Purpose League with a shared commitment to advancing sponsorship models that deliver commercial growth alongside meaningful societal contribution.
Global Sustainable Sport is an independent sustainability rating and media intelligence company for the global sports sector. Its SPI Assessment Programme gives sports organisations an independent rating of how Sustainable, Purposeful and Impactful they are, measured against the 7 Sustainable Pillars of Sport. GSS has assessed over 3,000 organisations worldwide, building the sector's most comprehensive sustainability dataset. The full SPI Index and Purpose Podiums publishes at the end of 2026. The GSS Network connects federations, clubs, brands, host cities and service providers through the GSS DataHub, weekly news service, education programme, workshops and in-person events.
Kinetic Foundation is a London-based football and education charity which uses sport to empower young people to reach their potential on and off the pitch.
Hackney Laces is one of the UK's largest football communities for girls and women. Built on a model of community-led sport for development, Laces reduces barriers and creates pathways for women and girls in football and in life.
Neill Duffy, CEO and Co-Founder, 17 Sport
Guillaume Sabran, Chief of Sponsorship & Licensing, UEFA
Kathryn Wilson, Sales Director, Two Circles
Joanne Deponio, Director of Host Relations, UK & Ireland 2028
Mike Geddes, VP USA, 17 Sport
Shannon Carter, Director of Player Development, Hackney Laces
Paula Kowalska, Head of Marketing and Partnerships, Kinetic Foundation
Tristan Paton, Head of Fundraising, Kinetic Foundation
Kinetic Foundation = House of Sport
Kelly Simmons OBE, Sports Consultant and NED, Kelly Simmons Sports Consultancy
Fiona Morgan, Chief Brand Officer, Whisper
Andrew Wisniewski, Managing Director, 17 Sport
Charlotte Peyraud, Co-head Sustainability Advisory Services, Houlihan Lokey
Fabien Paget, Co-Founder & CEO, 17 Sport
| Early Bird | Early Bird | |
|---|---|---|
Summit Pass |
Non-Profit Summit Pass |
|
|
£695
Save £300 vs Full Price £995
|
£495
Save £200 vs Full Price £695
|
|
Full summit access |
Full summit access |
|
|
|
|
|
| Content Sessions | ✓ | ✓ |
| Breakfast (Oct 15) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Lunch (Oct 15 & 16) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dinner (Oct 15) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Networking & Hospitality | ✓ | ✓ |
| Event App | ✓ | ✓ |
| Attendee List | ✓ | ✓ |
| App Messaging | ✓ | ✓ |
| Schedule Builder | ✓ | ✓ |
| Content E-Book | ✓ | ✓ |
JOIN NOW
BE THE FIRST TO JOIN THE MOVEMENT AND ACCESS EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
explore our latest insights
Perspectives shaping the future of sport, purpose and commercial impact.