Paul served as the Executive Secretary of South Africa’s post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Paul also co-founded the International Centre for Transitional Justice, an organization that works in over 40 countries that have endured massive human rights violations under repression conflict. Paul is also a co-founder and CEO of Maiyet, an ethical luxury fashion brand that cultivates traditional design and culture by partnering with global artisans. Most recently, Paul co-founded The Conduit, which serves as a home for those committed to improving the world by harnessing the power of creativity and entrepreneurship. The Conduit serves as a home for a diverse community of people passionate about social change.

David Fein LVO has senior-level government, in-house, private practice, and not-for-profit experience, and a track record of forming and supporting public-private and private-private partnerships to support conservation and sustainability and to fight financial crime. He is Vice Chair of The Earthshot Prize, the most prestigious global environment prize in history, designed to incentivise change and help repair our planet over the next ten years, and Co-Chair of United for Wildlife, a global network of public, private and not-for-profit sector partners working together to reveal, disrupt and prevent illegal wildlife trafficking. He is a co-founder and senior advisor of Sentala, a non-profit conservation initiative that creates bespoke technology to empower rangers and protect the world’s most threatened wildlife and wild places. David is a Board Trustee of The American Friends of The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales. David served as Group General Counsel at Standard Chartered Bank; United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut under President Obama; Associate White House Counsel under President Clinton; and an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. David was a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School for ten years.

Archie Kalyana is an accomplished sports leader with three decades of global production experience whose work explores the intersection of sport, identity and social change. Raised in a sporting family, her love of sport began early. Her father attended a sports college in Nairobi, where sport was central to daily life, and she grew up supporting Aston Villa at a time when few young British Asian girls saw themselves represented in football culture. Over the past three decades, Archie has combined her passion for sport with a career in storytelling. An expert in global content development, Archie has produced and directed content in productions spanning coverage of major international events including the Winter Olympics and UEFA European Championships to unique sporting documentaries exploring stories unfolding behind the field of play in India and the UK. Career highlights include: successfully pitching a 54-part international series for CBBC; serving as Associate Creative Producer for President Obama’s State Banquet in India; Series Producing and Directing a 3-part cricket documentary for BBC World News and iPlayer. In addition, she is a Board Member at Street Child United and the FA South Asian Advisory Board, a Jury member at the BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year Awards, a Special Advisor to the MCC Foundation and has been the recipient of the Asian Woman of Achievement Award in sport. She is currently developing a slate of India focussed documentaries with BBC Studios.

Dr Clive Chijioke Nwonka is Associate Professor of Film, Culture and Society at University College London. Nwonka’s scholarship broadly centres on race and the humanities, with a particular focused on the study of Black film, culture and identity. He is the co-editor of the book Black Film/British Cinema II (2021), the author of the book Black Boys: The Social Aesthetics of British Urban Film (2023), and the co-editor of the book Black Arsenal: Club, Culture and Identity (2024).

Katie Cross is Founder and CEO of BBC Award-winning charity Pledgeball. Experts in fan engagement on climate, Pledgeball spearheads initiatives that mobilise sporting communities, from grassroots to professional levels, to create meaningful impact for climate and nature.

Aston Villa's Social Impact and Community Director Guy Rippon has over 25 years of experience in the sports, community, and 'sport for good' field. Early in his career held various sports and leisure leadership roles in local government before taking up regional manager positions with The Football Foundation and The Football League Trust.

In 2011 Guy moved into the work of football club Foundations, initially as Director at Coventry City, before joining Aston Villa as Head of Foundation in 2016 where he has overseen a sustained period of growth and impact of the club's community work.  

Guy completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Aston University in 2024 and in early 2026 was appointed Social Impact and Community Director at Aston Villa FC. This newly created role sees Guy continue to oversee the clubs Foundation whilst shaping and leading the club's wider ESG agenda and strategy.

Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez is a Designer, Architect, and Inventor. He is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Notpla, a company with the goal of making packaging disappear. Their first product Ooho is an edible package made of seaweed that can contain water or any other liquid and had been used in several sports events like the London Marathon or Roland-Garros.

Notpla won Prince William’s £1,000,000 Earthshot Prize. On top of that Notpla won the Grand Prix in Design at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity; the World Technology Award by Fortune and TIME, the WIRED start-up of the year and the GreenTech Award.

Rodrigo received his architectural from the ETSAM, Technical University of Madrid, previously he studied at Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology University (India) and Industrial Design at Pontificia Universidad Católica (Chile). He did postgraduate studies at Umeå Institute of Design, Imperial College of London and Royal College of Art.

His works have been shown in different artistic centers such as the Cite de l'Architecture of Paris and the Venice Biennale of Architecture.

As a senior lecturer, he has collaborated with different universities and institutions such as Cornell University, CEPT, Imperial College, Royal College of Art. Currently, he is a visiting lecturer of Design at Kingston University and Central Saint Martins.

Jon Davies, CEO of Levy International, leads world-class hospitality across the UK & Ireland, Europe and Australia. Driven by a passion for food and powered by a purpose for people and planet, Jon has positioned sustainability as a core strategic pillar. Under his leadership, Levy turns big ideas into extraordinary experiences that create meaningful impact for fans and guests, while pioneering low-carbon solutions and eco-friendly supply chains. His mission is to deliver exceptional commercial growth while building a better planet for future generations.

Based in the North West, Matt Slater is a senior news reporter for The Athletic. He covers a wide range of topics, from sports politics to Olympic doping cases to football takeovers. He started his career 30 years ago at the BBC, before enjoying stints as a business reporter with different outlets in Brussels and London. He then returned to the BBC in 2000, where he spent the next 16 years covering almost every sport imaginable for TV, radio and online, until he left to join the UK's main news agency, the Press Association, as its chief sports reporter. That was a great gig but not as much fun as The Athletic, who came calling in 2019 and they are still together.

Holly Murdoch is a highly accomplished senior leader in the sports industry, with a track record of driving transformational change across private equity-owned ventures and national governing bodies. Currently serving as Chief Operating Officer at WSL Football, she has played a pivotal role in transitioning the women’s professional game to an independent, shareholder-owned entity as well as driving significant progress in the game. Holly brings exceptional commercial acumen, strategic foresight, and operational excellence, having previously led high-impact initiatives at The Football Association, including the development of St. George’s Park into a globally recognised centre of excellence. Known for her decisive leadership, stakeholder alignment, and empathetic approach, she consistently delivers high-performance outcomes and sustainable growth in complex, multi-disciplinary environments.

Zoe Johnson is an experienced sports executive leading the strategic growth, football operations, and technical direction of Brighton and Hove Albion’s women’s and girls’ programme.

Since joining the club in November 2022, she has been instrumental in professionalising the club’s pathway and cementing Albion's position as a forward-thinking force in the Women's Super League.

Under Zoe’s leadership, Brighton has continually raised standards across the club - securing a record-high WSL finish, reaching a historic first FA Cup final at Wembley, and finalising plans for Europe's first purpose-built stadium in women’s football.

With a comprehensive background spanning pitch-side coaching and senior club management at both Sheffield United and Liverpool FC, Zoe brings a holistic, elite-level perspective to modern football governance and player development.