All women and girls should be able to play, work and lead in sport, and have equal access to and investment in quality sporting opportunities in their local communities.

Women and girls in sport should be valued and treated equally to men and boys, including representation and influence over decision-making.

Women deserve to be recognised and supported as athletes, referees, coaches, managers and directors — and to have their stories shared and successes championed.

Laura is CEO of IDA Sports, the company she built to develop the world’s first dedicated women’s football boot, and in general a social impact entrepreneur whose experience includes founding two companies and another NGO in addition to EPF (the Lightyear Foundation, focused on science education in Ghana). Laura has also worked as a senior policy advisor for the UK Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, and further worked in sport event management for the London Olympics, the Street Child World Cup (Brazil), and the European Games in Baku. She has played with, coached, and set up grassroots teams in Brazil, Mozambique, Australia, the UK and Azerbaijan.

Erin has spent 15 years working as a conflict, security and humanitarian access specialist for a range of international and local NGOs, the UN, think-tanks, and the private sector – designing, managing and advising programmes centred on conflict, security and development. She currently works for the UN World Food Programme as a Regional Conflict and Emergencies Advisor for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe. Erin was a three-sport elite athlete (swimming, Olympic Modern Pentathlon, and football) – and played professionally for West Ham and Crystal Palace FCs in the UK, as well as in competitive teams in Saudi Arabia, the US, and China. She has played and or coached in every country she has lived in or deployed to.

Maggie is Managing Director of Aston Villa Women FC, following several years as the CEO of Lewes FC and Board Member of the FA WSL. Prior to moving into professional football, Maggie worked on advocacy and policy on global anti-corruption and human rights issues - as the Director of Public Policy and Sport Integrity at Sport Integrity Global Alliance, with Transparency International, and two years Minority Rights Group International and HelpAge International as a human rights advocate. Maggie has been playing competitive football since she was thirteen, and aside from playing for UK-based clubs and captaining Oxford University, she has set-up, coached or played for teams in Tanzania, Rwanda, Guadeloupe, the Netherlands and Germany.