OUR TEAM

Justyn is curious by nature. He loves exploring why Sports organisations and teams approach their daily challenges as they do, and the identifying opportunities to make their endeavours even more impactful. He is a passionate advocate for the power of sport to change lives, the freedom, and joy, that active lives can afford individuals. Justyn feels extremely honoured to have shaped the strategic direction of Coaching and Coach Development during his time at the FA, Sport England and StreetGames, putting the rights and needs of players at the heart of decision making. Justyn is proud to have supported a number of sports organisations, in both performance and community sport settings, to embed equality, fairness and inclusion at the heart of people development strategies and tactics. This work has been underpinned by large scale insight projects understanding the challenges, barriers and opportunities. Identifying the enablers to all coaches excelling in the role they hold, across Men’s, Women’s and Disability Sport.

He loves nothing more than spending time with his family. Outdoors – digging big holes on the beach, playing in the woods, or coaching one of the boys’ various teams…there is usually an ice cream involved regardless of the location!

Stephen “Mitch” Mitchell currently oversees a small portfolio of businesses operating across sport and physical activity, including his own consultancy business, Sporting People. He also co-founded Sport for Confidence CIC, a unique, pioneering, and multi-award-winning organisation which supports people who face barriers to participation as they get involved in a variety of sporting activities in mainstream settings. Mitch is closely involved with frontline delivery of sport and physical activity programmes, and a recognized thought leader around workforce solutions across the Sector – trusted by national organisations such as Sport England and CIMSPA. Mitch chairs the boards of an Ofqual regulated Awarding Organisation (Transcend Awards) which he led through regulatory approval; an Ofsted regulated independent training Provider (Creative Sport and Leisure); and a DfE approved / Ofsted inspected independent school for SEMH children (the Omnia Foundation).

He has led Boards or been a Director/Trustee of Boards who have achieved the highest standards of governance in line with the Sports Governance Code. He has recently stepped down (after 8 years) from being the Independent Chairperson of Parkour UK (overseeing its recognition as a sport and as an NGB) and has also recently stepped down from the Board of Active Essex (where he led the RACE Equality Review and long-term commitment to the Race Equality Code. He has now taken on the role of Independent Chairperson of England Futsal. He is Trustee of the Coach Core Foundation (Coaching Apprenticeships for LSEG audiences) and Switch the Play Foundation (athlete wellbeing and mental health). Mitch is an alumnus of Loughborough University where he studied Sports Science. A retired rugby player, he’s a firm believer in the positive power of sport and the role it can play in changing lives, particularly for future generations.

Emily is a sport and health policy researcher and consultant, and a Sporting People Associate. A former national team rower for Canada, Emily has spent her ‘retired’ years working for both public and private sectors of sport and health. Her experiences include (but are not limited to…): Chronic disease surveillance, and development of culturally relevant educational materials for Metis and Indigenous Peoples of Canada; The 2017 Tailored Review of UK Anti-Doping for the DCMS (resulting in a £6.1 million funding uplift for UKAD); Developing the roles and responsibilities of games partners for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games at the DCMS; Creating and delivering bespoke programs to prepare elite and professional athletes for life after sport (including Manchester United); Governing body of sport strategy for inclusion of women and girls in the Middle East; Researcher with Oxford University on COVID, creating the world’s most cited and trusted dataset on global COVID health policies; Policy development and governance of Abuse Free Sport, the new independent maltreatment reporting program in Canada.

If it isn’t already evident… Emily loves all things research, health and sport related. When she isn’t studying sport or health policy (she has a Masters of Science in genetics and the social determinants of health, a Masters of Public Policy, and is currently doing a PhD in elite sport policy and duty of care), Emily works with companies and organisations who are keen to improve access and safety of sport for all. When she isn’t working in sport, Emily can be found rowing her coastal single on a loch in Scotland, chasing her dog and husband Ollie on a mountain trail, or drinking coffee… lots, and lots of coffee…

Kat is an award-winning human rights lawyer with 20 years experience of advising individuals and organisations on how to tackle some of the most pressing social issues in their community. She is the founder and CEO of Athlead, a sport and social impact consultancy that helps sporting stakeholders mainstream their commitment to respect, protect and promote human rights through clear, practical and sustainable action planning.  

For the last seven years, Kat has specialised in working with victims and survivors of abuse and discrimination in sport, supporting hundreds of athletes, coaches, officials and clinical staff across five continents and many sporting disciplines. In the course of this work, Kat (a former litigator) came to a realisation: not only can real change in this field only be achieved through collaboration, but an adversarial approach often only further harms those already most vulnerable. That is why she is passionate about creating safe spaces for honest, brave and constructive conversations among all of the stakeholders in the sporting ecosystem about how we can work together to build healthy and inclusive environments that deliver excellence without sacrificing athletes’ well-being.

Kat’s expertise in this field is evidenced by her roles supporting IFs, athlete representative bodies, and civil society: she is a member of the IOC’s Safeguarding in Sport Academic Advisory Board, she is an independent expert advisor on FIFA’s global steering group to develop an international Safe Sport Entity, she is a Special Advisor to international footballers’ union FIFPRO and she Is Senior Advisor to the Centre for Sport and Human Rights. In this latter capacity she leads a global research project collaborating with victims, survivors and whistleblowers to co-create guidance on safe, effective and appropriate remedy investigation and resolution mechanisms to tackle abuse in sport.

Kat’s other clients include UNESCO, whom she advised on the creation of a Global Observatory for Gender Equality and Sport, and UN Women, for whom she edited a Handbook on Combating Violence against Women and Girls in and through Sport. Kat has also worked with elite athletes, including Jonny Wilkinson, and major sports funders, including Comic Relief, on a range of thematic issues from mental well-being to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Kat’s ground-breaking work has been repeatedly recognised by the industry: in 2022 she was featured in a Nike campaign celebrating her global work in safeguarding women athletes from abuse, and she won the Integrity & Impact Award at the prestigious Sport Industry Awards.

In her spare time, Kat runs community-owned football club Camden & Islington United with her husband Nick, where she developed a girls’ and women’s leadership programme. She is also assistant manager to the Men’s First Team, who this year won the league and now enter the professional footballing pyramid. Kat holds a Black belt in Kung Fu, and manages her mental well-being with long walks with friends in Epping Forest and recording (bad, and off-brand) music with her nephews.

A well respected people developer across the tennis industry for 30 years working with players at every level of the game. Dan has moved into roles as a Coach Educator and course creator. He has been LTA Head of Coach Development for 6 years; worked across sport on coaching frameworks, apprenticeships and mentoring; Head of a Chinese Academy; and has launched several successful business projects in sport. He is now leading the work of Redgate Sports in Worcester which takes sport and physical activity to young people who have been marginalised from education.

His expertise is in coaching, coach education, coach and workforce development strategy, coach course and pathway design, coach support initiatives, and safe deployment issues.