Our Governance

Julia joined as Chair of Women in Sport in 2023 and also sits on our Governance and Nominations Committee. She started her career at Nike in the U.S before co-founding the sports marketing agency, Shine Communications. Over 15 years, she helped grow Shine from a team of two to more than eighty, and worked with global sports brands including Dunlop, Slazenger, Puma, and Reebok.

Julia also set up the charity the Rural Refugee Network, which has worked both regionally and nationally to resettle refugees from Syria and other war-torn regions in rural parts of the UK.

Polly joined our Board in 2024 and sits on our Governance and Nominations Committee, as well as sharing the role of Vice Chair with fellow trustee Brian Moore.

Polly is a prominent media commentator and speaker on social justice, housing and homelessness, leadership, feminism and women’s issues, on platforms ranging from the Oxford Union to the first Women’s March London.

She was previously CEO of Shelter, Women’s Aid and, before that, Executive Director at Action for Children, and has spent many years both campaigning publicly and influencing at the highest levels of government.

She is also a trustee of the Young Women’s Trust, a member of Bayes Business School Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, and non-executive director of Wessex Local Medical Committees. She is part of the Founding Group of A Better Way Network and of the Charity Reform Group.

In November 2025, Polly was appointed to the House of Lords as Baroness Neate, of Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

Brian joined our Board in 2024, and sits on our Finance and Risk Committee, as well as sharing the role of Vice Chair with fellow trustee Baroness Polly Neate CBE.

A renowned sports commentator and former England rugby union player, Brian is passionate about furthering the development of sport for women and girls.

A trained solicitor, Brian provided expertise to many charitable causes as former chair of the Ready charity, giving disabled young people opportunities is sport and as an ambassador for the NSPCC.

He also sat on the committee that produced the Duty of Care Independent Report. Last year Brian was awarded an MSc in Psychology from Westminster University.

Kuldeep joined as a trustee of Women in Sport in 2023 and sits on our Finance and Risk Committee. She is Finance and Operations Director at England and GB Hockey where she has is responsible for finance, people, legal, governance, data and technology alongside leading the momentum behind equality, diversity and inclusion across the sport.

Kuldeep has spent over 12 years working in team sports, taking on various leadership roles to introduce finance and strategy partnering to support decision making. Her work in the industry has spanned rugby and hockey, where she has also served to champion and coach both female and diverse leaders.

Steven joined our Board in 2019 and sits on our Finance and Risk Committee. He is a Director at international sports consultancy 4GLOBAL where he’s responsible for working with governments, cities, and NGOs. Previously Steven worked as the Healthy Communities Director at Places Leisure and was also Research Director at UK Active.

Steven has led on a number of large-scale evaluation and research studies, having developed and led the UK Active Research Institute that aims to generate knowledge, identify and promote best practice, and establish a reliable evidence base of what works in getting more people active.

He has been at Trustee at Women in Sport since February 2019.

Yama joined our Board in 2024 and sits on our Governance and Nominations Committee. She is a sports lawyer and Head of Dispute Resolution at Livida Sport, where she helps athletes and players across a range of sports navigate complex and time-critical disputes.

With a background in media law, Yama has many years’ experience in the sports industry championing the rights of athletes. Yama was previously a Trustee of Crystal Palace FC’s charitable foundation, and she has has a longstanding passion for serving and supporting marginalised communities and underrepresented voices, having volunteered for charities such as The Baytree Centre for Girls, Trussell Trust (Foodbank) and Age UK.

Catherine joined our Board in 2024 and is prominent figure in public health. As the former Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, she has dedicated her career to improving health outcomes, with a particular focus on disparities which disproportionality affect women and girls.

Catherine’s commitment and dedication to promoting equitable access to healthcare and advancing women’s health rights make her an invaluable addition to the charity and its mission to tackle gendered health inequality. 

Prof Calderwood has made significant contributions to public health policy and practice throughout her career. She served as the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland from 2015 to 2020, during which time she provided expert advice to the Scottish Government on a wide range of health issues and played a key role in shaping Scotland’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as addressing the social factors of health that disproportionately affect women, such as poverty, violence, and discrimination.