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Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Sport England

In January 2021 Viveen was appointed as Sport England’s first director of equality, diversity and inclusion. In this role Viveen is leading Sport England’s overarching approach to tackling inequalities in sport and physical activity to enable the organisation to deliver on strategic aims and purpose whilst also working to ensure that those who lead and deliver sport and physical activity in England reflect the nation they serve.

Founder and CEO, Complete Coherence

Alan is recognised as an international expert on leadership and human performance. He has a broad mix of commercial, academic, scientific and technological abilities. Over the past 24 years he has been a coach and confidante to many global influential business leaders. Alan has worked with professional athletes and coaches in Premier League Football, including the coach of the English Football team; Premiership Rugby Union as well as working with UK Sport to design their elite coaching three year development programme.

Craig Beeston, SGA Programme Manager, The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland

The 2021 SGA Conference begins with a welcome from Programme Manager, Craig Beeston.

Phil Smith, Director of Sport, Sport England

Phil Smith opens up proceedings, welcoming attendees with his observations on current issues affecting the sector.

Robert Morini, Head of Governance and International Relations, UK Sport
Lynsey Tweddle, Head of Governance, Sport England

The Code for Sports Governance was a game-changing initiative when it was published by Sport England and UK Sport in October 2016. The governance of funded organisations has undergone enormous progress under the Code, which has set a new standard for the sector. In July 2020, a review and public consultation was announced in order to ensure that it continues to lead the way in governance practice by considering the sector’s experiences, assessing the Code against best practice and identifying areas for development. The review contained a substantive focus on equality, diversity and inclusion. Lynsey and Rob will present an update on the review, outline the major changes to the Code and the roadmap which will be followed. They will discuss what the changes will mean for the sector and how Sport England and UK Sport will support and work with their partners to implement the requirements.

Lucy Simpson, Head of UK Board Practice, Perrett Laver
Shivani Smith, Senior Consultant, Global Non-Profit & Social Impact and Co-Chair, Equality Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Perrett Laver

Significant strides have been taken by sports bodies in recent years to improve their board composition and make them more reflective of society – but there remains much work to be done. In this session, Lucy and Shivani will outline the benefits to organisations of more diverse perspectives and will look at some of the challenges which the sector faces when addressing diversity. Our speakers will provide details of Perrett Laver’s work with Sport England to create and support a wider pool of board-ready candidates.

Dr Alan Watkins, Complete Coherence

The demands placed on boards are always high. Recent events have tested their resilience and decision making to a new degree. This session will look at how the board individually and collectively can use emotional literacy and develop resilience to put themselves in a position to be able respond to testing circumstances and make optimal decisions. Alan will also look at the evolution over time of governance processes.

Joanna Leigh, Sustainability Coordinator, Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games & former Team GB/England hockey player
Toby Robins, Executive Director for Partnerships, British Association for Sustainable Sport (BASIS)

As organisations look to build back following the trials of the past year, this session considers whether now is an opportunity to do things differently and to place environmental sustainability at the centre of strategic planning and decision making. The effects of environmental change are already being felt across sport, and the sector has the chance to leverage its unique reach and influence to take the lead in a new approach.