Verity Edgell is a commercially minded senior marketing and partnerships leader with more than 15 years’ experience building brands and partnerships that connect with consumers and deliver tangible value. Currently the Director of Consumer Marketing & Sponsorship for Australasia at Mastercard, she leads a team who are responsible for integrated marketing and partnership strategy across some of the region’s most high‑profile platforms, including the Australian Open and the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team.

With a career spanning agency, rights holder, and brand side roles, Verity brings a rare, end to end understanding of how partnerships work from all sides of the fence — from how they are sold and governed to how they are activated and measured. Known for her collaborative style, she focuses on building strong relationships and partnerships that balance brand integrity, commercial outcomes, and long term impact beyond a single campaign. 

Karren Rogers is a Global Media Partnerships Manager at Meta, working with partners in the Sports, Entertainment and Media industries across Australia and New Zealand. 

With 17 years experience in the media industry, Karren has worked with businesses, rights holders, federations, teams, public figures and athletes to help them achieve business objectives, involving negotiating Meta’s first sports deals in Asia, securing Meta’s first Olympics sponsorship where Meta sponsored the Australian Olympic Team, plus partnership deals, including partnering with the Commonwealth Games Committee for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. 

Client Services Director and women’s sport expert at Two Circles, a data-driven sports agency. I help teams and clients turn data into strategy, marketing plans into measurable ROI, and customer touch-points into relationships that bring commercial and not-for-profit benefit. I love bringing the stories of sport to life and thinking about where we might go next.

Senior lecturer at the School of Allied Health, Sport and Social Work, Griffith University and adjunct professor at Umanand Prasad School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Fiji.  Chair of the Exercise & Sports Science Australia Standards Council, and Director and Company Secretary of the International Confederation of Sport and Exercise Science Practice. Chair of the European College of Sport Science Clinical Exercise Physiology Practice Special Interest Group and co-chair of the Fiji Physical Activity Promotion Symposium.

Natalie Cook OAM OLY is a five-time Olympian and founder of the Aussie Athlete Fund, which helps remove financial barriers for Australian athletes. Drawing on her own sporting journey, she mentors and empowers athletes to secure funding, build financial independence and pursue excellence. Through fundraising initiatives, education programs and strategic partnerships, Nat is creating a more sustainable future for Australia’s sporting talent.

Ben Parsons is a sports industry expert with over 20 years of experience in media, entertainment, and sports business. He is the founder of Ministry of Sport, a leading platform providing news, insights, and connections for professionals in the business of sport, and Playa Power, an innovative athlete marketing coaching community launched in January 2024. Playa Power empowers athletes with masterclasses and ongoing support to build personal brands and maximise commercial opportunities. Ben has a background in content creation, talent management, event production, and branding, which underpins his mission to create positive, mutually beneficial outcomes across the sports industry. He is recognised for his ability to connect people, develop new opportunities, and lead strategic initiatives that enhance engagement and revenue in sport.

Bec Haagsma was appointed as AFL Executive General Manager Customer, Commercial and Technology in February 2025.  As a member of the AFL Executive, Bec’s remit includes the AFL’s commercial portfolio, fan engagement and growth, marketing, brand, the AFL digital product and content functions, and the technology, AI and IT transformation of the league.  

Prior to joining the AFL, Bec held the role of Chief Product and Technology Officer at Nine Entertainment Co. Alongside her executive role she also held NED positions at Domain Group (ASX DHG) and Future Women. This included running the streaming operations for the Paris Olympics. 

Before Nine, Bec spent seven years at Telstra in senior executive roles, and she has also held executive roles at ACP Magazines (now Are Media), and the global B2B publisher, Reed Elsevier. Her career started in the Museum and Heritage sector.

She holds a Master of Arts degree (Political Science) from the University of New South Wales, and is a graduate from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Bec is a also a very proud mother, grandmother and recently converted golf tragic.

Having worked and studied in the sport & leisure industry for over 20 years, Kathryn has played a pivotal role in elevating professionalism, performance & standards within the industry. She has represented and guided many of Australia’s leading athletes and stands among a select group of women accredited as a Professional Sports Agent in the AFL, AFLW and Netball. From grassroots through to the elite level, Kathryn has built and managed brands across sport, entertainment, wellness and lifestyle, helping clients develop high-performing, professional and credible identities.

In 2024, Kathryn founded Behind Your Brand, leveraging more than two decades of experience in athlete management, brand strategy and sports marketing. She launched the agency with a clear purpose: to partner with athletes and sporting organisations to build brands and careers with purpose.

Currently, Kathryn represents 7 Australian professional netballers and works with a range of organisations across the sports industry. She is also an Athlete Brand Coach with Playa Power, where she mentors Australian athletes in developing their own personal brand.

Ali Clarke is a respected communicator and strategist who has spent decades working at the intersection of sport, media and community. With an academic background and Honors degree in Human Movement,  and as a broadcaster trusted for her insight and authenticity, she brings a sharp, people‑centred lens to every conversation. She will guide the conference with her trademark mix of warmth, wit and purpose. 

Tom Reddin is a Strength & Conditioning Coach and Accredited High Performance Manager & Sport Scientist with more than 20 years’ experience across elite sport, including AFL, AFLW, cricket, football (soccer), and netball.  He has held senior high-performance roles with the NSW Institute of Sport, Cricket NSW, Melbourne City FC, GWS Giants AFLW, and Netball NSW, spending much of his career working in women’s high-performance sport.  His experience spans athlete physical development, performance optimisation, ACL rehabilitation, and return-to-performance, with a particular interest in preparing female athletes for the physical demands of elite competition.

As CEO of Sport SA, the peak body for sport in South Australia, Leah has championed women’s sport from vision through to reality, establishing the Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Centre for Women’s Sport, a program that empowers and connects all women in sport. Leah has over 30 years of experience in Executive roles in Sport, Education and Human Services, with roles in Government and Non-Government in Australia, Turkey and Hong Kong. She holds a Master of Sociology from the University of Leicester (UK), a Bachelor of Education in Health and Physical Education from the University of Tasmania, a Diploma of Government in Project Management and is a recent graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Carly Goodrich is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in government and the sport, active recreation, and health sectors. Carly led the planning and development of open space, sport, recreation, play, and leisure infrastructure in the local government areas of Monash and Casey, working closely with Sport & Recreation Victoria to unlock investment into rapidly growing communities.

Since joining Golf Australia and the PGA of Australia in 2022, Carly has built the golf sector’s capability in government engagement, leading advocacy to reshape perceptions of golf and forge strategic partnerships with government, grounded in research and insight. She is passionate about demonstrating golf’s economic, social, and environmental value to Australian communities, and led the Community Benefits of Golf in Australia Report for the Australian Golf Industry Council — a landmark project highlighting golf’s role as a community asset and equipping decision-makers with a powerful evidence base. Carly continues to drive initiatives and policy that raise the profile of golf as a vital contributor to Australia’s sporting landscape.