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ise Up! with Ministry of Sport, in association with Sunshine Coast Council, have announce FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 chief operating officer, Jane Fernandez, as a keynote speaker at the upcoming Women in Sport Summit (WIS) 2021.

Taking place at the home of the Sunshine Coast Lightning, USC Stadium, on Friday 25 June, the Women in Sport Summit 2021 promises exclusive access, coveted conversations and game changing discussions, all while inspiring women to rise up and dream, believe, create and succeed.

As general manager of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Bid, Fernandez played a key role in securing co-hosting rights for the major event.

When Fernandez was appointed as the head of the Women’s World Cup 2023 Office, Football Australia CEO, James Johnson, said the work Fernandez did during the successful bid process was exceptional and her appointment is an early step in hosting a successful World Cup.

“As general manager of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Bid, Jane did an exceptional job in managing a technically superb bid that helped to secure co-hosting rights to the tournament and we are delighted she has agreed to continue with FFA and join our senior management team,” Johnson said.

“Jane is a highly-skilled and experienced major sporting events professional and we look forward to seeing her play a vital role in bringing our vision for the FIFA Women’s World Cup to life, just as she did previously in her role as tournament director of the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015,” he said.

Just over six months later, Fernandez was named the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 chief operating officer for Australia, alongside her New Zealand counterpart, Jane Patterson.

Just under a year ago, Fernandez spoke with Ministry of Sport founder, Ben Parsons, as part of the Conversations series.

Speaking to Parsons, Fernandez said: “The momentum behind women’s sport has been phenomenal for the last number of years now.”

“I attended the women’s cricket final at the MCG in front of 80,000 people and who would have thought that was possible years ago.

“Women’s sport has gone from strength to strength and hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand will put women’s sport right on centre stage once again,” Fernandez said.

As the first guest speaker announced for the Women in Sport Summit 2021, Fernandez will look to build on the influence and impact she had on the Women in Sport Summit in 2019 as a guest speaker.

With many more speaker and partnership announcements on the way in the coming weeks, keep an eye out on Ministry of Sport’s website and social media channels, and subscribe for email alerts to make sure you don’t miss an announcement.

For tickets to the Women in Sport Summit 2021, click here