Melissa is the former CEO of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 Organising Committee, hailed as the most successful world cup in history with attendance and digital engagement significantly surpassing previous editions.

She is an advocate for embedding environmental, social and governance across all facets of a business. Her commercial experience spans leadership roles in Sport, For Purpose, Government and Corporate sectors including Surf Life Saving Australia, Sydney Opera House and Prime Minister & Cabinet

Dwayne Thompson is a senior sales & marketing manager with 10+ years of strategy, project management, business development & leadership experience. DT is an expert in youth & music marketing, specialising in ideas and strategies that place brands and consumers at the heart of culture.

In his current role as the national On Premise Consumer Marketing Manager at Red Bull, DT sees the delivery of strategic partnerships, including major events and activations around the country.

Carmen Mullenger joined BCNA in June 2017, initially recruited as Project Manager for BCNA’s 2018 Field of Women at the MCG. She brings with her a wealth of experience from the sporting industry, having held roles in sales, marketing, events, and management for some of Australia’s leading brands including The Athlete’s Foot, Lorna Jane, and Fernwood Fitness. Carmen also founded the Women in Sports Business Networking Group from 1998 to 2004.

Now with six years under her belt at BCNA, Carmen has managed several significant projects, including the Field of Women, the annual Pink Lady Match with Melbourne Football Club, PLAY4BCNA Pink Sports Day Program, BCNA Merchandise development and Carman’s Fun Run. Currently, she leads a small but determined team organizing this year’s 6th Field of Women event, scheduled for Sunday 20 August at the MCG, along with a wider portfolio of events and community fundraising initiatives.

Highly respected for her passion and understanding of the impact of breast cancer on both those diagnosed and their support network, Carmen is dedicated to achieving robust fundraising results for BCNA. Her initiatives help connect communities and enable BCNA to continue providing free support, information, and advocacy for all Australian women and men affected by breast cancer.

Born and raised in Mildura, Victoria, Carmen now resides in Melbourne with her husband and two adult children.

Mark leads the delivery of strategic sponsorship advice for clients at Traffik and across the entire Clemenger Group in Australia.

He has led experienced commercial teams for the Australian Open, Hopman Cup and the arts and literature sector, plus as an in-house strategic consultant for Nike, rebuilding their global sports marketing strategy in tennis, talent identification model, and consulting on athlete contracts values.

Mark's move to the BBDO family helps brands navigate and drive effectiveness through sponsorship by unlocking greater creative opportunities.

More importantly, being embedded in a multi-disciplinary marketing group that understands how to build brands, impact human behaviour and lead people to take action enables sponsorship to be viewed holistically across brand development and not as an isolated channel.

With over 20 years experience in business, Dan is a passionate believer in curiosity, creativity and culture. He leads a broad portfolio of partnerships, sponsorships and events at Optus. These include the world class Optus Stadium; supercar team Mobil1 Optus Racing; Sydney World Pride 2023; the Art Gallery of NSW; and a number of ambassadors including Optus’ Chief of Inspiration Ash Barty, and Chief of Optimism Daniel Ricciardo.

As one of the largest telecommunications companies in the region, Optus provides mobile, telephony, internet, satellite, entertainment and business network services to more than 10 million customers.

Steve is an experienced leader in Australia’s sports marketing industry. He’s worked with sporting clients and within sporting organisations for 15+ years, across KPMG, the Australian Sports Commission, Nielsen Sports, and now as General Manager of Greenroom Digital in Australia & NZ. 

Steve has led the sponsorship valuation process for numerous sponsors and rightsholders and understands the different methodologies and approaches which are adopted across the market. He is passionate about using data and insights to drive better decisions when it comes to sponsorship selection, activation and measurement.

Steve is excited about the rapid growth of digital sponsorship assets in the industry and their ability to deliver measurable results against partnership objectives. 

Kim has over 9+ years of experience in the industry. She is a native Detroiter (go red wings!) but has spent most of her career working in New York before moving to Sydney.

Kim’s demonstrated history of work on clients such as Coca Cola, Diageo, American Express, Mercedes Benz has allowed her to do what she loves doing most, connecting brands to people.

Kim specialises in creatively charged connected media and comms planning.

Patrick Skene is the co-founder of Cultural Pulse, a leading multicultural marketing, content and engagement agency that has worked for the past 15 years on multicultural participation and fan/audience engagement programs for events, clubs, leagues and rights holders. He is the Chief Creative Officer, responsible for strategy and creating multilingual brand stories for campaigns. Patrick is a major event specialist, having successfully worked on more than 20 big events including the AFC Asian Cup 2015, Rugby League World Cup 2017, Commonwealth Games 2018 and the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023.  

Michael has been involved in the Sports Marketing industry for over 43 years commencing his career with Speedo International as Promotions manager Manager involved in sponsorship of all aquatic sports in Australia and internationally.

Michael in 1986 became founding CEO of Sports Marketing and Management (SMAM) rising to full ownership and presiding over its growth in Australia and overseas for 37 years in its various forms (SMAM, Lagardère Sport and Entertainment, SportFive and now back to SMAM).

Michael is globally acknowledged for his specialist acumen in all levels of Olympic, Commonwealth and Paralympic Games and particularly Organising Committees navigating the complex commercial, contractual, governance and probity requirements of the various stakeholders including IOC, CGF, Federal, State Governments and host city authorities while maximising revenues through securing sponsorship partnerships to offset the significant costs of hosting a games.
This expertise has accrued through his leadership of the commercial programs of the Sydney Olympic Games and the last seven Commonwealth Games delivering record revenue on each occasion. 

During Michael's time leading the company it has commercially represented exclusively the AOC since 1986, CGA since 1988 and during its existence created significant revenue for Swimming Australia (1993-2014), Australian Rugby Union (1988-1993, 2008-2015), and for various major international events and sports in Australia.

Internationally Michael has represented the National Olympic Committees of Britain (creating the Team GB brand) , France, NZ and South Africa and consulted to the IOC, Discovery/EuroSport, Bridgestone’s Olympic program, UK Sport, European Swimming, British Swimming, Merlin Entertainment, Sydney Opera House amongst many others. 

Michael’s contribution to Australian sport has been recognised through various honours including the Australian Sports Medal, the AOC Olympic Order of Merit and the IOC Golden Rings awards.

Niel Isdale is a passionate and experienced people-centric leader with a deep commitment to promoting mental health in the workplace. With a proven track record of building successful purpose-led teams and businesses, Niel understands the value of creating a supportive and inclusive work environment.

Having held leadership positions at renowned organizations such as LinkedIn, Niel has honed his expertise in driving employee engagement and fostering positive company culture. He strongly believes that prioritising mental health in the workplace leads to enhanced productivity, employee well-being, and overall organisational success.

In addition to his corporate endeavors, Niel is an avid supporter of non-profit organizations dedicated to mental health advocacy. He actively volunteers his time and resources to contribute to various initiatives that raise awareness and support for mental health causes.

Recognising the unique challenges faced by men in the realm of mental health, Niel takes a proactive role in leading men's mental health groups. By facilitating open and honest discussions, he helps create safe spaces where individuals can share their experiences, seek support, and work towards personal growth.

Nick joined Nielsen Sports in 2018, and has since generated extensive experience in the sports and partnerships industry in both Australia and New Zealand. 

In that time, he has worked with a massive array of rightsholders, brands and agencies across all of Nielsen Sports’ syndicated and bespoke solutions. He’s also been the lead for Nielsen Sports’ New Zealand business for the past 18 months.

Nick now operates in Nielsen’s commercial sales team, helping curate solutions for clients across research, exposure measurement and consulting services. Nick is passionate about the world of sport, and is also currently the manager of Sydney Harbour Rugby Club: The Oysters.

Ellie Cole, OAM is an Australian retired Paralympic swimmer and wheelchair basketball player. After having her leg amputated due to cancer, she trained in swimming as part of her rehabilitation program and progressed more rapidly than instructors had predicted. She began competitive swimming in 2003 and first competed internationally at the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships, where she won a silver medal.

Since then, she has won medals in the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, the Commonwealth Games, the Paralympic Games, the IPC Swimming World Championships, and various national championships. Following the 2012 London Paralympics, where she won four gold and two bronze medals, Cole underwent two shoulder reconstructions and made a successful return to swimming at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships, winning five medals, including three golds. She subsequently represented Australia at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

In claiming her seventeenth Paralympic medal in Tokyo, Cole became Australia's most decorated female Paralympian with six gold, five silver and six bronze medals from four Paralympic Games.

James is the Founder and CEO of Activation Union

He began his career working in media planning and buying in the UK before starting an events and sponsorship business with clients such as Time Magazine. After returning to Australia to work on the Sydney 2000 Olympics, he was approached by Clemenger to set up and run the group’s sponsorship and event company, MM Communications Sydney office.

In 2001, he launched Australia’s first experiential based agency, Traffik, with founding client St George Bank, and a roster that grew to include Diageo, Holden, P&G, Nickelodeon, and Ikea to name a few, and built a national footprint with offices in five capital cities. He grew the 100 per cent Clemenger Group-owned business to become Australia’s most awarded activation agency, with accolades including two appearances in BRW Top 100 Companies to Work For.

As a member of the Clemenger Group board from 2014 to 2022, Neale helped deliver numerous projects including establishing the Diversity and Inclusion committee.

Krystyna is the Managing Director of M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment, the PR and Sponsorship agency within the M&C Saatchi Group. Krystyna has worked at world-class agencies including Weber Shandwick and We Are Social and has deep expertise in PR, influencer marketing, social and digital, sponsorship and experiential. Krystyna is a champion of ideas that go beyond spots and dots, to genuinely engage communities and get people talking. She has managed the PR and sponsorships efforts of a wide range of international and homegrown brands including Samsung, Fiat Chrysler, Nespresso, Walt Disney, TAL, Woolworths, Origin Energy, Commonwealth Bank and Optus. 

Luke is an experienced passion marketer whose career has been spent helping brands connect to audiences through the things they love. Career highlights include creating the first ever live stream from Splendour in the Grass, transforming cycling culture in Britain, helping CommBank lead the way in women’s sport, creating the Australian Olympic Committee’s participation campaign, working with Origin to make sport sustainable, and getting Vanilla Ice on stage at V Festival to apologise for crimes against music.

Patrick is a senior marketing professional with 10+ years experience, driving growth for some of the world’s most iconic brands.

He believes that successful marketing is the outcome of data-led insights, creativity and out of the box thinking, delivering campaigns with tangible business results.

Patrick has worked for some of the top advertising and media agencies globally (including M&C Saatchi & Havas Media) before making the switch client side to lead sponsorships at Virgin Australia, where he is currently.

Andrew is Founder of Super-Sub, one of Australia’s fastest growing independent sports and entertainment businesses and a multi-awarded sponsorship thinker. Andrew is sponsorships #1 fan and works with clients both locally and globally to build game-changing approaches, placing a unique perspective and comprehension to challenge traditional thinking.

Andrew’s recent achievements include being responsible for the entry of auto brand CUPRA into Australia through a deal with Football Australia, developing the strategic alignment for Santander’s new partnership with Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team, producing the commercial approach for Visit Victoria’s ‘Always Live’ music proposition and the local delivery of Under Armour’s brand activity. It’s been a busy 24 months since opening the virtual Super-Sub doors with many more collaborations to come.

An award-winning Executive Creative Director with a strategic mindset, who thrives on generating unorthodox solutions that challenge the traditional advertising model.

‘Mardo’ is lucky enough to have had his work recognised at Cannes, Spikes and the Effies, and continues to lead the agency to consistently win Agency Of The Year titles, an unprecedented 8 times during his 10-year tenure at Traffik.

Driven by the mantra that Great Work, Works, he is privileged to have proved it for brands including Airbnb, Cadbury, Diageo, Dyson, Facebook, Lacoste, Mazda, Microsoft, Samsung, Virgin Australia, and many more.

Jess Smith is Head of Revenue for Angel City Football Club. She oversees sponsorship, ticketing, merchandise, operations, and data and analytics. Responsible for the club's purpose-driven partnership model, Smith is passionate about creating revenue streams with intent. The Angel City partnership model boasts 10% of each partnership benefiting equity, essentials, or education. She followed with the Fan Fueled Player Fund, where players receive 1% of net ticketing proceeds for advertising ticket sales with their names and likeness. Smith sits as the club's CBO for league relations.

Before Angel City, Smith held leadership positions within MLS, NHL and MLB with the San Jose Earthquakes, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Oakland Athletics. She holds an MSA from Ohio University and BA from SUNY Oswego. She is a proud mom to two young daughters, Kipton and Vaughn. She was recently named a recipient of the prestigious Sports Business Journal's 2023 class of 40 Under 40.

Rachel is GM of Marketing & Sales for Red Energy in NSW and the ACT and manages media and external communications across the retail group.

Before accepting the GM role, Rachel was the Director of Mediafriendly, a communications and media training consultancy. Besides Red Energy and Snowy Hydro, Mediafriendly provided training and advice for clients across industries including health, education, sport, finance, and telecommunications for over a decade.

Rachel has an extensive media background working as a broadcast journalist on the Nine and Seven Networks, the ABC, Sky News as well as the London News Network in the UK. Her passion is people and joining the dots across business, partnerships, customers and the teams she works with.

Red Energy has proudly supported BCNA since 2015 and recently launched a product that gives Red customers the opportunity to directly contribute up to $120 per year when they sign up their electricity and gas to a Red BCNA Saver Plan. To date more than 8700 customers have taken up the plan contributing nearly half a million dollars to BCNA.

Red Energy is proud to be a part of the 25th Anniversary Field of Women event in August and the naming rights partner for the family festival to be held within Yarra Park, adjacent to the MCG.

She has a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Journalism and Public Relations from Deakin University.

Branden is Senior Marketing Consultant at Gemba who has built a career understanding the business of people’s passion. He has spent the last decade working across Australia, Asia Pacific and European sponsorship industries,  with specialist experience in sponsorship strategy, partnership negotiation and activation of major partnership & event portfolios.

In that time he has worked with blue-chip brands like Weet-Bix, XXXX Gold, Samsung, Optus and Coca-Cola; helped brands like Foot Locker roll out their innovative, immersive experience retail foot prints in Europe and helped activate global sponsorships with sporting and entertainment brands like FC Barcelona, Golden State Warriors and UEFA Champions League.

Meaghan is a senior leader and marketing executive with over fifteen years experience working for global brands and more recently creating local brands. She has worked across both B2C and B2B environments and has held senior leadership positions at Board level, C-suite, leading regional marketing teams and growing businesses to create marketing teams.

She started her career in the sporting industry working for some of the biggest global sporting brands including the Australian Open, adidas and Red Bull. Meaghan now works as an Operating Partner – Marketing, for Private Equity firm Redwood North. Her work involves shaping business strategy and supporting growth through marketing and brand strategy, ultimately delivering value creation. At any one time, Meaghan works across multiple industries with the portfolio company leadership teams building brands in the refrigerated transport, playground, financial services and technology industries.

Meaghan is passionate about travel, the outdoors and sport and fitness in general. An avid traveller, she’s been to over 40 countries and lived in six different cities across three different continents.