Sergei Palkin has held the position of CEO at FC Shakhtar Donetsk since June 2004. From 1997 to 2001, Mr Palkin worked as a Senior Auditor at JV Coopers & Lybrand (later – PricewaterhouseCoopers). Since July 2001, he has held the position of director of economics and finance at Kryvyi Rih Cement and Mining Combine OJSC. Since June 2003, Mr Palkin has been the Financial Director of Shakhtar FC. On June 18, 2004, he was appointed General Director.In 1996, Sergei Palkin became a qualified financial manager after graduating from the National Academy of Management with a degree in Finance and Credit”. Since 2002, he has been a member of the Association of Chartered Accountants (Great Britain). In 2009, Mr Palkin was awarded the Order of Merit, III degree and in 2011, he was awarded the Order of Merit II degree.

Dawn was CEO of Getty Images between 2015 and 2018 and remained as a non-executive director until July 2022. Dawn is on the Boards of Channel 4, Grosvenor Estates and Blackbird. She is Chair of the FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship Board, The National Youth Theatre and Digital Theatre. Dawn was also a member of the Government’s Expert Panel for a Fan-Led Review of Football. Dawn is a veteran of the media industry having worked in television for 30 years, holding senior positions at ITV, Channel 5 and BSKYB. She also spent 3 years at Yahoo EMEA.

Barbara Slater took up her role as Director of Sport in April 2009.She had previously been Head of Production and Head of General Sports for the department. Her responsibilities include working with governing bodies to retain a broad portfolio of broadcasting rights, overseeing the planning and coverage of major sporting events and leading the sports journalism operation at BBC Sport’s home in Salford. Barbara was responsible for the BBC’s acclaimed cross-platform coverage of the London Olympic Games – the most watched TV event in UK broadcasting history. Barbara was awarded the ‘Inspirational Woman Prize’ at the Women in Film and Television Awards in recognition of this achievement and has since been appointed as an adviser to the IOC Radio and Television Commission and the UK’s Sports Business Council. Barbara joined the BBC in 1983 as a trainee assistant producer in the Natural History Unit in Bristol, but has spent most of her career as a producer in BBC Sport, specialising in outside broadcasts and overseeing the production of a range of sports including tennis and golf. Barbara was awarded the OBE in 2014 for her services to sports broadcasting. She grew up in Birmingham, and was an international gymnast, competing for Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Montreal in 1976. Barbara is married with three children.

Marc is Vice President, Busiess Development and Partnerships at Spotify, where he pioneers game-changing deals, including key partnerships with Vodafone, AT&T, Starbucks, Hulu, FC Barcelona and Google. He has also been responsible for distributing and growing Spotify Premium via partners and leading new Premium revenue lines. Since joining the Band, Marc has helped Premium grow from 1M subscribers in 2011 to well over 205M today. Initially, he ran commercial relationships with major record labels, renegotiating contracts in the multi-billions.
Prior to Spotify, Marc oversaw business development for SONY music digital in Europe. There he led the label to a successful partnership with Spotify in the midst of a declining industry and piracy. He also worked at British Telecom Ventures Group on the UK’s first mobile TV initiative and at Accenture as a strategy consultant within its Communications and Media practice. In his spare time, Marc enjoys playing tennis, listening to what is probably considered to be age-inappropriate music and cheering on Arsenal

With a career in professional football that commenced in 1993 at Scarborough AFC, some 30 years later and after spells at Bradford City, Leeds United and as CEO of the EFL, it is the bright lights of Wrexham that are now keeping him occupied. Having left the EFL in 2019, he formed his own consultancy business, Wantaway Limited that provides services to many involved directly or on the periphery of the football business, including FIFA, Macron, and the Football Finance Group. At Wrexham, he acts as the Strategic Advisor to the Board and the driving force behind what is happening in North Wales.

Alan Gilpin is the Chief Executive Officer of World Rugby (and Managing Director of Rugby World Cup Limited). Alan leads World Rugby and the delivery of an ambitious new strategic plan focused on the global growth of rugby, and making the sport more accessible and more relevant around the world. He is also responsible for the management of the globally-renowned Rugby World Cup brand, including the preparations and delivery for Rugby World Cup 2021 in New Zealand (women’s) and Rugby World Cup 2023 in France (men’s).

Beverly is Senior Vice President of International Operational Excellence at American Express. She leads a pan-International organisation responsible for driving process excellence across the business.  Beverly has been with American Express for 34 years, working across many areas of the company.  Beverly is the senior sponsor for the American Express partnership with Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club and their charitable arm, Albion in the Community. 

Kishi Dickinson is Global Sponsorship Strategy Lead for Cognizant, a technology company that engineers modern businesses to improve everyday life. Her 20+ year career spans marketing, communications, and events but leveraging sponsorships to strategically align with enterprise goals and objectives is her true passion. Working in partnership with rights holders such as 6 Nations Rugby, the British Triathlon Federation and Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One (AMF1), she has helped create engaging, differentiated brand activations for audiences of some of the world’s largest Tech companies. At Cognizant, Kishi works across a portfolio of sponsorships, focusing on enabling the global marketing team and wider business to get the best value out of these investments. Her current mission is unlock the full value of Cognizant’s partnership with SailGP, with a focus on amplifying both organizations’ commitment to sustainability via collaborative work on SailGP’s Impact League. Kishi is never happier than when a partnership has purpose at its centre, and the opportunity to create positive social impact.