2025 Mentors
Abigail Martin,
Euroleague Basketball
Abigail Martin
Euroleague Basketball
Abigail Martín Maldonado is the Director of Sustainability & Development Projects of Euroleague Basketball, responsible for the planning and execution of the social responsibility and environmental projects of the company.
Abigail works at Euroleague since its founding in the year 2000, when she joined the Marketing area until 2005 when she became Events department director for a decade starting in 2005, leading the planning and execution of the events for EuroLeague and EuroCup, with the negotiation, planification and execution of the EuroLeague Final Fours being the most demanding and satisfying project from that period along with the evaluation of creative events’ opportunities in new markets.
In 2015 she took the opportunity to put her experience and knowledge to serve the growth of the corporate social responsibility of the company, initiating a journey to incorporate sustainability within the company’s business agenda to adjust to the United Nations Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainability Development Goals. Main projects include the company’s social program One Team being officially implemented by all EuroLeague and EuroCup clubs starting 2017 and the transition of the EuroLeague Final Four and the clubs to sustainability.
Alexandra Rickham,
World Sailing
Alexandra Rickham
World Sailing
Ali Woodward,
Pledgeball
Ali Woodward
Pledgeball
Ashley Shaner,
IMG
Ashley Shaner
IMG
Barney Weston,
Football for Future
Barney Weston
Football for Future
Conor Kenney,
Cleveland Cavaliers
Conor Kenney
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dan Reading,
Sporting Giants
Dan Reading
Sporting Giants
Gareth Sayers,
Mailman Group
Gareth Sayers
Mailman Group
Jascha Braeker,
ESL FACEIT Group
Jascha Braeker
ESL FACEIT Group
Jascha Braeker works as a Manager for the Host City Partnerships division at ESL FACEIT Group (EFG), the industry leaders in esports and gaming. Her team is responsible for building meaningful relationships with cities around the world, working with diverse stakeholders to drive economic and cultural value through event hosting opportunities. She is also responsible for the strategy, development and delivery of their VIP hospitality initiatives, setting a new benchmark in hospitality for the events industry.
Before this role, she served as Partner Manager at EFG, where she supported global brand partners in activating their rights and maintained strong partner relationships across the network. She also previously built and led brand and hospitality activations at global sports events, such as the Tour de France and the Ice Hockey World Championship. Sports have always played an important role in her life, inspiring her professional journey and deepening her commitment to the industry.
Joao Frigerio,
iWorkinSport
Joao Frigerio
iWorkinSport
Joao Frigerio is an Entrepreneur, Consultant and Creative Problem-Solver working in Sport.
He was born and raised in Brazil, where he studied journalism. In 2004, he moved to Europe to study in the FIFA Master, and soon after that started a career in sports, having worked for FIFA, Sportcal, and then starting his own consultancy business, JF Sports Consulting.
In 2017 he launched the iWorkinSport Job Fair, the first truly international career fair focused in the sports industry. The event brings together graduates from some of the best sports management programmes in the world and recruiters from top sports organisations, such as FIFA, UEFA, the International Olympic Committee, FIBA, adidas, Puma, Juventus FC, Manchester City FC and many others.
The business has evolved and, in addition to the traditional job fair, the company also offers digital events – namely the Virtual Job Fair and the Education Virtual Expo, which promotes sports management programmes to prospective students.
Joao also serves as the Executive Director of the FIFA Master Alumni Association, an organisation that comprises more than 600 sports professionals worldwide.
Julia Pimenta Salazar,
Street Child United
Julia Pimenta Salazar
Street Child United
Kim McConnie,
Tourism & Events Queensland
Kim McConnie
Tourism & Events Queensland
Maureen Rosita Ojong Ebob Besong,
International Olympic Committee
Maureen Rosita Ojong Ebob Besong
International Olympic Committee
In the last 10 plus years of her professional career, Maureen has had the opportunity to exercise diverse roles and responsibilities across the Oil and gas, Education, Entertainment and Sports Sector, respectively.
She continues to excel as a global sport and development expert, certified S4D (Sport for development) International Trainer, and international safeguarding in sports officer (certified by Oracle and the IOC).
Maureen continues to pursue part of my life’s purpose through my role as Olympism365 portfolio manager at the International Olympic Committee. The current role I exercise, entails managing and contributing to multi-partnership and programme portfolios to the delivery of the IOC’ Olympism365 strategy designed to strengthen the role of sport as an enabler of the SDG’s and promote the value of Olympism in society.
Prior to joining the International Olympic Committee’s team in Switzerland, she worked for four years as programme Director for the SEED Project in Senegal West Africa . She also co-founded and led a sport consultancy in Senegal. In these roles I got to collaborate, partner, and consult for key inter-governmental, development corporation, and private sector organizations like the NBA Academy Africa, The German development Corporation Project for Africa, and the UNESCO International Bureau of Education in Geneva, just to name a few.
Rohn Malhotra,
SportsTechX
Rohn Malhotra
SportsTechX
Rohn is a serial entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience as a founder and mentor to multiple startups after starting his career as a management consultant. Currently he is the co-founder of Berlin-based SportsTechX, the leading market intelligence company for all things related to sports and innovation. Rohn is a regular speaker at conferences, has served as a mentor / judge at prominent startup accelerators and competitions, and is a guest lecturer to MBA programs.
Tommy Goodman,
Concacaf
Tommy Goodman
Concacaf
Tristan Niesslein,
The Sustainability Agency
Tristan Niesslein
The Sustainability Agency
Tristan is lives and works globally and has worked within blue-chip and ESG focussed environments for the last 20 years. He holds an MBA from Warwick and Masters from Cambridge University’s Institute of Sustainability Leadership. The founder of Niesslein Sustainability Partners, Tristan’s professional life is focussed on working towards a more sustainable future within sports, he co-founded The Sustainability Agency, Sustainable Sport Africa and Major League Sustainability, enabling a global view of sport and sustainability applying knowledge from multiple sectors. Specialising in identifying and addressing the areas where elite sports organisations can innovate to meet their sustainability responsibilities to be future relevant, Tristan applies his experience of sustainability, process excellence, people and project management to support elite organisations in sport, to set and achieve their environmental and social goals and furthermore, provide research that aims to shape the industry.



