Snežana Samardžić-Marković is since 2012 Director General of Democracy at the Council of Europe, in charge of the Organisation’s action promoting democratic innovation, governance, participation and diversity. Her responsibilities include the policy areas of education and youth, local democracy, cultural policies, election assistance, the protection of human dignity, gender equality, children’s rights, and the rights of minorities, societal defences against discrimination, democratic citizenship, social cohesion, intercultural dialogue and democratic responses to crisis situations.

Previously, Snežana has held numerous positions in the Serbian Government including as Deputy Director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Neighbouring Countries; Assistant Minister of Defence (2005-2007) and Co-President of the Serbia-NATO Defence Reform Group; member of the Foundation Board of WADA, Minister of Youth and Sports (2007-2012) and President of the Fund for Young Talents.

Dr Payoshni Mitra is a former badminton player and coach turned gender and sport scholar, a prominent athlete rights advocate, and a leading campaigner in the abolition of sex testing policies in women’s sport. She has more than a decade-long experience of working closely with women athletes across Asia and Africa to enable them to address human rights violations in sports. Her advocacy work on inclusion and non-discrimination in sport has influenced important social, institutional, and structural changes on an international scale.

With her research and advocacy work, Dr Mitra has been able to help athletes win legal cases on complex gender issues on more than one occasion. She was instrumental in assisting Indian athlete Dutee Chand to regain her rights to compete in athletics and was one of the ten-member team who testified for South African Olympian Caster Semenya at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

She is a Director and Trustee at the Geneva-based Center for Sport & Human Rights and was appointed as the first-ever CEO of the newly established Global Observatory for Women, Sport, Physical Education and Physical Activity in January 2022.

Pauline Harrison is a coach and consultant specialising in executive coaching, strategy and leadership development. She has played a significant role in championing change for women domestically and internationally, advocating for and leading programmes aiming to improve opportunities for women especially in the leadership domain. She is a Programme Leader for the Women’s Sport Leadership Academy, a programme dedicated to developing tomorrow’s leaders of sport.
 

She is currently leading the Women in Coaching project for the ICCE and is Chair of the IWG 8^th World Conference on Women & Sport. Pauline is living in New Zealand and is on the Board of Women in Sport Aotearoa (WISPA). WISPA is New Zealand’s leading advocacy group dedicated to gender equality in sport.

Emine Bozkurt is the Chair of the European Commission’s High Level Group on Gender Equality in Sport. This High Level Group makes proposals for future actions to the Commission, the Member States and the sport movement in the field of Gender Equality in sport. Topics related to girls and women’s participation in sport, female coaches, women’s representation in decision-making processes, media coverage as well as gender-based violence will be addressed.

She fulfills several other leadership roles in Boards of renowned international organizations like International Alert. As Chair of the Board of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in Sweden, she was part of the highest level of leadership of an intergovernmental organization on global democracy working worldwide.

As a former Member of European Parliament (2004-2014) representing the Netherlands, Ms. Emine Bozkurt worked on civil rights, including women’s rights. A passionate advocate of human rights, she was appointed Chairwoman of the cross-party Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup of the European Parliament. As a leading MEP on gender equality in sport, she cooperated closely with the European Commission, national governments, Council of Europe, sport and civil society organisations during her 10 years in European Parliament. In 2014 she was appointed Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau by His Majesty the King of the Netherlands.

Nagin Ravand is a young female minority footballer dreaming of changing the world through football, the same way football changed the world of a little Afghan refugee girl in Denmark.

I am a 22-year-old Danish-Afghan who fled Afghanistan as a child. Today I am a student of BSc. Education Science whilst studying to become a professional football coach as well. Currently I hold the UEFA B-License and work for Europes biggest football retailer as project lead on making other football enthusiast's football dreams come true. I have created and developed several sustainable female football departments and initiatives in Denmark.

I am using my voice in society for the purpose of empowering and engaging minority girls and women and attracting them to the football pitch. My goal is to equalize the playing field and change the norms and the image of the ideal footballer by developing the needed diverse representation. I have been recognized for my dedication on a national and international level through several awards and prizes, and today I hold a seat at the table in several boardrooms as an advisor on inclusion. I am an ambassador of the Danish FA and the Danish Ministry of Culture along my position as city representative in the city's Committee of Equality & Diversity. I stand for challenging the odds and one I dream of one day coaching the Afghanistan Women's National Football team!

Charlotte Girard Fabre is Secretary General of IFSO and handball referee in national level and a former olympic ice hockey referee.

I am 40 years old, I have been a high level sportswoman since the age of 13, and I wish to symbolize this new generation of committed women. The quest for excellence and the requirement of performance led me to referee at the Olympic Games in Sochi (Russia) 2014 and Pyeonchang (South Korea) 2018, I sharpen my skills and expertise every day to honor my 10 Olympic rings.

A fighter at heart and an explorer of new horizons, I push my limits in sport as well as in my professional life today and tomorrow. Decision-making, time management and conflict management are among my areas of expertise. Resolutely focused on excellence and performance, I accompany your teams collectively to develop a disruptive and pragmatic approach.

An ardent defender of gender diversity and the place of women in our society, I am also passionate about civic engagement: elected General Secretary of the International Federation for Sports Officials, General Secretary of the French Association of Multisport Referees and Ambassador of the Cercle InterElles, I have also chosen to act at the highest institutional level (Ministries, UNSS, FFHB,...).

Francine Hetherington Raveney is an expert in the fields of gender equality, co-productions, communication and sport. She obtained a Master’s in Women’s Studies at Oxford University and then went on to carry out doctoral studies in France. Since 2000, she has worked in a number of international organisations, including WHO Europe and the Council of Europe, where she is currently Deputy Executive Secretary for EPAS with a special focus on gender equality, anti-discrimination work, managing the EPAS consultative committee and the mapping of sports facilities. In 2012, she founded and was Executive Director of the European Women’s Audiovisual Network. Between 2014 and 2020 she managed the gender equality working group for Eurimages and oversaw the adoption of the Council of Europe Recommendation on Gender Equality in the Audiovisual Sector (2017) and other gender-related work. She is also an advocate for well-being through sport, and sport as a preventative health measure.

Sophie Kwasny is the Head of the Sport Division of the Council of Europe (international organisation based in France) responsible for the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) and the promotion and implementation of ground-breaking legal instruments upholding the integrity and values of sport. Combating doping and the manipulation of sport competitions, and promoting an integrated safety, security and service approach at sports events are the key aims of the three Council of Europe Sport Conventions. She is a graduate of the Strasbourg Law University and has been working for the Council of Europe for nearly 25 years on a variety of topics ranging from data protection to prisons’ reforms, or from the independence of the judiciary to nationality law.