Presenters

Dave Boyle became Chief Executive of SD in May 2008, having first joined Supporters Direct as a Development Officer at when it was founded in 2000. He previously worked in the voluntary sector and local government.

He took up the post of Deputy Chief Executive in 2005, overseeing the organisation’s relationships with over 150 supporters’ trusts across the UK, and with responsibility for the development and co-ordination of SD’s policy work, including the UEFA-funded study on the feasibility of the supporters’ trust model in other European countries.

I’ve been working at The Big Issue in the North since July 1996, however the work that we do with regards to football and homeless people started in 2002. The International Network of Street Papers (INSP) devised the ‘Homeless World Cup’ with the inaugural tournament being held in Graz, Austria during their City of Culture celebrations in 2003. The team preparation started in October 2002 and we contacted the majority of hostels across England to inform the residents of the trials. Then as every year we have between 300- 4000 homeless people register their interest to be considered. We now run the initial trails regionally, so as to ensure we can reduce barriers to participation from the beginning. Managing the England team also requires me to deliver all the fundraising activity and negotiating with Airlines, Umbro etc.

Tiger de Souza graduated from Loughborough University in 2004 with an Msc with distinction in Sport & Leisure Management. His dissertation on the role of Higher Education in developing volunteers in sport was subsequently published as an article in Voluntary Action (Spring 2005).
Tiger has been involved in volunteer management in sport through his past work with the British Universities Sports Association, England Netball and Youth Active. Tiger's current role as Programme Infrastructure Manager at v, includes supporting the new national infrastructure for youth volunteering, the vinvolved team network.

Helena Grdadolnik has been a senior regional advisor at CABE since March 2007. She manages CABE’s regional funding programme to architecture centres and is the project manager of O.space, a nationwide programme to be delivered by architecture centres that will use the excitement and passion around the Olympics to inspire everyone across the country to think about where they live and work and how these places can be improved.

Gemma has a first class BSc (Hons) Recreation Management degree from Sheffield Hallam University and is currently studying for an MA in Research Methods.

Since joining SIRC in 2006 Gemma has been involved in a range of monitoring and evaluation projects within the sports and arts sector. These have included providing support to the Wirral Intervention which is part of the ASA's Everyday Swim project and aiming to increase participation in swimming for people over 50 years of age. In addition to this Gemma has been heavily involved in the Sports Legacy evaluation project on behalf of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust which aimed to increase athletics activity by children living in former coalfield communities.

Before coming to DCMS, Margaret Hodge was appointed Minister of State for Industry (at the Department of Trade & Industry) and the Regions in May 2006.

She was elected Member of Parliament for Barking in 1994 and has carried out the following roles in Government: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Employment and Equal Opportunities, Department for Education and Employment (1998 - 2001), Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, Department for Education and Skills (2001 - 2003), Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families, Department for Education and Skills (2003 - 2005) and Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform in the Department for Work and Pensions (2005 - 2006).

Freddie Hudson joined Arsenal Football Club's community department in the late 1980's when he supervised a group of unemployed young people on an 'Action Sport' scheme. Since then he has overseen and managed a wide range of community sport, social inclusion and education & training initiatives.

Sir Richard Leese CBE grew up in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. After graduating from the University of Warwick, he worked as a teacher in Coventry and as an exchange teacher in the USA before moving to Manchester to take up a post as a youth worker. Richard was employed variously in youth work, community work, and education research between 1979-1988 before been elected to the City Council in 1984. Sir Richard was Deputy Leader from 1990 to 1996, having previously Chaired the Education Committee (1986-90) and Finance Committee (1990-95).

Steve Mannix is a Cultural Advisor at London 2012. Steve has worked in arts management, fundraising and campaigning in a variety of roles including; Youth and Community Director for The Albany Empire, South East London; Administrative Director for Graeae Theatre Company the national theatre company of disabled people; as General Manager of Battersea Arts Centre and most recently as Development Director for Stonewall, the national lesbian and gay organisation and Chief Executive of Shape Arts.

Dr Glen Searle is Director of the Planning Course at the University of Technology Sydney, where he has taught since 1991. He previously held policy and research positions with the New South Wales departments of State Development and Treasury, the Inner Cities Directorate of the UK Department of Environment, and the New South Wales Department of Planning, where he was Deputy Manager of Policy. His monograph Sydney as a Global City was published in 1996. His journal articles, book chapters and other publications have been mainly focused on political economy and institutionally-based analyses of Australian city planning.

Theresa Williamson founded Catalytic Communities (www.catcomm.org) in 2000, and has worked as Executive Director for nearly eight years. Winner of the 2006 Tech Awards from the Tech Museum of Innovation in Silicon Valley, CatComm uses technology to link grassroots community groups in Rio de Janeiro and around the world so they can learn from each other's successes and support one another's work. In this role, she oversees all program strategy, development and activity. Theresa is currently working in a part-time capacity transitioning the organization towards sustainability and a participatory culture. In addition to her work with Catalytic Communities, Theresa works in a consulting capacity on other campaigning Web-based projects, currently involving tropical forests via www.forestsnow.org and www.globalcanopy.org