Event Managers Workshop

Hayley Barton

Delivery and Impact Director, Access Sport

Hayley Barton is the Delivery & Impact Director at Access Sport. Access Sport works across places and sports throughout the UK to ensure that no one is excluded from the transformational benefits of community sport, with a strong focus on disadvantaged, disabled and neurodivergent young people. Hayley oversees the charity’s delivery programmes and is the key contact for the social impact partnership with UK Sport, helping major events deliver meaningful and inclusive community impact.

Chrissie Beck

Founder & Event Sustainability Director, Worlds Better

Chrissie Beck has over 20 years’ experience in the live events and experiential industry, leading large scale international projects for global brands and institutions. In 2022, after witnessing firsthand how unsustainable events could be, she founded Worlds Better - a B Corp certified sustainability consultancy helping the live events and experiential industries turn ambition into action. Guided by the belief that sustainability isn’t a side project but a lens for innovation and resilience, Chrissie works at the intersection of event delivery, education, and ESG leadership to future proof experiences and inspire meaningful change.

Kate DeSandis-Townsend

Workforce, Skills & Apprenticeship Lead, Coach Core

Kate is the National Workforce, Skills & Apprenticship Lead for Coach Core Foundation - where she supports apprentices, employers, and partners achieve, grow and have the best experience on programme. Originally from the U.S. but now based in the UK, she brings over a decade of experience in sport, education, and leadership development, having led high-performance teams at Columbia University and across the USA Field Hockey pathway. A certified Coach Educator with a background in teaching, she believes the combination of sport and education is one of the most powerful tools for personal growth and opportunity.

Dr Peter Dickenson

Lecturer in Sport Management, Loughborough University

Peter Dickenson is a Lecturer in Sport Management at Loughborough University. He teaches on both undergraduate and master's level Sport Management modules, and is module leader for the ‘Managing the Sport Organisation’ module. He supervises undergraduate and master's students through their research projects and co-supervises PhD students.

Peter’s first degree, Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Management (MEng Hons) was completed at Imperial College, London. He also has a Master of Science (MS) degree in Sport Management from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Master of Research (MRes) degree in Business and Management from Loughborough University. His PhD is also from Loughborough University.

Lewis Evans

System Master Planning Manager, UK Sport

Lewis manages the sporting system transformation ‘System Master Planning’ programme and is UK Sports lead for fan engagement. With an education and experienced background in Marketing, Lewis is currently leading on our Athlete Creator Club, GRIPPED and fan insight work. Lewis is passionate about helping athletes, organisations and events grow their reach and relevance with their existing and potential audience.

Dr Karen Jiyun Sung

Lecturer in Graphics Communication, Loughborough University School of Design and Creative Arts

Karen Jiyun Sung is a researcher in applied storytelling, participatory research and digital creativity at Loughborough University. Building from her background as an illustrator and visual storyteller of more than 10 years, she strives to use immersive technologies with the power of community storytelling without the burden of social obligations.

She received her PhD from Loughborough University in Creative Arts and Applied Storytelling and MA from Royal College of Art in Visual Communication. Outside research, she is also an active illustrator, scribe and comic artist.

Dr Jamie Kenyon

Senior Lecturer in Sport Management

Dr Jamie Kenyon is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Management. He is also the current Academic Integrity Lead for undergraduate sport degree programmes, and the University and College Union (UCU) Department Representative, both for the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences.

In 2010, Dr Kenyon joined the now-defunct Centre for Olympic Studies & Research (COS&R) based at the University to undertake a fully-funded research studentship (PhD) in sport management and marketing, which he completed in 2013. While studying for his PhD, Dr Kenyon was also employed, part-time, at Liverpool Hope University as a lecturer in sport studies (focusing on introductory sport sociology and football studies), and at Loughborough University as a research assistant.

Craig McFayden

Sport Partnerships & Inspiration Campaign Manager, Street Games

Hi, I’m Craig McFadyen, Sport Partnerships and Inspiration Campaign Manager at StreetGames. With over 20 years in community sport, I’ve seen firsthand how major sporting events can inspire and empower young people, whether that be spectating, volunteering or participating in their own communities. This is especially powerful for young people in low-income communities, where connection opportunities are around 50% lower than in affluent areas.

I’m passionate about creating opportunities where sport becomes a catalyst for change, and I strongly believe those opportunities are most powerful when shaped by the voices of young people themselves.

Dr Taimaz Larimian

Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, Loughborough University

I joined Loughborough University as a Lecturer in Urban Planning in July 2019. I have a PhD in Urban Planning from the University of Otago, New Zealand. In my doctoral research, I focused on conceptualisation and measurment of urban social sustainability and investigating the relationship between urban form and social sustainability at a neighbourhood scale. My expertise sits within the field of urban studies and planning with a key interest in social sustainability, sense of community, sustainable urban form and city branding. In addition, I have experience in conducting interdisciplinary research with academics in the fields of Management, Social Sciences, and Energy Planning, which has resulted in publications in these areas.

Eve Morrison

Event Sustainability Consultant, Worlds Better

Eve Morrison is an Event Sustainability Consultant with five years of experience in ESG strategy, carbon measurement, and stakeholder engagement. With a background in Climate Change studies, she has dedicated her career to addressing the climate emergency and integrating sustainability into organisations and events. A certified EcoVadis Practitioner, Eve supports clients in achieving their sustainability goals through expert guidance on EcoVadis, SBTi, and CDP frameworks.

Jess Padley

Major Events Impact, UK Sport

Jess is a vintage member of the UK Sport Events team whose role is to provide technical support to events across areas that are strategically important to both UK Sport and the wider events ecosystem. Her current portfolio covers social impact, EDI and sustainability at any stage of the event lifecycle.  

She spearheads the work with UK Sport’s social impact partners, working with them across the country to help event hosting partners turbo-charge meaningful societal impact in local communities.

Dr Verity Postlethwaite

Lecturer in Strategic Event Management, Loughborough University

Verity joined Loughborough University in 2023 as part of the University’s prestigious Vice-Chancellor Independent Research Fellowship scheme. In December 2024, Verity became a Lecturer and contributes to the learning and teaching on the varying Sport Management courses. Her research and enterprise activities are based in the School’s Sport, Business and Society research and innovation theme. Verity's research focuses on the use of events as catalysts for social and community change in the UK, Japan, and Australia. Beyond research, Verity proactively contributes to the University’s research and innovation culture, with expertise in inclusive partnership building and translating research into publicly accessible formats. She is an active contributor to vibrant Loughborough University activities and networks, including the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport, the Loughborough University Policy Unit, and the UNESCO Chair in Sport, Physical Activity and Education for Development.

Paul Thompson

Director of People & Learning, Coach Core

Paul Thompson is Director of People & Learning at Coach Core Foundation, where he leads work to help young people — particularly those who’ve faced barriers — thrive in meaningful careers through sport, education, and employment. He oversees operational delivery, education, policy and partnerships, and monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL). Paul also contributes to national policy discussions that shape the UK’s skills and apprenticeship landscape and serves on Skills England’s Health & Science Route Panel and CIMSPA’s Community Sport Professional Development Committee.

Kate Wallace

Major Events Lead, UK Sport

At UK Sport, Kate leads Major Events team, championing the strategy Making Live Sport Matter to secure and deliver world-class events across the UK. From shaping hosting targets to technical support, the major events team want to ensure each event leaves a lasting impact.

With experience spanning Commonwealth Games, European Championships and world-level competitions, Kate is passionate about creating exceptional experiences for athletes and audiences, underpinned by a love for sport and commitment to excellence and collaboration.

Bev Ward

Chief Operating Officer, UKEL

FIFA Women's World Cup 2035 Bid Host City Lead, UK Sport

Bev is a purpose-driven senior leader with significant experience in sport across communications, marketing, commercial, major events, grant management and community impact. A strategic thinker, operating at Board and C-suite level across complex, multi-stakeholder projects, programmes and events. Bev most recently spent 2 years at UK Sport as Major Events Lead, and is currently seconded to two key industry projects – setting up the UKEL independent events agency and leading the host city process for the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup bid.

Dr Sam West

Research Associate (Spirit of 2012, Learning Partnership), Loughborough University

Sam is currently a Research Associate based within the School’s Sport, Business and Society research and innovation theme. He supports Dr Verity Postlethwaite as part of a collaborative project funded by the Spirt of 2012 with the aim of creating a digital resource for application in early years education settings.  

Prior to joining the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Sam completed an undergraduate degree in Fine Art (Bath Spa University), a postgraduate degree in Museum Studies (University of Leicester) and a doctorate in drama exploring the role of storytelling in independent British professional wrestling (Loughborough University). While completing his doctoral research, Sam was employed as a Research Fellow by Roehampton University. In this role he worked on ‘Box Office Bears: Animal baiting in early modern England’, which is a UK Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project bringing together researchers from the Universities of Nottingham, Roehampton and Oxford and project partner Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA).