The Women’s Sports Alliance (WSA), headquartered in Worcester, England, has announced its new Advisory Board after bringing together leading experts from across the sports industry to promote women’s sports and advance gender equality. The combined expertise and commitment of the Advisory Board members underscores the WSA’s commitment to advancing the careers of women athletes and driving effective change across all sports.
Leading the advisory board is Phil Benton, whose 27 years of experience include vice president of sales for the UK and Ireland at Adidas North Europe. He brings a wealth of grassroots sports and brand strategy knowledge and has been a key part of the WSA for more than a year.
Clementine Painter from Herzogenaurach, Germany, is Sustainability Lead at Adidas Europe and leads the Breaking Barriers For Girls project. She has more than 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, management and goal-setting in various industries. Trained B Corp, Painter champions sustainability and social responsibility, demonstrating her commitment to a more inclusive and sustainable future.
Lucynda Davies is currently Chief Brand Relationships Director at JD Sports, based in its global headquarters in the North West of England. During her 10 years at JD, Davies has worked with global sports brands, building strong commercial partnerships and alliances. Having also led JD’s Asia Pacific business for several years, she has a wealth of international experience. Prior to JD, she worked for 11 years as European Sales Director at Nike as Senior Account Manager on the global brand’s women’s division.
Based in Melbourne, Australia, Donna Stelling is a visionary leader who serves as founder and international sports consultant of Sports and Culture Collective. With her extensive experience as director of commercial marketing for the Asian Games/Olympic Council of Asia and partnerships with TSE Consulting Middle East, Stelling brings international expertise to the advisory board.
Clare Bennie brings extensive marketing experience as Group PR and Partnership Lead at Wiggle and Chain Reaction. Her previous role as Senior Marketing Executive at Fat Face combined with her passion for running increases the visibility and influence of women’s sports.
Jane Cowmeadow, a commercial sports management expert, is the founder of JCCM Ltd, manager of Jess Ennis-Hill and co-founder and director of partnerships at Jennis, where she is changing the world of women’s hormonal health by providing millions of women with the hormone knowledge and tools to improve their health and body awareness. Cowmeadow has also participated as a guest speaker at the WSA Athlete Advancement Series in partnership with Adidas.
International field hockey coach Dr. Amanda Partington, currently a senior lecturer in the UA92 Department of Physical Education, brings her expertise in physical education and understanding of elite athletes, having served as a coach at two Commonwealth Games (Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014). Her professional attributes include developing, designing and delivering initiatives at all levels of sports and organizations with proven results.
Jon Buckthorp brings a wealth of experience in technology-based businesses as Commercial Director at Differentiated and former Global Field Marketing Leader at Vodafone. Buckthorp’s strategic acumen will assist the WSA Advisory Board in its mission to foster innovation and growth in women’s sports.
“The Women’s Sports Alliance is delighted to announce our new advisory board, which includes some of the most innovative trendsetters across women’s sport in the past two decades,” said Jordan Guard, Founder and Managing Director of WSA. “It’s a real honor to be working with Phil Benton, and the wealth of experience and expertise he’s helped bring to the board cannot be underestimated. The WSA Advisory Board includes individuals who have not only helped shape the growth of women’s sports but all sports, no matter the gender. […] We look forward to continuing to push the boundaries of women’s sport by supporting existing top-flight athletes and the aspiring professionals of the next generation.
