Our grants board

Trustees are supported by a Grants Board consisting of leaders of prominent women’s sport organisations, female athletes and other influential individuals.

The Grants Board is responsible for shortlisting grant applications. This shortlist is then circulated to all our donors so they can vote on where they want their money to go.

Kate Walsh

GB & England Hockey Captain.

Kate Walsh is a triple Olympian and 2012 Olympic Bronze medal winning hockey player. Kate has captained both England and Great Britain women’s hockey team for over 9 years and has amassed over 290 international caps over her 14 year international career. Kate has won silver medals at the World Cup, Champions Trophy and Commonwealth Games along with another 8 bronze medals from international competitions. Her partner Helen Richardson also plays in the international team. Kate is currently combining training with working in public relations with Promote PR in Maidenhead.
Click here to read why Kate is supporting the Women’s Sport Trust.

Fiona O’Hara

Accenture – UK&I Board Member

Fiona O’Hara is the Managing Director for Global Technology Operations and sits on the UK&I board as the Human Capital and Diversity for the UKI at Accenture. She is a member of the 30% Club, and is a passionate supporter of the development, and advancement of women in business and beyond. As a high profile leader and role model, Fiona has used her influence to put in place programmes that drive inclusiveness, engagement and balance across Accenture in the UK.
Click here to read why Fiona is supporting the Women’s Sport Trust.

Oliver Black

My Family Care – founder

Oliver Black is one of the UK’s better known childcare and eldercare entrepreneurs; the founder of My Family Care; and a non-executive director at Tinies Childcare.
He started his career at P&G as a brand manager with Oil of Olay and he was part of the team that introduced P&G’s trailblazing maternity support programme. He was the first person in the UK to move the childcare market online launching Tinies in 2000 which has become the UK’s largest supplier of crèches, nannies and nursery staff.
My Family Care was founded in 2006 with support from IBM’s work/life balance fund and has established itself as the leading provider of Work+Family solutions for many of the UK’s best known employers including IBM, Pfizer, Shell, P&G, Freshfields, UBS, Barclays, Baker McKenzie, Bank of America, McKinsey, Deloitte, Citi, KPMG, Rolls-Royce, Santander.
The business has one simple aim, Making Work+Family Work. My Family Care provides a number of very practical solutions, all designed to make work and having a family a practical and profitable reality for both the company and the employee.
In his spare time Oliver is a proud father of 3 young children, which some describe as “living the brand” and has an unhealthy obsession with endurance races & sport.
Click here to read why Ollie is supporting Women’s Sport Trust.

Manisha Tailor

Football coach, mentor and journalist

Manisha is a former deputy head teacher with over 12 years experience working in education. She is committed to bringing her teaching, leadership and coaching expertise to a full-time career in football. Manisha currently combines a number of roles, including coaching 5-11 year olds in schools for the Rachel Yankey Football Programme and working as a shadow coach at Arsenal Ladies Football Club.
Manisha sits on the London FA ‘Inclusion Advisory Group’ where her experience is particularly valuable in setting up programmes that are designed to increase participation for BME and under represented groups. She is an ambassador for the FA’s ‘Football Needs’ Campaign, where she actively strives to increase the participation of grassroots coaches. As an ambassador for The British Asian Talent Foundation she focuses on increasing the number of elite players, across a range of sport from the Asian community and also raises the profile of sport in her role as a journalist for The Asian Express. Manisha is a mentor for ‘Kick it Out’, and is currently working with a number of young people from a BME background, helping to signpost them towards relevant career and coaching pathways.
Click here to read why Manisha is supporting the Women’s Sport Trust.

Liz Bingham

Ernst & Young – Managing Partner for People in UK & I

Liz Bingham is a Corporate Finance Partner at Ernst & Young and in addition is the firm’s Managing Partner for People in the UK and Ireland and sits on the firm’s UK&I Executive Board. Liz is passionate about creating an environment where everybody, regardless of background, has an opportunity to succeed and her current role at Ernst & Young has enabled her to drive the firm’s agenda around inclusive leadership as well as helping many of the firm’s clients with their own Diversity & Inclusiveness strategies. Liz is a committed role model for women and for LGBT employees and in 2012 featured in the Stonewall Role Models Research as well as in that year, receiving the Women in Banking & Finance award for achievement for her encouragement of other women in the business world.
Click here to read why Liz is supporting the Women’s Sport Trust.

Danielle Sellwood

Sportsister Magazine – Co-founder

Danielle Sellwood is the co-founder of Sportsister.com, the sports magazine for women. Started in 2008 Sportsister was set up to re-brand sport for women, to inspire more women to get active and to celebrate the amazing achievements of our incredible sports women. Prior to this Danielle was a sportswear designer for several international brands and senior sports trends editor at WGSN.com.
Click here to read why Danielle is supporting the Women’s Sport Trust.

Jon Goodwin

St Mary’s University College – Programme Director

Jon Goodwin is Programme Director for the Strength and Conditioning Science courses at St Mary’s University College, an internationally renowned sports institution. He has been Chair for education development at the UK Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA) and is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In his early years Jon represented England at U15 and U17 athletics. His strength and conditioning clients span a wide range of sports from club to full international level. Jon’s research interests lie in the biomechanical and neurophysiological factors limiting athletic performance and he is completing a PhD in sprint biomechanics.
Click here to read why Jon Goodwin is supporting the Women’s Sport Trust.

Liz Yelling

Olympic Marathon runner and coach

Liz Yelling is a two time Olympic Marathon runner and Commonwealth Games medalist. She was the first British finisher at the Athens Olympic Marathon and lead the Beijing Olympic Marathon for the first 10 miles before being tripped, falling and breaking a rib. Showing true courage Liz still ran 2 hrs 33 mins to finish the race. Liz has competed in many of the world’s biggest marathon events. Liz was the top European finisher in the 2008 World Cross Country Championships, has won medals at the World and European Championships and has won the National cross country championships 4 times. Liz has a half marathon best of 69 mins 28 secs and a marathon best of 2 hrs 28 mins. She has been a British international runner for over 20 years. Now retired from international running she continues with her passion by coaching runners of all abilities – from women who think they can’t run, through to aspiring Olympians. She is an ambassador for Lucozade Sport and Adidas. Liz is the author of the book ‘The Woman’s Guide to Running’ (Hamyln, 2006) and a regular contributor to health, fitness and running magazines and a speaker at schools, corporate events and shows.
Click here to read why Liz Yelling is supporting the Women’s Sport Trust.

Jane Tabor

Former IBM Executive now independent consultant

Jane Tabor spent her executive career running UK and International services, software and technology businesses for IBM with experience across multiple sectors and working extensively through partnerships and alliances. Most latterly she was the Director of Strategic Alliances for Europe. She is a member of the governing Council of Loughborough University and has previously held Board positions on two not-for-profit charitable organisations including AbilityNet, an organisation that enables people with disability to benefit from the use of adaptive and accessible IT.
Jane has always been active in sport competing at national schools/university level in athletics and netball, and still retains a Hampshire County Record. Her activities are now more ‘gentle’ including yoga, pilates, walking and social golf. Throughout her executive and non-executive career Jane has been regarded as an authentic leader, valuing diversity and recognising the benefit and transfer of skills, confidence and commitment developed in sport to the workplace.
Click here to read why Jane is supporting the Women’s Sport Trust.

Karen Keohane

StreetGamesUK – Director of Us Girls Programme

Karen Keohane has worked in Sport Development for over 25 years, including 10 years at Sport England. Her driving passion is getting sport into the heart of local communities and she has seen first-hand the difference sport makes in helping people improve their quality of life – whether that be making new friends, getting fitter and losing weight or gaining new skills and qualifications. Since 2011 she has headed up the Us Girls Programme for the national Sport Charity, StreetGamesUK. Us Girls has attracted over 34,000 young women from disadvantaged areas to get active, and is an integral part of the StreetGames ambition to create 1000 Doorstep Sport Clubs over the next 4 years. Karen is an active sports participant herself and enjoys playing and coaching tennis, cycling and generally keeping fit.
Click here to read why Karen is supporting the Women’s Sport Trust.

Serena Brotherton

Solicitor and leading amateur jockey

Serena Brotherton is a leading amateur jockey who has won the Lady Amateur Rider’s Turf Championship a phenomenal six times. She also managed to win the All Weather Championship, which is open to male and female amateur riders, in 2009-2010 and was runner up last season.Highlights of her flat racing career include winning her weight in champagne at York on Flower of Cannie in 1999 and Sporting Gesture in 2003, winning the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Handicap in 2002 on Kings Crest, winning the Longines Handicap at Ascot on Rosko in 2010, winning the Ladies Derby at Newbury on Aypeeyes in 2008, Just Like Silk in 2009 and The Quarterjack in 2012 and lastly winning the Ladies Derby at Epsom on the appropriately named Epsom Salts in both 2009 & 2012.Serena has also ridden internationally, participating in races in China, Budapest, Bratislava, Qatar and also Malaysia where she rode a treble in 2003!She is a solicitor three days a week working in the Private Client Department of Langleys, a firm of solicitors based in the centre of York.
Click here to read why Serena is supporting the Women’s Sport Trust.

Claire Harvey

GB Sitting Volleyball – Captain

Claire Harvey is captain of GB Sitting Volleyball and competed in the London 2012 Paralympics.
Click here to read why Claire is supporting the Women’s Sport Trust.

Cath Spence

Catherine Spencer

Former England rugby captain

Catherine Spencer is a former England Women’s Rugby Union player and Captain. She currently works for the RFU and is Patron of the Tag Rugby Trust.
Click here to read why Cath is supporting the Women’s Sport Trust.

Other confirmed members of the Grants Board are listed below. Full profiles coming soon, as well as details of additional people who will be joining them on the Board.

Nick Barnett – Accenture

Liz Grant OBE

Kate Hardcastle

Karen Fortunato – Company Secretary and General Council, Santander

A representative from our Headline Sponsor will also join the Grants Board.

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