Throughout this week we will be shining the light on and the celebrating the achievements of some of the amazing individuals who are helping our sector to grow through their work at the Alliance.
Today we focus on our CEO, Lisa Wainwright. It hasn’t taken long for Lisa to make an impact at the organisation, having already collected a CEO of the Year accolade in her first year in charge of the Alliance.
With more than 35 years’ experience in sport and recreation, Lisa has dedicated her professional life to helping others take up physical activity.
From her time at England Netball and Sport England to leading Volleyball England and British Basketball, Lisa has been a strong advocate for equality and empowering women.
Lisa said: “I am proud to be leading an organisation that demonstrates best practice and has a number of influential, pragmatic and dedicated women contributing to our work at board level.
“Throughout my career I have witnessed how much stronger we can be by including everyone in the conversation and I have been honoured to watch over the development of so many incredible women in the workplace.”
Not only has Lisa pushed for this development throughout her career, she has also led the way.
In 2012, having been in volleyball for less than five years, Lisa was elected by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) to become the only female member of the World Ethics Panel, she is also a Technical Director for the FIVB and a member of International Basketball’s (FIBA) Governance Commission.
She added: “As a mother to two young girls, I passionately feel that we need to show true equality and champion the amazing work of women in the sector. If young girls see strong women being successful, they will learn that this is completely normal and achievable.”
Lisa relishes challenge and continues to strive for improvement both personally and in others and was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bedfordshire for services to sport.
Her motivations are simple, to enable people to better themselves through the wonderful medium of sport. Thanks to this philosophy, and with the support of her team, Lisa is leading the charge to create an active nation, for all.
