Chris is Director of the World Academy of Sport, as well as Managing Director of IF Education. IF Education is an education service provider, in partnership with a number of International Sporting Federations, establishing educational courses for athletes and sporting administrators.

In 1999 Chris was instrumental in the conception and creation of Olympic Games Knowledge Services (OGKS), a joint venture with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Chris was a member of this company board until late 2004 when the IOC acquired the joint venture company shareholding which he represented.

Prior to this Chris was the inaugural Chief Executive of the Australian Ski Institute as the forerunner to the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia, an internationally recognised high performance centre of athletic excellence. In addition, he has represented Australia at five Winter Universiades, on four occasions holding the position of Chief de Mission. He has also held prominent roles in the University sporting world on the board of directors of Australian University Sport for a number of years during his academic career.

Based in Switzerland, Chris holds a BSc (Hons) and is regularly working with many of the International Sporting Federations on their athlete and executive education programmes. He was an executive committee member of the 2004 and 2008 Australian Prime Minister's Olympic Dinner Committee.

As Director of Athlete Friendly Education Centres (AFEC) and Brand within the World Academy of Sport (WAoS)Michael is responsible for expanding the connection and affiliation with schools through this innovative project. He has been a founding member of the WAoS team and therefore instrumental across all aspects of the organisation from fostering its many partners, developing each of the product and service areas through to developing its overall brand.

Michael developed his technical skiing skills through coaching and ski instructing in both Australia and Canada having completed a BSc Human Movement (Sport Science). He moved into administrative and management roles across several industry sectors and assisted Ski and Snowboard Australia on a voluntary capacity throughout 2001 and 2002.

Since 2002 he has focussed on the creation of World Academy of Sport and has been at the forefront of developing industry focussed education programmes for its many international sport federation partners, often working on bringing concepts to fruition. Through its partnership with the International Baccalaureate WAoS has developed over several years an international approach to increasing access to education for high performing student athletes so they can better balance their demanding sport and education commitments. This initiative has been a particular rationale for the original establishment of the WAoS and Michael passionately believes in the invaluable contribution such a project can have on many student athletes’ lives in the coming years.  

Gordon was educated at Oxford University and from 1973 through to 2007 was at the Manchester Business School where he lectured in Strategic Marketing and directed the International Business Programme. He has lectured extensively for many other leading business schools, and is currently Visiting Professor at Cyprus International Institute of Management.

From 1974 to 1982, he served as European Director of the PIMS programme, a large, multi-company research activity aimed at identifying the relationship between market strategy and profitability.

As well as consulting for a host of impressive multinational companies throughout his career, he is now Director, Academic & Research for the World Academy of Sport. In this role he has developed and delivered many practical and inspiring programmes to various International Sport Federations and Organising Committees.

Apostolos studied Adapted Physical Activity at the University of Athens and holds a Masters Degree in Sports Management from the University of Technology (UTS), Sydney.

After a successful career as a coach for athletes with a disability at the national level, he worked as the Athlete Classification Manager at Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, the Manager for Paralympic Games Planning at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games and since 2005 worked for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). He is now acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost experts on Paralympic Games management.

Apostolos has led the development of IPC’s strategy on Paralympic Games Legacy and is also coordinating the IPC Accessibility Working Group, which has developed, among others, the IPC Accessibility Guide.

He is currently the Deputy Director of the IPC Academy and the Director of the WAoS Event Learning division.

Steve studied at Dundee University from 1970 – 1974 where he obtained an MA in Social Science and Letters – Economics. He also studied Industrial Relations for Senior Managers at Warwick University in 1984 and in 2005 he completed a course in Employment Law at University College Dublin.

Steve became increasingly involved in educational initiatives with the World Academy of Sport, and this was initially through its relationship with the World Rugby. He plays a leading role in the design of, and has been one of the core lecturers on, the Postgraduate Certificate in Sport Management offered by World Academy of Sport in conjunction with Royal Holloway, University of London. Steve is currently the Director, IF Programmes and continues to develop the relationships and programmes WAoS has with its partner academies and stakeholders.  

Rachael Church is Director of Editorial and Communications for the World Academy of Sport. Her responsibilities include producing and managing content for WAoS' educational programmes and for the company's international portfolio of clients in the sports industry. She is also in charge of Communications for the company, promoting key WAoS messages and liaising with the media about WAoS' products and services including the IPC Academy Campus, the unique educational programme offered to sports professionals during the Paralympic Games.

With over 23 years experience in the publishing and sports industries, Rachael has worked with a wide range of sports properties, government entities, cities, sponsors, broadcasters, venues and gaming companies both as a journalist and consultant.

She is the author of several widely-acclaimed business reports including Sport on the Internet (2000), The Global Business of Sports Television (2003), Bidding and Hosting: The Guide to Successful Sporting Events (2003), The Global Business of Poker (five editions 2006 to 2013), Ultimate Sports Cities (six editions 2006 to 2016), Bingo in the Digital Age (2009), Ultimate Sports Websites (2009 and 2010), The Global Business of Skill Gaming (2010), The Global Business of Online Casinos (2010 and 2012), Online Sports Betting: Strategy and Outlook (2011), Social Gaming (2011), Digital Strategies for Sport 2011-12 (2012), Digital Sports Betting (2012 and 2016) and The Global Business of Lotteries (2014). 

A regular conference chair, moderator and speaker who has often appeared on radio and television, she has been an annual lecturer on sport and technology at Liverpool John Moores University and has also lectured to students at Liverpool University and also in Milan as part of the FIFA Masters programme. She is part of the lecturing line-up at the World Academy of Sport for the organisation’s postgraduate certificate course.

She has organised many sports industry conferences, seminars and briefings over the years for a range of clients including BT, Sports Video Group, UKTI/DIT, the Financial Times and SportBusiness at venues including the Stade de France, Lord's Cricket Ground, the Oval Cricket Ground, BT Centre, Inmarsat HQ and the Institute of Directors

She has a BA Honours degree from Queen’s University Belfast and an MPhil from Exeter University. She is a season ticket holder at Exeter City Football Club and the former chairman of Bromley Common Football Club.

Jacqui has spent 20 years working primarily in major sporting and other international events; contributing to 3 Winter and 4 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. She has extensive experience in emergency planning, risk assessment and mitigation, incident and crisis management, stakeholder integration, and the design of operational capability and readiness programmes. Jacqui holds three degrees, has worked with a diversity of clients from the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, and has a proven track record in cementing close working partnerships with key stakeholders, planning and process development, and creative problem solving.

For Rio 2016, Jacqui supported the IPC Academy Observers’ Programme, the development of crisis management exercises for the Olympic Games, and designed a Venue Safety and Emergency Response Plan template for the Test Event programme. She consulted in command, communications and coordination (C3) for Sochi 2014, fulfilling a Games-time role of IOC/IPC Reporting Specialist in the Main Operations Centre (MOC).

During the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Jacqui was involved in the Readiness Testing and Exercising Programme, where she assumed a lead role in the Games-wide component involving external partners. Her Games-time role saw her situated in the strategic government coordination hub of Cabinet Office as a liaison officer to the MOC.

Prior to that, she was instrumental in defining the incident and crisis management plans for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. During that time she worked closely with the Executive team and functional business units alike to ensure development of readiness capabilities and a collective understanding and implementation of Games-time C3 practices. At Games-time, she was one of four MOC Directors.

Jacqui now works closely with the IOC and future Organising Committees to develop Learning Strategies that ensure a structured and proactive transfer of knowledge between Games. The innovative Olympic Games Learning Model (OGLM) provides for tailored stakeholder Learning Pathways which are supported by bespoke case materials, train-the-trainer courses, online learning modules, workshops and research.

Throughout her twenty year career, Bev Carey has gained extensive experience and demonstrated an impressive record of success in the Major Event Industry, having provided counsel and on-the-ground leadership to the 2002 – 2014 Olympic & Paralympic Games, 2016 Invictus Games, 2015 Special Olympic World Games, 2015 Pan-American Games, FIFA World Cup, US Open Tennis Championships, The Atlanta Braves and Super Bowl XXXIX & XLI. In addition to her operational management expertise, Carey also specializes in production management, operational readiness and crisis management planning with a focus on international event and corporate clients through her consultancy, Carey Communications, LLC.  Carey is currently working with The World Academy of Sport (WAoS), the IOC and future Organizing Committees on the development of customized Learning Pathways as part of the Olympic Games Learning Model (OGLM) implementation.

In 2000 she began her work in Sport and Event Management by joining the sport team for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. With an extensive knowledge and background in the ice sports she served as Training Venue Manager and Assistant Sport Manager for Figure Skating & Short Track Speed Skating. In this role, Carey gained widespread knowledge in project management, venue management, volunteer management, production, broadcasting, event sponsorship and media relations. 

Carey launched her career in the advertising industry at Hill, Holiday in Boston where she worked on accounts such as John Hancock Funds, Marshalls and Dunkin Donuts. She holds multiple certifications from FEMAs Emergency Management Institute including certificates in Special Events Contingency Planning and Emergency Program Management. As well Carey attended production courses at Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London while working for the London Olympic Organizing Committee. 

A native of Atlanta, GA, Carey earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organizational & Sport Psychology from Boston University. Active in the community, Carey is a member of the Atlanta Chapter of The International Live Event Association (ILEA), Women in Sport & Events (WISE) and when not working abroad, serves as Wish Grantor and Special Event Volunteer for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Georgia. 

Maria graduated from the University of Manchester with a first-class BSc (Hons) degree in Management.

As Manager of the Programme Services Team at the WAoS, Maria oversees the wide portfolio of programmes (Executive Education, Train the Trainer and Online) and is responsible for servicing all activities efficiently and in line with WAoS Quality Assurance procedures.

Maria joined WAoS in 2008, and since then has worked in London 2012, Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 as the Operational Lead for the Games Experience Programme and Inclusion Summit as part of the IPC Academy Campus.