Our Council
Meet our team of experts working to advance sport philanthropy globally.
Samantha Rogers
Canada
A social capitalist using philanthropy as her vehicle of choice, Samantha is co-founder of Relate Social Capital, whose specialty is building – and implementing – revenue generating and community engagement programs. With a career that has brought her to Toronto, Vancouver and back home to Montreal, Samantha has worked in the social services, health, and education sectors, with a particular passion for sport and corporate philanthropy.
Samantha has managed a number of fruitful crowdfunding campaigns, developed philanthropic partnerships, diversified revenue streams for clients, and identified and filled gaps in impact reporting, all of which are successful examples of engaging communities, working collaboratively and building sustainable foundations for organizations to deliver on their missions. Most recently, Samantha has led fund development and engagement initiatives within all levels of sport, as well as working alongside athletes and sports leaders, empowering them to use their status to impact their community, generating over $9M in additional revenue through private support, in an effort to grow sport philanthropy in Canada and around the world.
Currently, Samantha is a member on the Commonwealth Games Canada and Friends of McGill Hockey board, and spends her Sunday evenings feeding rescue horses at A Horse Tale.
Alycia Powell
United States
Alycia M. Powell is the co-founder of Champions for Philanthropy, Inc., a nonprofit organization that offers consulting services for professional athletes to establish their charitable brands. A graduate of Fordham University and New York Law School, Ms. Powell served in a wide variety of leadership positions while in law school, including president of the Black Law Students Association and founder of the New York Law School Sports Law Society.
After law school, Ms. Powell served as a legal and business consultant for entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations, and small businesses. She also worked in the legal department of an international retail brand, where she focused on intellectual property matters, tax law, compliance, and general corporate law. Additionally, she has held positions in the aviation and tax law sectors and has experience managing the operations of a private investor and a small family office.
Patrick Walker
Australia
Patrick is the CEO of the Australian Sports Foundation, a not-for profit that was established by the Australian government to raise philanthropic funds for sport. The Sports Foundation is a registered charity and Deductible Gift Recipient – which is unique in Australia, as sport is not a recognized charitable purpose under Australian law.
The Sports Foundation partners with all levels of Australian sport, from grassroots to elite and with clubs, organisations and athletes throughout Australia, to develop and execute successful philanthropic fundraising strategies. In the last four years it has raised over $150m to invest in the development of Australian sport, and is aiming to increase this to $100m a year by 2021.
Patrick joined the ASF following a successful business career as a partner with the world's largest professional services firm, PwC. His roles with PwC included CEO, Board and global leadership positions in the UK, Europe and Australia. He is a member of the Fundraising Institute of Australia and is also a non-executive Director.
Patrick is passionate about sport and the social and community benefits it brings. He was a former semi-professional footballer, and still plays competitively several times a week in the local “Masters” competition. He is married with two adult children, and spends much of his leisure time as a spectator at major sporting events and travelling the world enjoying good food and wine.
Kat Craig
United Kingdom
Kat Craig is founder and CEO of Athlead, Europe’s first social impact consultancy that specialises in advising athletes how to use their platform to improve the lives of others. Athlead works with a range of high profile athletes across Europe and the US, including Premier League football (soccer) players, Premiership rugby players and Paralympians – all doing great things for their communities.
Kat holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Philanthropy, and sits on a number of Advisory Boards including for the George Washington University Sports Philanthropy Department, the Giovanni Van Bronckhorst Foundation and Supporters Direct Europe. Kat also holds a number of Executive and Non-Executive Board appointments.
Prior to founding Athlead, Kat worked as an award-winning human rights lawyer. She holds a first-class Postgraduate Degree with Honours in Law, and was the Legal Director of an international charity with offices in the UK, the US, Indonesia, Jordan, Malawi, Yemen and Pakistan, where Kat oversaw strategic multi-jurisdictional litigation across four continents. She has brought cases in the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights, and advised on litigation in countries ranging from Germany to Yemen.
Kat is co-author of the Protest Handbook (published by Bloomsbury Press); writes regularly for a range of national and international print outlets, and frequently appears as an expert on national and international TV and radio. Kat is bilingual English/Dutch, with decent French, German and Spanish.
Kat holds a black belt in Kung Fu and is a passionate but distinctly average full-back for an amateur women’s soccer team.