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Sportswoman

Leah captained England to Euro 2022 victory, football's first major trophy since 1966.

With her club Arsenal, Leah has won the Women’s Super League once, and the FA Cup and League Cup twice each.

Alongside her teammates, Leah successfully lobbied the government and £600m has been granted to schools in England to ensure equal sport opportunities for girls and boys. Leah also spoke out against the men’s World Cup in Qatar because homosexuality is illegal in the country. Speaking at the time she said: “There are issues surrounding a community that I am part of, I live it every day with my team-mates. I have a team with a same-sex couple in it. How can I be in support of something that wishes for them to stay away or not be who they are?”

Leah’s first book You have the Power: Find Your Strength and Believe You Can is released in March, it aims to show children they can be a leader at any age.

Leader

Sue joined the Football Association in 2016 and is the Director of Women’s Football.

Her time at The FA has been spent championing equality, diversity and access for the women’s game. During her tenure, the number of women and girls playing football has doubled.

Speaking after the Lionesses’ historic win last summer at the Uefa Women’s European Championships, Sue said, “It was a moment of great joy, but it was also a moment of great opportunity. It has turbo-charged our strategy with demand growing right across the game.”

Sue’s work for over 50 years in the sector has led to her appointment as a crossbench peer to the House of Lords, and a Damehood for services to sport. She has worked with coaching foundations, government bodies, and sports charities, as well as co-founding and chairing the Youth Sport Trust.

In her previous role as Chair of UK Sport, Team GB won 65 medals at the London 2012 Olympics, jumping seven positions on the medals table from the previous Games.

Change-maker

Olympic swimmer Alice Dearing is one of the four co-founders of the Black Swimming Association, a non-profit organisation aimed at championing diversity in swimming from grassroots to the elite level.

Alice became the first black woman to swim for Great Britain at an Olympics when she competed at the Tokyo Games in 2020.

Passionate about spreading the message that swimming is for all, Alice has collaborated with swim cap company Soul Cap on campaigns to promote diversity in the water. One of the outcomes of this advocacy came in September 2022 when FINA added oversized swimming caps to their approved competitive swimwear list, having initially banned them. Alice said, “Knowing that it is acceptable to compete in this cap at the highest level of sport sends a message that hair should not be a barrier which stops people from participating”.

Alice is also part of the Women Sport’s Trust #Unlocked campaign which features a group of female athletes using their platform to help drive change within sport.

Change-maker

Ellie won 12 medals during her senior career as a gymnast with Team GB, including an historic all-round European Championship Gold in 2017.

In 2020, Ellie and her sister Becky spoke out about abusive behaviour in British Gymnastics, saying it was “ingrained” and “completely normalised”. Following on from this, in 2022 the Whyte Review found systemic abuse in the sport in Britain.

In January this year, Ellie announced her retirement from the sport saying her mental health “was taking a beating”. Speaking on a podcast at the time of her retirement Ellie said her weight was ridiculed with coaches blaming injuries on how heavy she was and that she felt “worthless” after only being selected as a reserve for the 2022 World Championships.

Chief executive of British Gymnastics Sarah Powell said Ellie was a "trailblazer in how she has reflected on her experiences to challenge and push the sport of gymnastics forward. Her bravery and honesty, privately and publicly, helps shape the future of our sport.”

Grassroots

Heather set up the Scottish Women’s Walking Group on Facebook that has so far amassed over 25,000 members.

The group encourages women to walk together either for a stroll in the park, a coastal walk or a hill climb.

Members post their walking plans and invite others to join them. There are no guided walks and no walk leaders, instead members are encouraged to plan walks to suit their own abilities. The group has grown to such a size that there are now offshoot groups set up for different regions with walks taking place every day of the week and over 100 group walks happening every month.

The person who suggested Heather says, “It's such a simple but effective idea, lots of us want to go out but lack confidence or just simply enjoy company while out walking. She has made a huge impact in many women's lives.”

Amplifier

Helen set up ‘Foudys’ in 2020 - the first and only official retail platform in the world dedicated to women’s football merchandise.

After growing frustrated that she and fellow fans were unable to buy replica FA Women’s Super League football shirts, Helen wrote to clubs asking why they weren’t stocking WSL jerseys in their stores.

After finding similar accessibility issues with international and European women’s football products, Helen took matters into her own hands and secured the WSL printing rights for the UK and Europe, as well as partnerships with Nike and other major brands.

Helen’s company ensures that women’s football fans can proudly wear personalised replica football shirts just as fans of the men’s game are able to do.

Helen is also founder of Manchester Laces, an inclusive football club for women and non-binary people. She commentates on both the Women’s Super League and Championship for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Manchester and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Newcastle.

Sportswoman

Arsenal and England footballer Lotte Wubben-Moy was the driving force in demanding the government make football available to all girls in school PE lessons.

Her determination for equity in sport started when she persuaded her primary school teacher to create a girls’ football team.

For Lotte, football is a creative outlet and a career that allows her to play out her dreams and create societal change. When her Arsenal contract was up for renewal, Lotte insisted on the inclusion of resources to develop a community programme focused on creative exploration and football for girls in north London.

After winning the European Championships with the Lionesses, Lotte instigated the team’s open letter to the Prime Minister which called for equal access to football for girls in the UK. This letter, among other lobbying efforts, resulted in the government's announcement to invest £600m in school PE and drive forward equal access to sport for girls.

Leader

Beth has recently been promoted to Director of Women’s Professional Game at the England and Wales Cricket Board, having previously been Head of The Hundred Women’s Competition and Female Engagement.

The Hundred gives equal weight to both men’s and women’s competitions, with almost all the matches taking place as women’s and men’s doubleheaders at the same venue on the same day, with equal prize money for both competitions. Across the first two editions of The Hundred, over half a million people have attended women’s matches, and as a result of the competition, there were an estimated 4.9 million new viewers to women’s cricket in 2021.

In 2022, the ECB doubled women's salaries for The Hundred from the year before, with the highest paid female player earning more than £31,000. Whilst this still remains a fraction of what many of male players are paid, this was more than double what women were paid the previous year. Beth has made it her mission to do everything possible to redress the balance and elevate salaries in the women’s game.

Change-maker

Credit: Paralympics GB

Sophie is an eight-time Paralympic equestrian gold medallist, disability campaigner and full-stack software developer.

Sophie has said that “there remains a huge gap between how Paralympians are perceived and how the rest of the disabled community is seen.”

Days after winning three gold medals at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, Sophie described being stuck on the train on her way to work after no one brought her a ramp. She recounted, “Last week I was a superhero, this week I am nothing – what do we have to do for change?”

Sophie uses her platform to highlight accessibility issues, especially with regards to transport and housing, as well as championing disability employment and women in tech. Sophie is hoping to compete at an impressive fifth Paralympic Games at Paris 2024.

Sportswoman

Dina is the fastest British woman in history.

At the 2019 World Athletics Championship, she won gold in the 200m, and silver in the 100m and 4x100m relay, making her the first Briton to win three medals at a World Championship.

Dina currently holds the British record in all three of these events and this year she has broken the British indoor 60m record.

She has drawn attention to how women’s periods can affect their athletic performance, and has called for more research in this area.

Dina studied History at King’s College London and has spoken about the importance of standing up against racial injustice; speaking after the death of George Floyd, Dina wrote, “We know how the power of one action, how one person, has the opportunity to change the world. Please stand up and speak out against racism. Be anti-racist. Even if you think that you can’t affect change, you can.”

Amplifier

Fiona’s highly respected journalism shines a light on women’s sport with particular focus on the data gap in women’s health and how it relates to elite sport.

Some recent articles she’s written for The Telegraph Women’s Sport section include looking into why breast injuries are slipping under the radar in sport, an interview with Bristol Bears player Daisie Mayes about how her period pains nearly scuppered her game and a profile of England’s most capped female rugby player Sarah Hunter.

The person who suggested her said: “Her empathy as a storyteller and the trust athletes have shown in her are both measures of the top reporter and champion for women in sport that she is.”

Grassroots

Sian established an open water swimming community called The Bluetits Chill Swimmers in Pembrokeshire that is free to join and open to all.

The group now has over 100,000 members worldwide, spanning from Canada to Estonia.

Sian says, "With 100,000 members, trust me there isn't a body-type we haven't seen, and in the Bluetits there is absolutely no-one who's going to judge you.”

Sian first took the plunge in the Irish Sea in 2014 and in the pandemic the group really took off.

The person who suggested Sian said, “It really is changing women’s views of themselves, their bodies and swimming and creating communities.”

Sportswoman

Jodie is a professional rugby player and Honorary President of UK Deaf Sport.

Alongside her success with the England Sevens team, Jodie was awarded Young Deaf Sports Personality of the Year, and her TikTok videos - where she shares her life living as a woman with hearing loss - have been viewed over 3.8 million times.

Recent videos have seen Jodie explain ‘hearing fatigue’ - when you get tired after having to concentrate hard on lip reading - as well as the moment where she had to stop playing mid-game when her cochlear implant stopped working.

Jodie began her sporting career as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion before representing the UK in athletics in the Deaf Olympics. She eventually moved to rugby and in November last year made her Exeter Chiefs debut in the Premier 15s.

Leader

Gail is the Women's Development Manager for the Irish FA Foundation and head coach for Women’s Premiership side Glentoran.

Gail is in charge of Northern Ireland’s football strategy for girls and women from grass roots to elite level. Her work also focuses on education around leadership and coaching.

Gail joined the Irish FA in 2009 when there were no youth leagues in women's football, but thanks to her work, there are now numerous teams and a revamped grassroots programme.

Gail is a former Northern Ireland international and she holds a Uefa Pro licence. Speaking as she received her MBE in the New Years Honours she said: “Obviously my time has been and gone as a player, but I just feel I am in the perfect position with the role I hold within the IFA to push football forward. I think my skillset is bringing people together, with ideas and what will work, to create that common goal.”

Amplifier

Barbara was appointed the first female Director of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Sport in 2009, and has grown the portfolio of negotiated rights deals for women’s sport across football, cricket, rugby, netball and beyond.

By 2019, 10 years after taking charge, 45 million people were watching women’s sport on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳.

Barbara has also been a champion of female broadcasters, pundits and commentators. During her tenure at ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Sport, Alex Scott has become the first female presenter of Football Focus, Vicki Sparks, the first woman to commentate on a live men’s World Cup match, and highly respected broadcasters such as Gabby Logan and Clare Balding have cemented their status as household names.

In 2021, she became the first woman to receive the IBC International Honour for Excellence in recognition of her career in sports broadcasting and for "leading the way in establishing women’s sport and bringing women to the fore in sports".

Grassroots

Somayeh, a teaching assistant at a primary school in East Finchley, has worked for over five years to engage girls in her after-school sports clubs.

She has inspired girls from the school to join Lymore Gardens FC, where she serves as the lead coach of the girls' and women's provision. Currently, over 145 women and girls play at the club, with 65 women and girls regularly taking part every week, ranging from five to 40 years of age.

Somayeh leads four youth teams playing in three age groups, and they all compete in the Girls Super League London. Somayeh has also arranged tickets for her students to attend Women's Super League football matches, giving the girls a sense of inspiration and belonging to see that their efforts are part of something bigger. Somayeh has also established a netball league for older women.

Through covid, she also arranged cycling sessions for women who wanted to keep fit and maintain their mental health and well-being. Her efforts have brought together young girls and older women to engage in sports and foster a sense of community spirit.

Change-maker

Emma took a public stand against major golf brand TaylorMade and their lack of female imagery and golf products for women.

Emma is a PGA golf professional at Winchester Golf Academy and in 2018 after attending an event where TaylorMade previewed their latest range without any women golfers she tweeted, “Why would I want to stock and sell a golf brand that doesn't think #womengolfers are worth featuring...”. Subsequently, the Managing Director of TaylorMade met with Emma and agreed to work together to address the problem.

TaylorMade established their Women’s Advisory Board and Emma was invited to become a member along with representatives from the women’s game from across Europe and in 2019 the company sponsored their first female professional tour player Charley Hull.

Emma has said, “We are helping to create an era where women in golf are there for all to see, which will no doubt inspire the next generation of girls and women to believe that golf is a sport for them”.

Change-maker

Manisha is Assistant Head of Coaching at Championship club Queen's Park Rangers - the first woman to hold such a position in men's professional football in England.

Speaking about her role she has said, “The journey within a male dominated environment has certainly not been easy. Being provided with the support to develop an array of tools enabling me to be adaptable and resilient has been a key part of not only navigating my way within a male space, but create my own seat at the table that was perceived not for me”.

Manisha believes British South Asian voices in football need to be amplified to ensure that the next generation can see what is possible. She has written a children’s book called Dream Like Me: South Asian Football Trailblazers.

Leader

Rimla is a Non-Executive Director of the Rugby Football League (RFL) and chairs the RFL’s Inclusion Board. She co-founded the global Muslim Women in Sport Network and became the first Muslim and Asian woman to sit on the FA Council.

Ranked by Forbes and The Independent as one of the most powerful women in international sports, Rimla was awarded an OBE in 2021 for her contribution to diversity and equality in sport.

Speaking about the need for inclusion she has said: “I might be the first Muslim woman, I might be the first Asian woman, or sometimes even the first woman in a space in the sports sector, but I better not be the last, because I would have truly failed. For me, the power of sport cannot be underestimated... ever!"

Amplifier

Fadumo is a sports reporter at Sky Sports News.

When asked about the industry she works in, she said: "It is rare to see women from ethnic minority backgrounds on sports news, however the steps taken towards visual representation in this industry show there is space for everyone and we are walking in the right direction”.

Fadumo co-founded the podcast I Think She’s Offside, which features interviews with under-represented women from the world of sport.

The person who suggested Fadumo described her as a “broadcaster committed to amplifying the stories of women from diverse backgrounds in sport.”

Change-maker

Tammy is the co-founder and CEO of the Women’s Sport Trust which aims to influence "real change for women’s sport".

Tammy works with leaders from across sport, media and business to understand how to practically increase the visibility and impact of women’s sport with a strong focus on its commercial viability.

Last year, The Women’s Sport Trust partnered with 35 leading sportswomen, including Laura Weightman and Pamela Cookey, as part of their ‘Unlocked’ campaign which aims to tackle the lack of diversity across sport.

Tammy was awarded an MBE in the New Year 2019 Honours List for services to gender equality in sport. She also volunteers as a Board Director for AFC Wimbledon Ladies FC.

Amplifier

Jo Tongue is a sports agent and CEO of Tongue Tied Media, a management agency representing some of the most well-known sporting and broadcasting talent in the UK, including Leah Williamson, Jill Scott and Emma Hayes.

Jo is vocal in her push for parity of the profile and pay for women in sport - both on the pitch and in the media. She acts as an intermediary with clubs on players’ contracts; works to secure commercial and sponsorship opportunities for players; and seeks to place pundits, presenters and commentators across all networks.

Jo began her career by working her way up through male dominated press rooms as a sports reporter, going on to spend a decade as Editor of ‘606’ - ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 5 Live’s flagship football programme. She is also a Board Member of Women in Football – an organisation working to improve women’s representation at all levels of the game.

Sportswoman

Lauren is a highly decorated Paralympic rowing champion who is outspoken about her experiences of depression and is an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.

Lauren reached the pinnacle of her sport, winning gold at the Rio Paralympic Games in 2016, just one year after taking up rowing, before going on to become a double Paralympic Champion at the Tokyo Games last year. However, less than three months later, in the grips of her depression, she contemplated taking her own life.

Lauren has talked about her journey to address the trauma she suffered in her youth when she became a wheelchair user in her early teens due to a serious illness, as well as the two years out of the sport recovering from spinal, hip and arm surgeries in 2017 and 2018.

She says she also originally struggled to come to terms with her sexuality. Lauren has said that growing up, she never had any role models who were disabled or gay – as a consequence she has made it her mission to be that role model for others.

Change-maker

Maggie is the CEO of Lewes Football Club - the only club in the world to have equal pay budgets for women and men.

The club is 100% fan owned with a strong anti-gambling stance, Maggie says. “The club differs because we’re really guided in everything we do by our principles and our values. We’re a small club but with a big voice. We are brave, ambitious and very community oriented”.

Maggie is also part of the leadership team at Equal Playing field, a non-profit organisation set up to challenge gender barriers in sport through the creation of a global network of female football players, coaches, referees and administrators from grassroots to the elite level.

Maggie has previously worked as a human rights activist at Amnesty International and an anti-corruption and good governance advocate at Transparency International.

Grassroots

Nalette set up the Sunnah Sports Academy Trust – a charity offering sports lessons, including tennis coaching to communities in Bradford in 2014.

Four years later, she began delivering tennis sessions in a number of faith-based schools, churches, and mosques through the LTA SERVES programme.

Through her work in the local community, Nalette has seen a growing shift in perceptions around tennis and believes diverse role models are the key to keeping young kids engaged.

Nalette also runs a programme for junior female coaches aged 16-25, all from ethnic minority backgrounds, which has seen a total of 76 women and girls make a start in their journey to become the next generation of coaches.

Amplifier

Former footballer Alex Scott is a leading sports broadcaster and best-selling author.

She won 140 caps playing for England, as well as seven FA Cup titles and six League titles as a defender for Arsenal.

Alex was the first female pundit on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s World Cup coverage and on Sky’s Super Sunday, before becoming the first full-time female host of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳’s Football Focus. Her voice has even featured in the video game FIFA 22.

A legendary name both on and off the pitch, Alex has shed light on issues around football: she gave an impassioned speech about the importance of the women’s game after England won the Euros last summer; she wore a OneLove armband pitch side while presenting in at the Men’s World Cup in Qatar; and in October 2022 Alex also gave a powerful interview on Woman’s Hour about domestic abuse in her childhood.

She is donating her memoir’s proceeds to Refuge, and wants to use her platform to create positive change: “It’s lit a fire in me. I will do all I can to help women in this position.”

Leader

Laura is Deputy Chair of Uefa’s Women’s Football Committee and a member of the Uefa Working Group on Gender Equality.

Laura chaired the women’s football stream of the Uefa Future of Football Convention and is standing unopposed for the Uefa Executive Committee at the Congress in Lisbon in April, supported by the FA of Wales.

Laura was Chair of Sport Wales between 2010-16 and a Board Member for UK Sport from 2003-6 and from 2010-16. Laura is also a Professor of Public Policy and Governance at Cardiff University where her work focuses on Welsh politics and gender in politics.

Laura has appeared on Woman’s Hour several times, most recently in November last year after she was told to remove a Wales rainbow bucket hat, which she wore in support of LGBTQ+ rights, whilst entering the stadium for the Wales v USA match at the Men’s World Cup in Qatar – a country where it is illegal to be gay.

Speaking at the time she said: "I certainly wasn't going to give it up. It's an important symbol of everything that we're about in Welsh football at the moment and hopefully the wider nation.”

Amplifier

Sue is an author, podcast host, film maker and co-founder of the Women’s Sport Collective which strives for a gender equal sports industry.

She is also CEO of the Fearless Women consultancy which drives change across women’s sport, a founding Trustee of The Women’s Sport Trust charity dedicated to making women’s sport more visible, and a member of the RFU’s Independent Diversity and Inclusion Group.

Her award-winning podcast, The Game Changers, features many high-profile, trailblazing women in sport.

Sue is author of Game On: The Unstoppable Rise of Women’s Sport, shortlisted for the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards 2022.

In recognition of her impact on equality in women’s sport, Sue was awarded an MBE in 2018 and Loughborough University’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2022. Sue says “One day we won’t talk about ‘women’s sport’, it will be just seen as sport.”

Grassroots

Sarah is the founder of Cycle Sisters - a female only cycling club aimed at supporting Muslim women to discover the joys of cycling through inclusive and sociable rides.

Since 2016, over 750 women have taken part in Cycle Sisters rides, and over 1,300 women are now part of the organisation’s wider network across London.

Cycle Sisters has trained over 80 Ride Leaders, empowering women to take on volunteering and leadership roles, and their Teen Bikers initiative has been inspiring a younger generation to get involved, with over 50 teenagers aged 13-17 taking part since 2020.

When the RideLondon cycling festival returned in 2022 with a renewed commitment to diversity, Sarah worked with the organisers to ensure Cycle Sisters had over 80 of its members represented at the events. It is Sarah’s goal for Muslim women to have an increased voice and visibility in mainstream cycling media.

Sportswoman

Ramla is a British-Somali Olympic boxer using her platform to inspire Muslim women and girls into the sport - both at elite and grassroots level.

Her journey has taken her from child refugee who fled war-torn Somalia, to becoming the first Muslim fighter to win an English title as an amateur.

Ramla went on to become British Champion before switching to represent her birth country in 2018, intent on inspiring others as the first female boxer to represent Somalia. She went on to become the first Somali boxer to compete at an Olympics.

Ramla has also set up ‘The Sisters Club’ – a free, weekly women-only boxing class in London originally set up for Muslim women to train with or without their hijabs in a safe space. The popularity of the club has grown, and it now offers self-defence classes to survivors of domestic abuse or sexual violence.

Listen to the Woman's Hour Power List reveal programme in the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s Radio Theatre here. Listen to any episodes of Woman’s Hour you’ve missed on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Sounds. Join the conversation on Twitter and Instagram @bbcwomanshour.