Lord Herman Ouseley – Chair Expand Lord Ouseley is a British parliamentarian who founded Kick It Out in 1993 when he was the chairperson of the Commission for Racial Equality. He was knighted in 1997 for his services to local government and community relations and was made a life peer as Baron Ouseley of Peckham Rye in the London Borough of Southwark in 2001. He acts as a council member of the Institute of Race Relations and has been awarded 14 honorary degrees. Lord Ouseley has a career spanning over 50 years as a champion of equality and diversity, and continues to be at the forefront of challenging institutional discrimination.
Katherine Allen – Premier League Expand Katherine is Head of Policy at the Premier League. Katherine has a BA in Politics and Economics from SOAS, University of London and a MA in Television and Current Affairs Journalism from City University London. She worked as a political lobbyist on the first Obama presidential election campaign in the USA before splitting her time between BBC Sport and BBC America for three years. She spent almost four years in government communications at the Home Office and 10 Downing Street, where she covered foreign affairs and was head of the No 10 news desk. She has been at the Premier League since April 2017.
Rimla Akhtar MBE – Independent Expand Rimla is a sports development consultant and founder of RimJhim Consulting. She is an inclusion and diversity specialist in sport and before working in sport she had responsibility for a number of FTSE 100 clients across multiple industries at a global services firm. Rimla now shares her time between writing, speaking, mentoring, practical and strategic consultancy and campaigns. She also independently advises and leads projects with governments, advocacy organisations, national and international sports bodies and community groups. Additionally, she is the Chair of the Muslim Women’s Sports Foundation (MWSF), while in 2014, she became the first Muslim and Asian woman on the FA Council, in addition to her role on the Inclusion Advisory Board (IAG) at The FA. In 2015, Rimla was awarded an MBE for her contribution to equality and diversity in sport.
Garth Crooks OBE – Independent Expand Garth is a former professional footballer who most notably played for Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur during a 14-year career in which he scored over 200 goals. Over the course of his time at White Hart Lane, he won two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup. He collected four caps for England under-21s and also featured for Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion and Charlton Athletic before retiring in 1990. He became the first black chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association in 1988 and was instrumental in the launch of Kick It Out. He was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his services to football 11 years later. Garth has been a prominent figure within the football media ever since featuring as a match analyst during the 1982 World Cup in Spain. He currently works for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as a pundit, presenter and broadcast journalist.
Udo Onwere – Independent Expand A former footballer with almost 200 English Football League appearances, Udo retired in 2000 and retrained as a lawyer, qualifying in 2008. Part of his role as an Associate involves advising high profile players on private client matters for Farrer & Co, the firm he has worked for since 2013, after joining from Thomas Eggar LLP. Along with Lord Ouseley, Udo’s contribution to his work with professional footballers and clubs was recognised with his nomination to the Football Black List.
Iffy Onuora – The Professional Footballers’ Association Expand Iffy is a former professional footballer who made nearly 500 appearances for clubs across the English Football League before holding a number of brief management roles. Having begun his playing career in 1989, his most notable spells came at Huddersfield Town, Gillingham, Swindon Town before he eventually retired in 2004. In 2005, Iffy became manager of Swindon before caretaker stints in charge at the Gills and Lincoln City. His most recent management position was with Ethiopia in 2011. The UEFA Pro License holder has been working at the PFA as an Equalities Officer and Regional Coach since.