Nichole McCulloch

Nichole has an MBA and is an experienced management consultant and executive search professional with over a decade’s worth of experience advising boards, CEOs and government officials globally across Energy and Natural Resources. Nichole is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion and is the former Managing Director for Women in Mining (UK) and is a frequent speaker on issues such as governance and talent management. She has a family of American football enthusiasts with an uncle that is a former NFL quarterback and is keen to bring British American Football to a wider audience and participation base.

Rob Lawson

Member of the of the Audit Committee.

Rob is a veteran of the energy industry with over 32 years of international experience. He is currently the Executive Vice President of a global commodity trading company and spent the previous ten years as Global Head of Mergers & Acquisitions for a major FTSE company. He has deep expertise in corporate finance, commercial development, corporate governance and organisational transformation. Rob is a passionate supporter of many sports and still plays cricket. Having nurtured a keen interest in American Football when studying for a Masters in Management Science at Stanford University, Rob regularly attends NFL games in the US and has been fortunate to attend 7 Super Bowls. He is an Honorary Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University and, since 2018, he has regularly been recognised on the Empower list of Top 50 executives in the UK that actively advocate for ethnic minorities.

Pete Ackerley

Pete has over 25 years of senior executive experience in sport development, including roles as Head of Development for the England and Wales Cricket Board and Head of Participation for the Football Association. Since 2017 he’s been consulting in the field of sport development. In addition to his extensive work experience, Pete also volunteers as a Trustee of Wembley National Stadium, a member of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s Participation and Growth Board, Chair of Charitable programmes for The Lord’s Taverners and an independent non-executive director for the Lancashire Cricket Foundation.

Bruce Leatherman

Member of the Audit Committee

With over 12 years of experience as a technically focused manager, Bruce has delivered multiple enterprise level software projects within the national government and financial sectors. He currently works as part of the senior leadership team for a global IT company, managing an engineering team based across the UK, Ireland and the Nordics. He has extensive experience of data security principles and will apply this knowledge to BAFA's business and data processes. A qualified American football coach and official, he has been involved in the British game for over 28 years.

Richard Watson

Chair of the Safeguarding & Welfare Committee

Richard is currently Safeguarding Development Manager at England & Wales Cricket Board, responsible for leading, creating and managing the ECB’s safeguarding development plan to incorporate safeguards across business planning. Richard has extensive best practice knowledge from working in a national governing body of sport bringing a wealth of specialist knowledge in safeguarding, discipline and supporting a volunteer workforce. He is also a level three Football Association referee and a big fan of American football. Richard is Chair of the Safeguarding and Welfare Committee

Colin Allen

Chair of the Sports Science & Medicine Committee

Colin has worked within the field of elite national athlete programme development for over 14 years. He started his career as an Athlete Investment Officer at UK Sport in 2006, before originally joining the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) in July 2010 as a Project Manager. He moved across to Northumbria University in June 2014, to work as part of their performance sport programme as a Talent Identification and Pathway Manger, before re-joining TASS in October 2015. Colin is currently the National Lead for Operations and is responsible for overseeing both the strategic and day-to-day planning and coordination for the scheme. Another aspect of his role involves leading on programme and
project work to support the development of National Governing Bodies’ England Talent Pathways and growing revenue streams by identifying and taking advantage of new opportunities.

Kenny Bello

Chair of the Athletes Committee, member of the Safeguarding & Welfare Committee

Kenny is founder and Managing Director of The UK Dukes – a company created to promote participation in American football all over the world. Often seen jet-setting as part of the popular social media venture, his day-to-day role includes leading a national school’s programme, working closely with several highly regarded charities, and supporting teams (domestic and internationally) to develop and improve. Kenny has a breadth of experience in American football spanning 16 years. In this time, he has worked as a fully qualified teacher, broken a Guinness World Record and worked for NFL UK on Community and Grassroots Development, bringing unique insight and aptitude to the innovation of their programs. A USA Football Master Trainer and Flag Development Officer for British American Football Coaches Association (BAFCA), Kenny has himself participated in both the flag and contact disciplines of the sport to the highest level, representing Team GB as a player and most recently, as a coach on the contact Women’s GB team.

Umar Akhtar

Chair of the Audit Committee.

He has over 20 years of experience working as a professional within the worlds of finance and programme management. His experience spans from small corporates to a FTSE100 retailer.
Umar has successfully led programme teams in delivering business and technical change for Tesco, and holds professional qualifications in both accountancy and programme management.
Umar also has over a decade’s worth of experience as a trustee and treasurer of sports-based charity the Muslim Women’s Sport Foundation. Umar helped the organisation promote diversity and inclusion in sport as well as strengthening the organisation from a financial and governance perspective.

Heather Smith

Member of the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee

Heather is Head of Programmes at Plan International UK. Prior to this she spent five years at Women in Sport as Associate Head of Innovation, which involved overseeing the development and management of new projects and relationships, as well as ensuring the long-term sustainability of the charity’s work through grant fundraising. Heather is a current member of the Sport for Development Coalition’s (SFDC) Board, representing a network of organisations committed to changing lives through the power of sport. She has been instrumental in writing the SFDC’s new four-year business plan and securing continuation funding for the organisation. Before joining Women in Sport, Heather worked in the development team’s at British University and Colleges Sport (BUCS), the Rugby Football Union and Rugby Football League. She graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2007 with a degree in Sport Science and Heather was part of the Sport Industry Group’s NextGen Leaders in 2017. In 2016, Heather launched Half Backs, a fun and engaging rugby-themed activity business for young children ages two to six. She has since sold Half Backs but is still actively involved in rugby union, having retired from a 20-year playing career is now the current chair of Teddington Rugby Club’s women’s team.