Melissa Wilson – Keynote Speaker

Melissa Wilson is a three-time World Championships A finalist, and co-founded Athletes of the World with Double Olympic Champion Hannah Mills last year to unlock the power of athletes as advocates for the planet. Since 2020 she’s brought over 500 elite athletes together across various campaigns: a letter to the UK government with 320 GB Olympian and Paralympian signatories, a video to World Leaders ahead of COP26 involving flag bearers from 35 different countries and a letter to World Rugby signed by 200 professional players. Her work focuses on building athlete-led campaigns for climate action, and removing the barriers to further athlete engagement through climate education and wider support.

Since 2021 Melissa Wilson’s worked on projects with organisations including the IOC, BBC Sport, the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Team GB and the Scottish Government. She co-hosts the podcast Emergency on Planet Sport with sports commentator Jonathan Overend, moderated two sessions at the Sport Positive Summit at Wembley this year and is currently part of a steering group run by the English Institute of Sport, considering how adjustments to training environments and culture can optimise athlete experience and performance.

Prior to working in sport and climate, Melissa received first class degrees in English and Law from Cambridge University and in 2018 worked as an environmental legal researcher on the seminal Heathrow Runway case.