Sport Matters

21/05/2026

Sport Matters CEO Jackie Lauff joined the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education on Thursday as a guest speaker for its webinar on 'Sport and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)'.
The discussion explored how sport and physical activity contributes effectively to the achievement of the SDGs, moving beyond broad policy discussions toward practical, context-sensitive solutions and impacts.


The International Platform on Sport and Development
https://www.icsspe.org/content/icsspe-webinar-sport-and-sustainable-development-goals

14/05/2026

Great piece on Olympian and Sport Matters Board member Ryan Pini.
"Papua New Guinea's Ryan Pini has built a career that helped put the Pacific on the global swimming map."

From being dragged to the swimming pool as a child to racing in an Olympic final against the greatest swimmer of all time, Papua New Guinea's Ryan Pini has built a career that helped put the Pacific on the global swimming map.

29/04/2026

Sport as the delivery mechanism. Communities as the foundation. Women at the centre. That's the development model 2026 Emerging Leader Keesha Morikei Booth is building.

Keesha is a Papua New Guinean-Australian leader and General Manager of Grass Skirt Project and Program Manager on an ADB-funded regional initiative advancing gender equality in fragile and conflict-affected contexts across PNG. She translates what the bilateral relationship too often overlooks: the most durable economic development in PNG runs through communities, through women, and through the infrastructure built around them. Sport is the delivery mechanism, not as recreation, but as the most trusted community infrastructure in PNG. GSP's forecast SROI projects a 7.9:1 social return between 2026 and 2030. That is a business case.

Keesha holds a Bachelor of Social Work from James Cook University with experience in social entrepreneurship. She is mother to Zion and Zan and brings to the 2026 ELD a conviction that bilums and boardrooms have always presented the same argument, and it is time the same people were in both rooms.

Welcome to this year's cohort of Emerging Leaders, Keesha!

28/04/2026

Great way to start Day 3 at ....
"Sport is Ceremony: Kinship, Capital and Feminist Futures in the Pacific"

Grass Skirt Project

06/04/2026

Celebrating the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace today, April 6, highlighting the campaign which is a symbolic gesture meant to demonstrate a commitment to peace, inclusion, and equity through sport.
Holding up a white card, like our participants are here, signifies that sport is a powerful tool for building peaceful, inclusive societies and fostering dialogue.


Australian High Commission, Vanuatu The International Platform on Sport and Development

05/04/2026

Celebrating 2026, tomorrow April 6 ...

"The 2026 International Day of Sport for Development and Peace will spotlight the theme “Sport: Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers,” underscoring sport’s unique capacity to foster connection, inclusion, and peace in an increasingly fragmented world."

https://share.google/EoyBq4W4OHvjCRfWf

The purpose of the day is to recognize the positive influence that sport can have on the advancement of human rights, and social and economic development.

02/04/2026

April 6

08/03/2026

Sport and Sport for Development are entering a new era.
Billions of dollars in global impact capital are actively searching for credible, measurable and scalable opportunities.
Sport — one of the world’s largest social platforms — is uniquely positioned to deliver measurable outcomes across health, education, inclusion, community development and sustainability.
But to attract investment, the sector must become investment-ready.
This international webinar series - 'Driving Passion and Profit: Unpacking impact investing in and through sport 2026' - has been unpacking how this could happen.

This series builds on the inaugural Impact Investing and Sport Forum (Brisbane, November 2025) which brought together investors, philanthropists, sport leaders and policymakers to explore sport as an emerging asset class for impact investment.

Webinars #3 & #4 are happening this week!
Tuesday 10 March 2026
4:00pm – 5:30pm Brisbane (AEST) / 7:00am – 8:30am Milan (CET)
Thursday 12 March 2026
9:00am – 10:30am Brisbane (AEST) / 12:00am – 1:30am Milan (CET)
* Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) / UTC + 10 hours
* Central European Time (CET) / UTC + 1 hour

REGISTER: https://events.humanitix.com/driving-passion-and-profit

05/03/2026

Driving Passion and Profit: Unpacking impact investing in and through sport 2026 WEBINAR Series ... 2 down, 2 to go!!
This webinar series builds on the inaugural 'Impact Investing and Sport Forum' (Brisbane, November 2025) which brought together investors, philanthropists, sport leaders and policymakers to explore sport as an emerging asset class for impact investment.

The first two webinars were enlightening, informative and laid the base for further discussion... the next two will do more!

NEXT WEEK... Webinar #3
This session will feature 4 key speakers from Italy, Ireland and Australia - all impressive women covering views from UNESCO to data tracking initiatives to the necessity and importance of Inclusion in sport and the sustainability requirement underlining it all.
Tuesday 10 March 2026
4:00pm – 5:30pm Brisbane (AEST) / 7:00am – 8:30am Milan (CET)

* Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) / UTC + 10 hours
* Central European Time (CET) / UTC + 1 hour

REGISTER: https://events.humanitix.com/driving-passion-and-profit

04/03/2026

Celebrating

✨

We cannot wait to hear from our incredible speakers at our International Women's Day Event next week, Tuesday, 10 May 2026.

Facilitated by WiAD Board Director, Jill Scanlon, we promise a session filled with expert insights, powerful stories, and unique perspectives as we celebrate women across the aid and development sector.

Join us for an inspiring and thought-provoking conversation you won’t want to miss! 💬

Make sure to REGISTER today!

📅 Tuesday, 10 March 2026
⏰ 6:30pm–8:00pm
📍 Online via Zoom (link shared upon registration)

🎟️Get your tickets here https://buff.ly/pSg43aR