The Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 LOC Board

A joint venture between World Rugby and the RFU, with funding from the UK Government, Rugby World Cup 2025 will usher in a new era as the first Rugby World Cup to be delivered under World Rugby’s new hosting model. As independent Chair, Gill Whitehead presides over a Board structure that comprises World Rugby, RFU and UK Government nominated representatives and a skills-based independent director. This enables all stakeholders to maximise key objectives that will underpin a clear vision for the tournament to be the biggest and best women’s rugby event ever, showcasing women’s rugby on the global stage, breaking new ground, entertaining and connecting with audiences, and delivering high standards.

As independent Chair, Gill Whitehead presides over a Board structure that comprises World Rugby, RFU and UK Government nominated representatives and a further independent director.

RWC 2025 Board:

Independent Chair: Gill Whitehead

World Rugby: Alan Gilpin, Charlotte Samuelson, Sean Summers

RFU: Alex Teasdale, Steve Grainger

Board DEI Advisor: Kunle Olafare

Independent Director: Lindsay Pattinson

UK Government appointed Director: Annie Panter

Gill Whitehead

Gill Whitehead brings an impressive wealth of leadership and executive board experience in the media and technology sectors with the likes of Google, the BBC and Channel 4 and considerable non-executive experience spanning FTSE 100 companies and the British Olympic Association.

With a passion for women’s sport and in particular women’s rugby, Whitehead played rugby to a representative level and can be found on the sidelines of Beaconsfield RFC, where, as a RFU Level 2 coach, she has been involved in youth rugby at the club.

Alan Gilpin

Alan Gilpin is the Chief Executive Officer of World Rugby, leading the delivery of an ambitious strategic plan focused on the global growth of rugby, and making the sport more accessible and more relevant around the world. He is also responsible for the management of the globally renowned Rugby World Cup tournaments.

Previously a lawyer, and with a strong track record in sport and business, Gilpin has been involved in the management and delivery of Rugby World Cups since 2001 in a number of roles. Gilpin joined World Rugby in 2014 from his previous role as Chief Operating Officer of official hospitality provider, Prestige Ticketing Ltd, where he oversaw the award-winning hospitality programme for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Prior to the London 2012 role, Gilpin spent nine years with IMG, including responsibility for commercial rights negotiations across Rugby World Cup 2003, 2007 and 2011.

Charlotte Samuelson

Charlotte Samuelson joined World Rugby in January 2022 as Chief Operating Officer. She oversees the organisation’s Global Services division and sits on the Boards of Directors for Rugby World Cup 2025, Rugby World Cup 2027, and the Major League Rugby team, Anthem Rugby Carolina. In her role as COO Samuelson has overarching responsibility for all of World Rugby’s corporate activities, including Finance, Legal, Technology, Risk and HR.

Samuelson served as a member of the Board of Directors and the SCCC Audit & Risk Committee for eight years until April 2024.

Sean Summers

Sean Summers joined the Board while maintaining his role as Executive VP of Mercado Libre, Latin America's largest ecommerce and fintech ecosystem, where he is CMO and also responsible for the development of its leading retail media platform, Mercado Ads. Summers is also leading Mercado Libre’s foray into the entertainment industry, which includes launching the free content platform Mercado Play. A leader in his field, over his 12-year tenure Summers has contributed to the exponential growth of the company, helping build a user base of more than 100 million active customers while being responsible for more than US$1 billion in annual marketing investments.

Lindsay Pattison

Lindsay was appointed Chief People Officer at WPP in January 2024 overseeing the culture and human resources strategy for more than 110,000 colleagues, Lindsay Pattison joined the LOC Board of directors as an Independent Non-Executive Director in November 2023 and assumed the role of Audit Committee Chair. Having previously served as WPP’s Chief Client Officer since 2018 and held the role of Worldwide CEO for media agency Maxus among other senior leadership roles in her field, Pattison complements the Board with her extensive digital and media experience reflecting Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025’s ambitions around fan engagement through multiple channels.

Annie Panter

Former field hockey international and Team GB Olympian, Annie Panter joined the LOC Board to represent the UK Government, reflecting their support of the tournament. Panter brings significant board and commercial experience to the group and, as a board member of UK Sport, insight into the wider UK sporting landscape. In addition to her UK Sport role, Panter is a Managing Director at Two Circles following their acquisition of TRM Partners. She has a broad role at the agency leading a number of projects with a significant focus on women's sport, including the marketing of UEFA women’s football sponsorship and media rights.

Alex Teasdale

Alex Teasdale became the RFU's Director of the Women's Game in March 2024. She is responsible for shaping and delivering the women and girls’ rugby strategy and works with regional and global stakeholders to accelerate the growth of women and girls’ rugby. She has worked in sport for over 15 years, previously at England and Wales Cricket Board and England and Great Britain Hockey. Teasdale joined the RFU in 2013 as a Senior Growth Projects Manager and has been focused on the women and girls’ game for over 11 years.

Steve Grainger

Steve Grainger is the Executive Director of Rugby Development at the Rugby Football Union where he is responsible for participation and growth in the community game. He led the legacy programme around England’s staging of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, drove the RFU’s efforts to secure host union status for the 2025 Rugby World Cup and was instrumental in securing the financial support for a similar Impact programme around this tournament. Steve was also vice-chair of the legacy programme for the 2017 World Athletics Championships and spent 6 years on the Board of England Athletics, the last 3 as Senior Independent Director. Prior to joining the RFU, Steve was Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust where he worked closely with successive governments on the creation and delivery of school sport policies and programmes.

Kunle Olafare

Kunle holds leadership roles in a number of organisations including SK Financial, Haberdashers’ and Surrey County Cricket Club. He spends time in schools helping students to build their confidence to pursue their dreams.

He lives in London with his wife Antoinette and when not at home he can be found watching sport.

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