Here are the brief biographies and expectations from the advisors who are going to participate in the afternoon session of SPORTS CHANGE MAKERS Final Presentation to be held on August 23. On the event, representatives from Europe and Japan will present their ideas and passions. Then they and advisors will discuss each idea to make it more realistic.
(Messages from advisors are added on August 30, 2021.)
Name: Timo Lumme
Title: Managing Director, Television & Marketing Services, The International Olympic Committee
Biography: Timo Lumme is the Managing Director of IOC Television & Marketing Services, the broadcast and marketing rights arm of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). As Managing Director, he is responsible for the sale of television and new media rights to the Olympic Games, the negotiation and sale of Worldwide Olympic Partnerships, and the management of the IOC's global sponsorship programme known as TOP. His responsibilities include the development and implementation of the IOC's strategic marketing plan and oversight of Olympic marketing programmes worldwide. A qualified lawyer from the London firm of Slaughter and May, he speaks five languages (Finnish, English, French, Italian and German).
Expectation for SPORTS CHANGE MAKERS project: I look forward to hearing more about the innovative ideas developed by these four students and presented to us as part of the SPORTS CHANGE MAKERS project. This initiative by Panasonic uses technology to further engage young people in the future of sport and uses its power to break down barriers. The goal of this project is very much in line with the core mission of the IOC to use sport to make a better and more peaceful world. Working with Panasonic on such initiatives is a great example of how our shared values enable us to go beyond the Games and collaborate in innovative ways to contribute to society. I expect lots of diverse opinions and engagement to make a rich experience for participants.
Expectation for Generation Z and Millennials: Enthusiasm and curiosity! Generation Z and Millennials are generations that grew up with new technologies and have used since a young age digital platforms, which have helped break down barriers. The Olympic Games are always about connecting people, shared experiences and building community--the same basic elements that are at the heart of digital technology. And these two worlds are becoming increasingly entwined. We see that people today are connecting with the Olympic Games in more ways than ever before, and they are doing so digitally. Collaborating in the future with the next generation of technology experts could offer great opportunities to solve some of our biggest challenges.
About barriers: Everyone has felt barriers at some stage, whether small or big. Mindset for everyone needs to be proactively inclusive--when you see people who are like this, it inspires others to be like them.
Name: Christel Saneh
Title: IOC Young Leader (2019-2020)/Professional illustrator, photographer and comic artist/Lebanese long jumper
Biography: Being an athlete, an illustrator and a sports journalist led Christel to stand out in the sports field. She combined her graphic skills, her passion for sports and journalism to create a comic book about Arab women competing at the Olympics, and a board game to promote Olympism through play. She worked alongside Tony Tarraf to develop the board game. Her journey began with Track & Field Society and extended to the IOC Young Reporters and IOC Young Leaders programs, and the IOC Communication commission.
Expectation for SPORTS CHANGE MAKERS project: A new emerging wave of young people inspiring their community by giving back to the sport.
Expectation for Generation Z and Millennials: Expect them to innovate and push the limits of their predecessors. Incorporate creativity and digitalization into their work.
About barriers: Barriers plenty. But I did hurdles in my life and I learned how to overtake them. The main barrier for me is living in country where you are constantly giving back but your country is not appreciating your effort and standing in your way instead. I always did what I did by myself and the support of my small entourage, and never got any support from people in the sport industry. Unfortunately that is a huge barrier that we needed to overcome but at the same time it is what shaped my life and made me someone who strives to achieve what I want. I think we need to believe in ourselves and our abilities while staying humble and down to earth. Step in with confidence and respect the other. Also I think there is something that people often forget that it is essential: fun. In sports, in life, in everything we do, there should be some fun in it.
Name: Rie Tanaka
Title: Executive Board member, The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Biography: Participated in the London 2012 Olympic Games as representative of Japan for gymnastics
Expectation for SPORTS CHANGE MAKERS project: Values such as gender equality and unity in diversity have become important global issues in recent years. To achieve these, it is essential to raise the awareness of many people. I believe that technology and the power of sports can play a role here. I hope that, through the SPORTS CHANGE MAKERS project, technologies and sports will create a world without barriers and allow future Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in a new format that will remain as a legacy for years to come.
Expectation for Generation Z and Millennials: Generation Z are known to be digital natives, and millennials have grown up with digital technologies. I believe these two generations with different values will work together to overcome social barriers and redesign Olympic and Paralympic Games by leveraging technologies and their power to influence people.
About barriers: I myself have fortunately not had to deal with any barriers, but I find that the media has a tremendous impact on readers and viewers depending on how they cover the news. Sport is a powerful platform to promote universality and diversity among viewers. To capitalize on the power of sports as a platform where people acknowledge social diversity--race, religion, nationality, culture, sexual orientation--and that can promote gender equality, unbiased sports journalism that is free of stereotypes and prejudices is indispensable.
Name: Marlène Masure
Title: Chief Commercial Officer, The Paris 2024 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Biography: Marlène joined the Paris 2024 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in April 2019 to lead commercial activities (partnerships, ticketing, hospitality, licensing, media rights) after 17 years in the Entertainment business: 12 years as the CMO and 5 years doing marketing. She also spent 5 years in the FMCG business working with commercial responsibilities.
Expectation for SPORTS CHANGE MAKERS project: Innovation through sport to drive inclusion and strengthen the belonging to local communities. Sport does improve health & well-being; I expect from those initiatives to put more sport into people's lives, to bring people together and improve accessibility to sport for people with disabilities.
Expectation for Generation Z and Millennials: To demonstrate creativity so as to have an impact on the world we are living in and for years to come. Challenge the status quo. Sustainability and inclusion should be areas of focus.
About barriers: In large organizations you do not feel sometimes empowered to lead change and you can struggle to be heard. What needs to be done is encourage talents to speak up and "dare" thinking out of the box. Another concern would be the reality of companies focusing on what will drive financial value at scale and short term: innovation to drive inclusion, health might not have a short term pay off. It is necessary to have opportunity to capitalize on long term CSR strategies to greenlight innovative projects.
Name: Yoshiaki Sawabe
Title: Advisor, The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Biography: Born in Tokyo in 1973. After entering Kyoto Institute of Technology in 1992, Yoshiaki had a motorcycle accident at the age of 18, and his limbs became completely immobile. Returning to college, he founded the creative company at the age of 24. He leads the creative collective with a total of 150 staff. Leading the "CYBER SPORTS Project" that combines parasports and technology, and the "Japanesque Project" that updates traditional Japanese culture. He is promoting regional revitalization through entertainment.
Expectation for SPORTS CHANGE MAKERS project: I am excited to see how young talents from around the globe are going to drive world progress through sports from completely new perspectives and with new ideas. I look forward to hearing about fresh ideas that none of us have ever thought of.
Expectation for Generation Z and Millennials: They are born in a digital world and take constant connection to a network as a matter of course. Therefore, they perceive the world from a completely different sense of distance from that of prior generations. This in turn enables them to view the issues we face from a broader, higher perspective. I hope they can look out from that viewpoint and see what they can do.
About barriers: Stereotypes impede many things. If we stop to question "it is really so?" in a positive manner, a different world may appear. I think the greatest barrier in our lives is the human propensity to lose a sense of excitement in daily life. I believe that unquenchable curiosity is the only driver to overcome that. Answers are often hidden in things that seem to have nothing to do with us.
Name: Yoshihiro Morii
Title: Executive Officer, Panasonic
Biography: After graduating Osaka University's School of Economics, Yoshihiro joined one of the major advertising agencies in Japan. He worked in the Marketing Division to organize marketing strategies and moved on the Sales Division to manage the advertising of one the world's largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) corporations as the Deputy Director. After 2014, he acted as Chief Marketing Officer in several companies and Managing Director in consulting firm before joining to Panasonic in 2020. While working, he also lectured part-time in universities. He currently lectures for The Graduate School of Project Design (Professional Graduate School) based in Japan.
Expectation for SPORTS CHANGE MAKERS project: Thank you very much for all of those who joined to this project, embodying "Going Beyond Barriers" concept as SPORTS CHANGE MAKERS. It is important to create new value by fusing the digital and the real in order to increase the value of the space itself. Also, to make ideal world, expansion of sports participants is necessary. Hoping to touch upon such ideas and willing to get many suggestions from youth generation.
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