England Hockey is committed to the principles of fair treatment for everyone, embracing differences and creating a culture where everyone is welcome. We recognise that there is much that can be done to ensure our sport is diverse and to help us achieve this we have established an Advisory Group to contribute to our Strategy, Action Plan and future initiatives.
The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) Advisory Group has brought together expert representatives to support and advise on the future development, implementation and evaluation of our ED&I work.
England Hockey recognises a need to evolve continuously to successfully embed ED&I in all that we do. The Advisory Group will be providing support, advice and assurance on the organisation's journey to deliver changes at all levels of the sport. We are also keen to learn from the other sectors, sports and nations as we develop our plans, policies and best practices. The Advisory Group will review our emerging strategy and contribute to a clear action plan for the England Hockey Board, which will result in improved representation, fair and inclusive policies and practices and a sport that is welcoming to all.
The group’s primary duties in this first year will be:
- Analyse and review the results of hockey’s recently conducted More Inclusive Sport Survey
- Support, advise and be involved in the development of a high-level action plan for the sport with endorsement from the England Hockey Board
- Provide oversight and monitoring of the progress made by England Hockey and the sport against the agreed Strategy and Action Plan
The initial term for members is for 12 months, after which the effectiveness shall be reviewed by both the Advisory Group and the Board. This includes a review of membership and relevant skills, any changes considered necessary must be approved by the Board.
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Dawn was voted in as a Vice President of England Hockey at the England Hockey AGM in March 2021.
She has been involved in hockey for most of her life, first as a player with the then Ealing Ladies HC in the '80s and '90s before becoming a qualified Level 2 umpire in 1992 in the South region. Since then, Dawn has moved been involved with umpire coaching, assessing and umpire management, has been active in the NPUA since 2009 and became an FIH Umpire Manager in 2014.
In the New Area Structure, Dawn is the Vice Chair of Officiating with responsibility for overseeing Development and Appointing, whilst continuing her coaching and assessing in the Area, for NPUA and Internationally.
She is the Indirect Procurement Manager for one of the World's largest Commercial Insurance Companies (QBE) as well as being part of the EO (European Operations) Diversity and Inclusion network called Mix who celebrate, educate and raise ethnic and diverse awareness across the company, working with the People function on initiatives to improve the diversity in the workplace.
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Dom Conricode is a lecturer in Sport Management at Manchester Metropolitan University. His research has examined the representation and experiences of minoritised coaches in professional football and the effectiveness of positive action measures designed to address racialised inequalities in the professional coaching industry.
He also has significant experience in the voluntary sector, working with anti-racism organisations, sport foundations and refugee support and advocacy groups. This work has included the development of policy documents and successful grant writing.
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Ella Slade (they/them) is an inspiring and influential non-binary person, with a passion for intersectional inclusion. Ella works for IBM and is their Global LGBT+ Leader, leading initiatives globally to ensure all LGBTQ+ IBM employees can thrive both personally and professionally.
Ella is also the women's club captain for London Royals HC, the world's second largest LGBTQ+ hockey club.
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Graham grew up on the family farm in Scotland and, after falling in love with hockey at primary school, has only missed one season since. Now based in USA, he is currently the captain of New York City Field Hockey Club and is part of the North East Field Hockey Association committee. A huge hockey fan, he captained University of Glasgow's 1st XI and was sabbatical student president of the Glasgow University Sports Association, gaining first-hand experience of the BUCS network. Prior to his move to New York, Graham played with London Wayfarers and was part of the squad that won the Men's Trophy (now the Men's Tier 2 competition) in 2009. He is also an original member of London Royals HC and re-joined the team to win a silver medal at the 2018 Paris Gay Games.
Outside of hockey, Graham works for WPP’s global advertising agency VMLY&R where he is Managing Director of Experience Strategy for the New York office as well as the client lead for the Colgate-Palmolive digital business. Beyond the day job, he also leads the company’s Global LGBTQ+ employee resource group which exists to empathise, inspire and educate the 13,000 employees in over 100 countries on all aspects of LGBTQ+ life. He led the business to its first 100% score in the Human Right’s Campaign Corporate Equality Index and regularly consults clients on effective ED&I strategies in marketing and inclusion.
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James is driven by opportunities to launch initiatives that support organisational change, create holistic fan experiences at sports events, and make the industry more inclusive.
In his past role at Harlequins RFC, he initiated professional rugby’s inaugural LGBTQ+ Pride Game in February 2020, launched the sport’s first LGBTQ+ Supporters Association, and built the Club's first matchday celebration of Black History Month.
In his present job, James now leads on Supporter Experience at Arsenal FC where he continues to advocate for wider representation and inclusion in sport. He is also the Co-Chair of Pride In Tennis, the UK's LGBTQ+ network for tennis, and the D&I Lead for The Harlequins Foundation.
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Chairman of City of Birmingham HC, England Hockey's youngest elected chair, Jeevan was named the Rising Star award winner at the 2019 England Hockey Awards. He is also a diversity champion for Hockey Wales, an ambassador for the Hockey Mentors Project and the mental health lead at City of Birmingham HC.
In addition, he is also a senior health mentor at Evolve, working across the West Midlands to support young people's health and wellbeing.
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Nigel has been involved with hockey for more than 30 years on and off the pitch. Nigel currently plays for Southgate HC and representative hockey at divisional and international masters level. When not playing, Nigel is also an active Level 1 umpire and Hockey Maker, having volunteered at numerous events including Futures Cup and the 2018 Women’s Hockey World Cup as well as undertaking a number of club administrative positions, including serving the match teas /coffees!
Away from hockey, Nigel leads and manages a range of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) industry forums across property and valuation related areas, whose function is to provide strategic oversight, monitor market trends/industry issues, shape industry best practice, raise standards and develop policy. This is achieved through extensive collaboration with subject matter experts, industry influencers and public consultation.
Nigel supports the internal RICS staff Diversity and Inclusion group. Current areas of focus are women at work, returnees to work, LGBTQ+, social mobility (which is a real area of focus in the surveying industry), minority ethnic groups and accessibility/disability.
Hailing from a mixed race background and as a father to two young children who are very keen to pick up a hockey stick, Nigel is passionate they are raised in a society and a game that is open to all and is a supportive and fun environment to be part of.
Nigel believes this is an exciting juncture in England Hockey’s ED&I journey, with the pandemic providing a unique opportunity to pioneer a more agile approach as well as an opportunity to transform the thinking/ education on issues in this space, developing deeper partnerships within the game and implementing best practice approaches taken from other sectors.
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Sam is a former Premier Division player who retired early from the sport to pursue her career. However, hockey was never far from her thoughts and this led to her returning with her children as a parent helper and a masters player.
Hockey shaped Sam's life from the age of eight and she credits the sport for much of what she is today;
an authentic leader and team player who puts people and fairness at the heart of all she does.
Sam has many years’ experience working with independent advisory groups and voluntary organisations. This work ensured the voice and needs of all were heard whilst designing and delivering multiple improvements across the public sector.
Sam is excited to share her ideas and experience with England Hockey to ensure there is diversity of thought and has a particularly passion in ensuring there is an opportunity for all within hockey. -
Sarah gained 122 International caps for England and Great Britain between 2013-2021, winning European and Commonwealth medals. She also represented England in front of thousands of adoring home fans at the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup in London and was part of the Team GB squad that travelled to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Sarah also is also the captain of Surbiton HC's women's 1st XI and was part of the squad that won seven consecutive Premier Division titles between 2013/14-2019/20.
Whilst competing, Sarah used her platform and voice to push for change through the Stick It To Racism campaign and driving conversation within the Great Britain women's squad, who then decided to take the knee out in Tokyo. She is also a Lead Mentor with the Hockey Mentors Academy and is passionate about enabling all children, no matter their background, equal opportunities to play our sport.
These nine individuals, selected through an open recruitment process, join Angela Durnin (England Hockey Board ED&I champion) and Kuldeep Kaur (England Hockey Exec ED&I champion) on the group with support from Alison Faiers, England Hockey's ED&I Change Manager.
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England Hockey Board - Member Elected Non-Executive Director
Angela has a wealth of experience across the finance industry and is an active and committed hockey club member, having volunteered with London Wayfarers HC in various roles for more than 10 years. A qualified Chartered Accountant with experience across a multitude of specialisms in the finance industry, Angela has a track record of delivering back office modernisation strategy and significant cost reduction in challenging and resistant environments.
Angela is passionate about accessibility to grassroots sport for all players regardless of ability, social demographic and ethnicity and has been instrumental in the membership growth at London Wayfarers to an impressive 1,500 players.
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England Hockey Finance & Administration Director
Kuldeep joined England Hockey in October 2020 after spending nine years at the Rugby Football Union (RFU) where she led the financial planning, strategy and partnering teams. Kuldeep is a qualified CIMA accountant and is well versed in the financial operations of an NGB and its statutory obligations.
Kuldeep is also a coach and mentor for senior leaders across sport as well as being a board trustee for a charity offering careers counselling to vulnerable young people.
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Change Manager For ED&I
Alison joined England Hockey in September 2021, coming from Sport England where she had been Senior Equality and Diversity Manager. Prior to that, Alison worked at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for more than 15 years. Alison is also a member of the Sport Resolutions Safeguarding Arbitration Panel.
