Thomas van Schaik is a brand strategist, founder of The Athlete Brand and author of The Athlete Brand Book. He has spent more than two decades helping athletes shape their identity, influence, and long-term opportunity. At Adidas, he led global, award-winning campaigns with athletes such as Kobe Bryant, Muhammad Ali, Allyson Felix, Anna Kournikova, Leo Messi, and David Beckham. At the Dutch Olympic and Paralympic Committee, he helped build Team NL into a unified national brand. He also contributed to developing the IOC's Athlete 365 Business Accelerator.
Hans Westerbeek is Professor of International Sport Business at Victoria University (VU) in Melbourne, where he leads the Sport Business Insights Group in the Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities (ISILC). He previously served as Founding Director of the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL), Dean of the College of Sport and Exercise Science, and Pro-Vice Chancellor Sport, responsible for shaping VU's university-wide sport strategy. He is a non-executive director of Sports Cloud Australia. He also holds adjunct Professorial appointments at Universities in Amsterdam, Madrid, Brussels, Beijing, and Mumbai.
