Anna Edwards

With over twenty-five years’ experience spanning advertising and marketing, headhunting and consultancy, Anna has worked with and for brands including M&C Saatchi, Amazon, LEGO, Bacardi, IKEA and Pandora, as well as numerous sports teams and federations.

Responsible for our C-Suite and Board level searches and our leadership advisory and development offering, Anna is also a permanent tutor on World Rugby’s Women in Rugby Careers programme, the FA’s Technical Director Course, and for Focus Sport Education – including Foundation of a Sporting Director and the Women’s Football Directorship. She is a guest lecturer on the LMA’s Diploma in Football, a Technical Expert for FIFA and delivered on the MLS Advance Pro-to-Pro programme both online and in person at the MLS All Star’s Event in Charlotte.

Anna has appeared on a variety of panels discussing better recruitment for increased equity and diversity of all forms as well as the issues and opportunities facing women’s sport. Most recently she was a panellist for UK Sport and the RFU’s joint Female Leadership initiative discussing Female Power in Performance, and at the ISC’s Women in Sport Business Summit - her reflections from which on The Future of Women’s Sport can be found here. Anna was invited to moderate a session on Designing Leadership Programmes for the Future as part of the UK’s International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport Summit.

Anna has both an MA in Modern History from the University of Oxford (New College) and a Master's in Mentoring and Coaching from Oxford Brookes Business School. Her dissertation discussed ‘The role of coaching in an elite athlete’s transition to a second career’, leading to a stint as a Trustee of Switch the Play. She sits on the Advisory Board for the International Sports Convention and is a High Performance Mentor for World Rugby.