The 2023 European Athletics CEO Conference gathered together 78 participants - CEOs, directors and general secretaries - from 43 Member Federations in Belchin, Bulgaria from 23-24 May.
This year's edition of the biennial Conference was opened by European Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov, who is also the Bulgarian Athletics Federation President. It is part of European Athletics’ Member Federation Networking and Education Programme which also features European Athletics Convention workshops, the Member Federations Leaders Forum, and the Communication Managers Seminar.
The objective of the whole programme is to provide learning opportunities and a networking environment to strengthen the athletics community in Europe.
Attendees in Belchin, along with President Karamarinov, included European Athletics CEO Christian Milz and World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon and the pair opened the proceedings on day one with a discussion about the future of athletics.
This was followed by an insightful presentation on leadership in times of crisis by leadership coach Céline Beaurain.
On day two, Running Unit Director at European Athletics, Marko Vasic, was joined by Golazo CEO Bob Verbeeck, and Head of Running at World Athletics, Alessio Punzi, for a discussion on all things relating to the running industry and mass participation.
Finally, European Athletics Deputy CEO Célia Mendes, was joined by safe sport specialist Mathilde Grenet as well as Donna Fraser - a former World and European Athletics Championships medallist and Director of Equality Diversity and Inclusion at the Professional Cricketers' Association - for a talk on governance, safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion.
There was also time to discuss European Athletics’ strategy, take part in team-building sessions, and each day began with morning running, yoga, stretching and outdoor gym sessions – so it was a busy couple of days for everyone involved!
European Athletics CEO Christian Milz said: “Our aim with the CEO Conference is to strengthen the bond among top operational leaders of our sport.
“Working together as a team between European Athletics and our Member Federations is ultimately key to the success of the development of athletics in Europe. We network, share knowledge and experience while addressing the European Athletics strategy and discuss the future of Athletics.”
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