The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional football competition in Australia and plays a central role in the collective psyche which underpins this sporting nation. However despite its broad following, the sport has long been a predominantly male and heterosexual affair. But what if one team decided to step up and seek a more inclusive code for all? Matt Finnis has been the Chief Executive Officer of the St Kilda Football Club in Melbourne, Australia since April 2014. Prior to joining St Kilda, Matt was CEO of the Australian Football League (AFL) Players’ Association, representing the interests of current, future and former AFL players in a range of industrial, commercial and development matters. Before his roles in the AFL Matt worked as a commercial lawyer advising numerous sporting organisations, businesses, athletes and government. He has extensive experience in supporting community causes and organisations, having been chairman of Ladder – an AFL Players’ charitable initiative to tackle youth homelessness and a director of AFL SportsReady – the AFL industry’s group training company. Matt was a director of Surfing Australia – the peak governing body for the sport of surfing between 2007 and 2016 and has been a director and company secretary of Surf Life Saving Victoria since 2002. Matt was also a founding director of HeartKids Australia, a charity supporting children born with congenital heart disease. Matt has been a founding member of the Sport Male Champions of Change Group since 2015, working with influential leaders to redefine men’s role in taking action on gender inequality. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

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