Matt Pounder – Speaker at the 20th EFDN Conference

Matt Pounder – Speaker at the 20th EFDN Conference

Matt Pounder, Senior EDI Manager of the Premier League, is a confirmed speaker at our 20th EFDN ‘Making Football Matter’ Conference in Athens from the 13th until the 15th of November 2023.

Matt joined the Premier League in July 2018. Matt’s current role is Senior EDI Manager, with responsibility for disability inclusion and the Premier League Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standard (PLEDIS). An integral part of Matt’s role is to support Clubs to achieve against the challenging and progressive PLEDIS framework by being inclusive organisations that are representative of the communities they serve. Matt is an independent member of the FA’s Disability Football Committee and an Independent Director at British Blind Sport.

Previously, Matt worked within the Premier League Charitable Fund as Community Programme Executive, leading on EDI, the PL BT Disability Fund and the Premier League and PFA Community Fund. Before joining the Premier League, Matt was Head of Sport at Burnley FC in the Community, having joined the Club after starting his career at Liverpool Football Club.

His presentation will introduce and explore the Premier League Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standard (PLEDIS) by bringing to life it’s structured framework, processes and the thematic journey that Premier League football clubs undertake through their EDI efforts.

The presentation will highlight good practice from clubs across topics such as leadership, data and learning and development, share key reflections from a summer of club Panel assessments and consider what risks and opportunities lay ahead.

”The moment I think of is the launch of the Danny Ings Disability Sport Project at Burnley FC in October 2014. Burnley is my hometown and the place I grew up. As a registered blind young person, I knew all too well how much the area lacked meaningful sporting provision and opportunity. The Danny Ings Disability Sport Project combined the passion, kindness and superstar-appeal of Premier League footballer Danny Ings and the on-the-ground knowledge, insight and expertise of the BFCitC to develop a programme that would break down societal and practical barriers for disabled people in sport and eventually grow to provide sporting, education and employment opportunities for 800 disabled people weekly.”

Matt about his best CSR moment in football