Centre for Sport, Business and Society People

Co-Directors

Professor Carol Mills

Carol is a highly respected chief executive with unrivalled experience across the public, private, non-profit and university spheres. Her leadership career has covered a diversity of public policy and public administration areas including sport and recreation, social and affordable housing, arts and heritage administration, liquor and gaming regulation, disability services, ageing, children services and Aboriginal affairs. Prior to her current role at UTS, Carol had over 20 years’ experience in a range of executive roles in the public sector. This included the Chief Executive positions of Director General, Communities NSW and Department of Arts, Sport and Recreation and Secretary, Department of Parliamentary Services, Canberra. Carol’s expertise is built on effectively combining strategic and practical approaches to policy making, evaluation, management and change.     

Professor Nico Schulenkorf

Nico is passionate about using sport as a vehicle for community development. As a global leader in sport-for-development research, his work focuses on the social, cultural and health-related outcomes of sport and event projects. For more than two decades, Nico has been leading sport and health promotion research in countries such as Sri Lanka, Israel and the Pacific Islands where he has been making an active and practical difference to disadvantaged communities on the ground. Nico is co-founder and past editor of the Journal of Sport for Development and a regular consultant to a variety of government and United Nations departments.       
 

CSBS members

Associate Professor Daryl Adair

Daryl is Associate Professor of Sport Management and Director of the Australian Centre for Olympic Studies at UTS Business School. He has co-produced explanatory books about the operation of some of the biggest global sport events – the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, and the FIFA World Cup. Daryl is a regular commentator in media discussions around sport, most notably in The Conversation, where he seeks to inform public debate in an accessible way.

Tish Creenaune

Tish is a Senior Manager in IPPG and brings her diverse experience in delivering impact in national and state government policy, Women’s policy, education, strategy development and delivery to the CSBS. She has a proven track record in developing capability through leadership development, coaching and mentoring, and professional development. She is a highly experienced teacher and trainer of both young people and adults. Her advanced stakeholder engagement skills across government and industry have led to collaboration on complex, high-impact innovation projects.

Professor Tim Harcourt

Tim is Industry Professor and Chief Economist at UTS. He specialises in Australia’s economic engagement with the Global Economy particularly Asia, Latin America and Emerging Markets. Tim has worked in both public policy and research roles in International Trade, Labour Markets, Climate Innovation and the Economics of Sport. Tim is passionate about the economics of sport and sports diplomacy and hosts Footynomics – the Economics of Sport, which is also the title of his latest book.    
 

Associate Professor Katie Schlenker

Katie’s research interests are in the areas of event evaluation, the social and environmental impacts of events, and event leverage. Katie is passionate about maximising and measuring the contributions that events can make to individuals, communities, destinations and broader society. The context in which this can be achieved spans community festivals, public events, business events and sporting events.

Associate Professor Giuseppe Carabetta

Giuseppe is Associate Professor of employment law at UTS. His research has been cited in Supreme Court and Court of Appeal decisions in Australia, and he has been called upon to contribute to Parliamentary Inquiries on public-sector employment. As well as employment law and dispute resolution, Giuseppe is actively involved in sports employment law. He has facilitated workshops for professional sporting organisations such as the national Rugby Union Players Association; and provided expert media commentary on major sporting disputes including Israel Folau v Rugby Australia 2019 and the Alex McKinnon Sports Injury case.
 

Professor Simon Darcy

Simon is deeply committed to working with the omitted, overlooked and ‘othered’ marginalised identities in sport from the community level right through to major international sport events. He is internationally recognised for his contributions to improving the citizenship rights of people with disability in all aspects of sport including participation, employment, volunteering and as officials. Through codesign and creative methodologies Simon works with government, not-for-profit and commercial organisations to improve inclusive organisation practices and social impact outcomes.    
 

Dr Stephen Frawley

Stephen’s research is focused on understanding the complexity of planning and organising sport mega-events. This research interest was principally developed working in the organising committee for Sydney 2000. With planning for Brisbane 2032 well underway, he is interested in understanding how key stakeholders will work together to ensure the successful delivery and leverage of the Games. Following the success of Sydney 2000 and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Australia has developed an enviable reputation for sport mega-event management. Furthering our knowledge and understanding of this success will be of critical value for future organising committees. 

Dr Greg Joachim

Greg is interested in helping sport organisations in all sectors better serve their users with human-centred design thinking. His work with the Sydney Sixers of the Women's and Men's Big Bash Leagues provided a framework for enabling sport managers to better understand the needs of their users and to effectively meet those needs. Greg is the website editor of the Journal of Sport for Development and the host of The Knowledge Mill, a podcast featuring PhD researchers and their work.
 

Dr Ece Kaya

Ece is a researcher with an interdisciplinary background and the author of the book Transformation of Sydney’s Industrial Historic Waterfront: The Production of Tourism for Consumption. Her research interests involve urban tourism, placemaking, creative space, and the revitalisation of industrial spaces. She is also passionate about maximising social impact and contributing to gender equality in the sports industry.   
  

Michelle Roberson

Michelle is Senior Manager, Advisory with the UTS Institute for Public Policy and Governance. She is a highly experienced policy professional with extensive knowledge of and experience in public policy and administration, research, evaluation and program and service reform. Working in senior roles in Government and as a consultant she has worked across a range of portfolio areas focused on improving community outcomes.
 

DR Andy West

Andy is Lecturer in the Master of Marketing program, with subjects taught including Marketing Analytics, Digital Marketing, Innovation and Creativity, and Customer Analytics. His current research interests in Sports Marketing are representation in sport promotions and sports sponsorship. He also has research interests in amateur sport participation drawing on his range of volunteer sports administration roles over the past twenty years. He is currently the Chair of the UTS Northern Suburbs Athletic Club Foundation and Treasurer of the UTS Northern Suburbs Athletic Club. He has provided industry and strategic reports to Athletics Australia, Athletics NSW, Paralympics, and Special Olympics.

Associate Professor Daniela Spanjaard

Daniela is an Associate Professor in Marketing at UTS who actively researches the fan experience, particularly its application within stadium environments, wayfinding around sports precincts, and fan engagement across digital platforms. Her research has played a key role in securing a successful NRL Women's license, enhancing fan engagement at Commbank Stadium, and reinforcing the case for supporting women in sport.
 

Adjunct Professor Tony Veal

Tony began his career in local government and then worked in the Universities of Birmingham and North London in the UK from 1968 to 1986. In 1986 he joined the then Kuring-gai CAE, which amalgamated with UTS in 1990. He was Head of School during the period 1997-99 and spent periods as Acting Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Business and Head of the Graduate School of Business in 1995-96 and 1999. In 2003 he retired from full-time employment at UTS and was appointed to the honorary position of Adjunct Professor. He is past president of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Leisure Studies (ANZALS) and former chair of the Leisure Studies Association (UK).

Dr Adam Cohen

Adam's primary research focus is in the area of sport-for-development (SFD), social justice, and youth sport participation and impact. He seeks to examine the impact of sport in a broader and more global spectrum along with assessing social entrepreneurship, volunteer motivation/impact, and partnerships. Collaborations have included Street Soccer USA, the World Scholar-Athletes Games, SFD initiatives in Nicaragua and Vanuatu, and non-traditional sport organisations including the International Quidditch Association and Spikeball Roundnet Association    
 

Dr Lewis Whales

Lewis has broad research interests including leadership, fundraising, volunteering, and social impact. His doctoral thesis explored relational leadership in a championship-winning professional sport team. Lewis has adapted the findings from this research to provide leadership development programs and presentations to elite-level teams and coaches. Lewis also has a long-standing commitment to community sport in Australia as a coach and administrator for organisations such as the Australian Football League, Cricket Australia, Blacktown City Council, Liverpool City Council, and Police Citizens Youth Clubs NSW.