FIFA MASTER ALUMNI – WHERE ARE THEY NOW? – KIRSTY BURROWS

Kirsty Burrows

Current Position: Consultant

Year of graduation: 2015 (15th Edition)

Nationality: British

 

What does your current role involve?

I am a consultant specialising in Athlete Safeguarding and Gender Equality in sport.

Since graduating from the FIFA Master, I am most proud of having authored the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Toolkit for International Federations and National Olympic Committees, related to creating and implementing policies and procedures to safeguard athletes from harassment and abuse in sport.  

My role as a consultant to the IOC is primarily focused on assisting Olympic Movement stakeholders with implementing their own safeguarding policies and procedures by using this Toolkit.

I am also assisting with the IOC Gender Equality Review Project. As part of this project the IOC has recently released the 25 IOC Gender Equality Recommendations for the Olympic Movement. It is through the implementation of these recommendations that we are able to not only improve access and opportunities in this field for Women and Girls, but also achieve greater gender equality in sport - for the benefit of society at large.

    

Which aspects of the FIFA Master course have helped you most in your career?

Every module of the FIFA Master helped my career.

Milan: I am self-employed, and am currently in the process of opening my own company. This was not in my plan, but I feel very fortunate to have arrived here. Being self-employed as you know has many benefits but also a fair number of risks, which the Milan module has helped me to navigate and minimize.

Neuchâtel: As I work mainly in developing policy, my work requires an understanding of the applicable legal systems and bodies as well as a deep working knowledge of the Olympic Movement stakeholders and the relationships between the different organizations. 

Leicester: Finally, the basis of my work is in human rights – harassment and abuse violates human rights, and gender equality is an essential human right. The humanities module assisted me tremendously in developing my understanding and building my capacity in this area.

 

What advice would you give to future students on the course?

Try to get the most out of every module. One of the best things about the FIFA Master I think is the breadth of the curriculum.

There will always be aspects of the course that you enjoy more than others, and you may intend to follow a career in sport following the master which focuses largely on one of the modules. However, I was really surprised how much the parts of the Master which I thought were not, perhaps, so relevant to me have actually helped me the most since graduation.

Also, treat the football matches as an interview. I met the people who became my future colleagues at the IOC during these games.  Mostly, though, enjoy it! It is over too soon!

 

The FIFA Master - International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport is organized by the CIES in partnership with De Montfort University (Leicester, UK), SDA Bocconi School of Management (Milan, Italy) and the University of Neuchâtel. In 2017 the FIFA Master was ranked as the No.1 course in Europe for the fifth time by the SportBusiness International global rankings.

Discover more examples of inspiring FIFA Master alumni career paths by clicking here.