Anni talks to Karen Dobres, elected Co-Director of Lewes Football Club, the only football club in the world to pay women and men players the same.
Karen reveals how her background affected her own prior prejudices and misconceptions about women in sport and why seeing women playing for the first time was a real "wake up call". She recalls the realisation of seeing women players as strong, passionate and highly skilled. She describes women footballers as boasting authentic qualities, which are often hard for other women to achieve.
Karen shares how her experience of "being an outsider" has further driven her passion for equality and social justice, in sport and beyond.
She reveals some shocking truths about the gender pay gap in sport, revealing the apparent lack of wealth invested in the Lionesses (England's professional women's team).
However, despite the challenges, Karen talks passionately about the positive power of football and how, as the most popular sport in the world, it can change the way in which girls, boys, women and men are seen in society.
She comments: “Sport is a huge index of meaning and value to so many people. If you think about football in particular, there are nearly 4 billion football fans around the world who live and breathe football and it has an incredible influence over their hearts and minds. So if we can use football to influence a more equal society in terms of gender, race and all of these things, then we will have been using it for good.”
Discover more
To find out more about Lewes Football Club, including details of how to be a member, visit:
www.lewesfc.com/owners
You can connect with Karen on Instagram: @karendobres
To listen to other Leaders in Conversation with me Anni Townend go to my website, www.annitownend.com
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