Dr Michele Cox

MICHELE COX is a former Football Fern (member of the New Zealand national women's football team) who went on to work for ASB as Senior Sponsorship and Corporate Development Manager before becoming the Head of Women's Football for NZ Football, leading the successful bid for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup held in New Zealand in 2008. She has been a Board Member for Paralympics NZ, Sport Auckland and YMCA Auckland as well as member of the FIFA Committee for Women's Football and the Women's World Cup from 2005-2011. After working in the Migrant and Refugee sector as the CEO of the Asylum Seekers Support Trust upon her return to New Zealand, Michele took up the brand-new role of National Female Participation Manager at NZ Cricket and at the same time lectured an Advanced Sport Development paper for AUT. Currently, she is the Chief Executive of the New Zealand Football Foundation. To complement her work in sport, Michele has a PhD in Physical Activity from AUT, as well as an MA in Psychology, a Dip Bus (Marketing) and a Diploma in Naturopathy. She has also five published books relating sport and excellence, and continues to participate in many different sports for fun. MAIA JACKMAN is a 45-year-old former Football Fern and captain, with a career in the national team spanning 1993-2012. She played football professionally in China in 2002. She played in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup for New Zealand and was selected for the FIFA All Star World XI, the only NZ women's player ever afforded this honour. She was also awarded the Order of Merit MNZM for services to football in 2013. Maia is currently a senior physiotherapist at Mt Albert Grammar. She has also been on the team of physiotherapists looking after the youth and senior national football teams, as well as being a public speaker and pundit for Sky Sports. Maia earned her degree in sport and exercise science in 1997 from Auckland University leading her into a career in fitness and personal training. She completed a second degree in Health Science Physiotherapy from AUT in 2001. Maia is a mum to her five-year-old daughter and is passionate about parenting, fitness, health and wellness, human behaviour and helping people in those areas. Through all her experience in the health sector Maia takes a very holistic approach to helping people taking into account the person as a whole socially, emotionally, physically and psychologically and draws on her experiences as an elite athlete to help people reach their own goals.