The appointments of Annie Panter, Lindsay Pattison, and Sean Summers to the Local Operating Company (LOC) Board are another step forward in the preparations for hosting the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England in 2025.
Annie Panter, a former Olympian for Team GB in hockey, has joined to represent the UK government, demonstrating their support for the competition. As a board member of UK Sport, Panter offers the group valuable commercial and board experience as well as insight into the broader UK sporting scene. After Two Circles acquired TRM Partners, Panter joined them as a Managing Director in addition to her position with UK Sport.
She oversees several projects for the organisation in her wide role, not the least of which is Two Circles’ rights management work with UEFA women’s football.
Pattison, who was recently appointed Chief People Officer at WPP, where she is responsible for managing the culture and HR strategy for over 100,000 coworkers, has joined the LOC Board of Directors as an Independent Non-Executive Director and will take on the position of Chair of the Audit Committee. Having previously held senior leadership positions in her field as Worldwide CEO for media agency Maxus and as Chief Client Officer at WPP since 2018, Pattison brings a wealth of digital and media experience to the Board, which aligns with the goals of Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 regarding fan engagement across various platforms.
Summers joins the board while continuing to serve as Executive VP of Mercado Libre, the largest fintech and e-commerce ecosystem in Latin America. In this capacity, he serves as CMO and is in charge of creating Mercado Ads, the company’s premier retail media platform. In addition, Summers is spearheading Mercado Libre’s entry into the entertainment sector, having spearheaded the launch of the free content platform Mercado Play in Latin America earlier this year and mediated distribution deals with premium platforms like Disney+, Star+, HBO Max, Paramount+, and Deezer. Throughout his 11-year tenure, Summers—a leader in his field—has helped the company grow exponentially, overseeing marketing investments exceeding US$1 billion annually and growing its user base to over 100 million active customers.
The Women’s RWC England 2025 Board is part of and functions under World Rugby’s new hosting model, which feeds all host boards into the Events Company Board of the international federation, offering a centralised and coordinated strategic approach to staging the sport’s premier events.
With support from the UK government, World Rugby and the Rugby Football Union announced the host cities, tournament dates, and venues to commemorate the recent two-year milestone. These details will set the stage for the largest-ever celebration of women’s rugby. The World Rugby Awards 2023 in Paris marked the unveiling of the Women’s RWC England 2025 brand, which represents a new visual identity for upcoming Rugby World Cups.
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