Mike Geddes

Mike Geddes is an expert in the field of sport as a tool for social change and youth engagement.

The penny dropped in 2005. I was filming with the BBC in rural Mozambique and while waiting for the sun to come up I noticed a group of kids waiting patiently beside us. As soon as the sunlight reached them they jumped up and started playing football - and they didn't stop until the sun set again that evening. For me, this simple example of the real power of the game was the start of my personal journey to find the answer to the question - can football change the world?

Today I am the USA Director for the international non-profit organisation streetfootballworld based in New York, and a consultant for several other non-profits in the field of strategic partnerships, fundraising and communications.

As a journalist with the BBC I covered issues including racism, hooliganism and corruption all over the planet and reported on the biggest sporting events in the world including the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games.

My experience in social development through sport includes field work in India, China, Mozambique, Botswana, Kenya, Bosnia, Japan, South Africa, Cambodia, Namibia, Ghana, Australia, UAE and many other countries.

From 2008 to 2012 I worked in South Africa as part of the team delivering the social legacy campaign of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

I have also designed and led numerous strategies for youth engagement through sport in deprived communities in the UK, Kenya and South African townships, among others.

I love to talk about my passion and have spoken on the topic of sport as a tool for social change and has appeared at Harvard, Brown, New York University, Wharton Business School, the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy and many others.

If I'm naturally talented at anything it's public event presentation and, wierdly, street soccer commentary which I've done all over the world from the UK to Bosnia, South Africa and the USA.