Luke is part of the Common Goal North America team. He is responsible for the design, facilitation, and implementation of Play Proud- Common Goal's LGBTQ+ inclusivity training program. Luke is responsible for the vetting and on-boarding of new Community Organizations as well as supporting with player acquisition in North America. Luke has been involved in the sport development space across many different roles as a program coordinator, event manager, and coach for a number of Common Goal's community organizations in North America.
Luke is a box-to-box midfielder through and through; he is a team player and enjoys doing the hard work and getting stuck into the projects he works on.
Marcela is our Membership Lead, looking after our industry members and making sure they feel the impact of their pledges. Proud Colombian and Latin American, Marcela joined our team in Berlin in 2020 after living in Cusco, Peru where she managed a non-profit organisation.
Although chances of finding her on a hike are higher than finding her on a pitch, she still enjoys celebrating wins, especially if it's for FC Barcelona or, of course, the Colombian national team.
Noah has previously been working in Sports for Development projects predominantly in the middle east. Having grown up in Yemen, Noah has always felt passionate about using sports to leverage positive change in communities. Noah has also enjoyed some time coaching women's teams in both Egypt and the United States.
He loves being active, spending time outdoors, playing football and ultimate frisbee. However, unfortunately, he has a very lazy dog, who prefers spending time on the couch and watching the weekend's games together.
Marios joined Common Goal in September 2019 and has an extensive background in sports media and communications. On the pitch he likens himself to John O’Shea – happy to perform any role in the team to a totally adequate standard (no offence John!).
He’s an avid Manchester United fan but, during his time in London, also took Dulwich Hamlet to his heart and could often be found at Champion Hill on Saturday afternoons.
Passionate about design, social causes, and football, Marla is of the belief that if you can put it all together, even better! She divides her heart between Palmeiras (her Brazilian team since a little kid) and Liverpool FC and ALWAYS gets emotional when listening to "You'll never walk alone."
Mary joined Common Goal in 2024 as the USA Executive Director overseeing the North America region. With an academic background in philosophy and sociology, Mary is also a former professional footballer and co-Founder of Common Goal Community member Soccer Without Borders. A passionate advocate for creating belonging through football, she loves assists more than goals and can be found celebrating the US Women's National Team at most major tournaments.
Mitsy has an academic background in political theory, gender studies, and public policy. She joined Common Goal as Project Manager for Gender Equity.
Before joining the organization, she worked to advance gender equality and social inclusion and promote sustainable development at an international level.
Mitsy is deeply committed to fostering social change and championing equal opportunities for women and girls.
Olivia grew up playing football for Cambridge United and previously moved to America to follow her passion for the Beautiful Game.
She has worked in the sport and charity sector for her whole career and joined the Common Goal team in 2021 to lead with Impact Sponsorship.
She is a loyal Liverpool fan, with Michael Owen a particular favourite growing up – a spot now taken by Common Goal’s own Jurgen Klopp.
Paula joined Common Goal's Marketing department in 2019 as a Visual Communications Designer. Her previous experience designing large-scale events for NGOs and other game changers inspired her to apply to our team. Now as Stakeholder Engagement Lead, Paula supports Common Goal in connecting with our partners, industry members, and network communities, to share our values, fostering collaboration and amplifying impact.
With an expertise in visual communication, and a passion for problem-solving, Paula brings a thoughtful and proactive approach to every challenge. As a Brazilian living in Berlin, she's vowed to (mostly) silence her football opinions since that ill-fated world cup in 2014.
Paulina, originally from Poland, has a background in Education Studies, complemented by her later expertise in Project Management. Her career trajectory reflects a deep commitment to using education as a catalyst for positive change.
Driven by her passion for education for good, Paulina finds a profound connection with Common Goal. She recently discovered a new tool to leverage education as a change agent: football.
This marks a significant expansion in her approach to inspiring and facilitating change through the universal language of sports.
Determined to take his love of football beyond the pitch, Sam studied the Common Goal page for job openings after moving to Berlin from the UK. After almost four years in Germany, he’s now back in his hometown of London helping grow the movement in his own backyard just a stone’s throw from his beloved Arsenal.
Taylor is part of Common Goal USA as a Racial Justice Programme Manager, where she leads the Anti-Racist Project.
With an academic background in sport management, Taylor's career has focused on ensuring all feel seen, valued, and affirmed through the power of sports. She thrives when embracing an intersectional approach to crafting equitable and inclusive policy. Cultural humility and curiosity are her superpowers.
Outside of work, she enjoys reading, travelling, curating her playlists, and cheering on her beloved Arsenal.
Théo joined in 2023 as COO to help Common Goal grow and evolve, connecting the dots between the teams.
He has an academic background in business management and has gained a multitude of experience over the last 12+ years in building, running, and scaling business operations both as a corporate consultant and in start/scale-ups.
As a football fan, he feels privileged to be able to combine purpose and football in his daily job.
Thomas is a social change strategist and entrepreneur with a background in international economics and business administration.
In his role as Co-Founder and COO, he translates vision into strategy and oversees the day-to-day operations of Common Goal.
Outside of the office you will find Thomas on the water in the summer and the snow in the winter.
Tomris joined the Common Goal Team as the People & Culture Manager and is the go-to person for all things related to People. Her background is in HR within the technology sector, and she consciously chose to move into the NGO world.
On the weekends, you can find her focused on a book, lying in the sun and, once in a while, enjoying the occasional World Cup game, cheering for Türkiye or Germany.