Graduates return to inspire students

Kelly Smith and Martina Fricano who graduated from our Sport Management BSc(Hons) in 2015 returned this month to the Eastbourne campus. Both contributed to modules that they had studied when at Brighton and that relate to areas they now work in.

Martina works for the Jordan Brand and is their Brand Planning, Strategy and Purpose Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Martina spoke to final year undergraduate students for the Strategic Change in Sport Business Management module. She focused on how the Jordan Brand had responded to the twin challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the death of George Floyd in 2020.

She demonstrated the importance of acquiring up-to-date and relevant evidence in strategic planning cycles. She also offered an insight to the students on how she would go about completing the assignment for their module – a business seminar, just like the one she provided for the year group.

Kelly is Insights and Engagement Officer for the Sport for Development Coalition – a movement of over 200 organisations working to maximise the positive social impact of sport and physical activity. They provide clear messages to government and a range of stakeholders regarding the importance of well-managed local opportunities.

Kelly’s talk related to the Community Sport Development: Policy and Practice module. She provided students with an up-to-the-minute picture of the current challenges facing those working in the management of community sport and physical activity.

The importance of local sporting opportunities, especially to children and young people, in the recovery from the pandemic has been a key consideration for both central and local government, and many third sector organisations.

Principal Lecturer, Marc Keech, said: “Kelly and Martina provided valuable insight into their organisations and as Brighton graduates they were also able to demonstrate how a sport-related degree can lead to exciting career opportunities.”

This was echoed by the students:

“Martina’s presentation was filled with a tremendous amount of information which outlined and applied series of strategic change to the work she does with the Jordan brand at Nike. We were inspired to hear the unique opportunities Martina has had, following the work she does with the Jordan brand and as a graduate of the same degree course we are currently studying.

“Kelly provided a fascinating talk because she made the connection between when she was a student and where she is now. Her knowledge and confidence was inspiring as it shows what we can potentially do in the future.”