Book IWD Speaker: Pippa Grange

Applied Psychologist, Former Head of People & Team Development for The Football Association & Founder of Bluestone Edge

Pippa Grange has become a leading choice for International Women’s Day events because her work shows how courage, culture, and psychological safety can change outcomes at the highest level. She made her name as Head of People and Team Development for the England Men’s Football Team, guiding a cultural shift that freed players from years of pressure. Her approach helped the squad reach a World Cup semi-final and a Nations League final, proving that performance grows when people feel able to be open, honest, and fully themselves. That message resonates with organisations looking to honour International Women’s Day with ideas that spark progress.

Her career began in Australia, where she advised the AFL and the Australian Institute of Sport. Those early years shaped her belief that resilience comes from the environment you build, not only the talent you recruit. She learned how to design systems that allow people to trust one another and handle scrutiny. The work carried forward into her global roles, including founding Bluestone Edge and later taking senior cultural positions across sport and business. One example was her leadership at the AFL Players Association, where she strengthened the psychological foundations of teams facing intense public attention.

International Women’s Day has become a chance for companies to explore how culture affects representation, performance, and wellbeing. Grange speaks directly to those themes. She offers practical tools for cultivating inclusive environments, drawing on methods she has since applied far beyond sport. Her 2025 mandate with the International Olympic Committee, where she created a unified psychological safety framework across multiple nations and disciplines, showed how her thinking can scale. The work gave leaders a shared language for building trust and reducing fear, which aligns closely with the aims of this annual celebration.

Her books add further weight. Fear Less set out a clear path for anyone who wants to face pressure with more confidence; Ethical Leadership in Sport looked at values-based leadership long before it became a common discussion point in business. Her message is steady and grounded. Courage grows when people feel safe, and performance rises when fear drops.

Organisations choose her for International Women’s Day because she connects high-performance psychology with the realities women face at work. She gives audiences a fresh way to think about leadership, vulnerability, and change, and she does it with clarity and conviction.

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