Football as a Vehicle for Change: Using Football Stories for Social Impact with Kely Nascimento

This week's podcast guest is Kely Nascimento – founder and CEO of The Impact Game, President of the Nascimento Foundation, global sport and narrative strategist, and daughter of Brazilian legend Pelé.

Kely's career has travelled through art school, graphic design, photography, theatre, and content creation, before converging on purpose-driven storytelling in football, particularly in women's sport and social impact. Drawing on a life lived between Brazil, the United States, and Paris, she has developed a unique lens on how art, culture, and human behaviour intersect with football.

In this conversation, we go deep into storytelling as a tool for social change, why football is such a powerful vehicle for humanity's stories, and how better listening, empathy, and diversity in decision-making can unlock the "untapped power" of women's narratives in sport.

During the podcast chat we spoke about:

1. Football is the vehicle, not the destination
   Kely's real subject is people, not sport. Football is simply a powerful global stage to explore human behaviour, identity, culture, and social issues. If you love something outside sport (art, music, law, education), you can still bring that into football as your vehicle.

2. The best storytelling starts with understanding yourself
   Every story passes through your personal "filter" of experiences, beliefs and biases. Effective storytellers keep doing inner work: understanding who they are, what they value, and how that shapes the way they see and retell stories.

3. Listening and asking are more important than talking
   Kely emphasises active listening: asking questions, letting people finish, and then clarifying instead of assuming. Great storytelling often comes from hearing what people struggle to say and helping them express it—without putting your own meaning on top.

4. Who tells the story matters as much as the story itself
   There's a big difference between:

   • A group of powerful people telling women's or marginalised communities' stories for them, versus
   • Creating space, resources, and platforms for those communities to tell their own stories.
     Brands, federations, and media need to move from "consulting women" to letting women lead narrative creation.

5. Context and culture are non‑negotiable in social impact
   Real impact requires understanding what people actually want in their own context. The Zanzibar example shows this: changing school schedules, working with imams, and respecting religious and cultural norms did more for girls' sport than any top‑down "liberation" message could.

6. Feminism is about choice, not one 'correct' path
   Whether it's wearing a hijab, changing your surname, or how you present your identity, Kely stresses that feminism means women deciding for themselves—not swapping one set of prescriptions (patriarchal) for another (a narrow version of "modern freedom").

7. Joy is fuel for sustainable storytelling work
   Kely separates joy from constant happiness. Joy is the deep sense of meaning you get from the work, even when parts of it are hard (like editing, travel, or friction with institutions). To last in this space, you must find and protect the joy in the process, not only in outcomes.

Connect with Kely & Resourses:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelynascimento/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamkelynascimento/

Kely's Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B1d7AvZ1CI&t=368s

Ted Talk: Ernesto Sirolli: Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!

Women in Soccer: https://womeninsoccer.org/

Raising a Student-Athlete: Work Ethic, Wellbeing & Family Values with Gosia Betancourt

This week's podcast guest is Gosia Betancourt, a Senior Healthcare Leader in the Pharmaceuticals Industry and a deeply engaged sports parent supporting her sons' athletic journeys, particularly her son Joshua's pathway as a student-athlete in diving.

Gosia has over 20 years' experience in pharmaceuticals and sales, working across global markets including Poland, the UK, the US, and Africa (e.g., Swaziland). Alongside her corporate leadership career, she has been intentionally building a high-performance yet values-driven family environment, integrating travel, education, sport, and character development for her two sons.

In this conversation, we go behind the scenes of what it really takes to be a sports parent. We explore how family values, work ethic, and communication shape both elite sport performance and healthy human development.

During the podcast chat we spoke about:

• Gosia's global journey and career foundation: How exposure to different cultures shaped her empathy, communication, and parenting style
• Family values as the base for sport: Building core values at home before worrying about medals or results
• Sales, pharma and parenting crossover: How "putting yourself in someone else's shoes" helps with coaches, teachers and children
• Failure, emotional control and mental toughness: Why managing emotions after success is just as important as after failure
• The pivotal moment: leaving elite gymnastics: Joshua's decision to walk away from high-level gymnastics despite success
• Transitioning from gymnastics to diving: The importance of a kind, supportive environment and what that revealed about his past experiences
• Balancing elite training with education: Why they chose Crimson Global Academy (CGA) for flexible, high-level online education

Connect with Gosia Here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gosia-betancourt-ma-pacs-1516b430/

Connect Gosia through Crimson Global Academy Link Here

How To Pursue A Career In Football Team Operations & Player Services

This week's podcast guest is Natalia Jirala – Football Operations and Player Care Services Professional working across Saudi Arabia and AFC Football Environments, including the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 LOC, SAFF, SPL Player Care, and Al Ittihad/PIF club structures.

Natalia is a football operations and player services professional with over eight years of experience delivering high-performance environments across elite competitions. Her background includes player care and operational support around elite international player environments, working with players including Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kanté, Fabinho, Moussa Diaby and Steven Bergwijn, mainly on the relocation, family support, cultural integration and team services side.

During the podcast chat we spoke about:

• How her football career started, and what inspired her to pursue the industry
• How the UEFA Certificate in Football Management (UEFA CFM) shaped her career development
• What drew her to specialise in Player Care & Football Operations
• What it takes to support elite players and their families through relocation and cultural integration into a new country
• Her experience working across major competitions and club structures, including SPL Player Care, Al Ittihad/PIF, and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027, and much more!

Connect with Natalia Here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-jirala/

Email: jiralanatalia@gmail.com