BLR WORLD strengthens its Senior Leadership Team with the appointment of former FIFA Director Lisa Pennington as Chief Operating Officer
BLR WORLD, the award-winning consultancy for the culture, entertainment and mega-event sectors, has announced the appointment of Lisa Pennington as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO).
To be based out of the BLR WORLD Dubai office in the UAE and with a global remit, Pennington is a renowned C-suite executive leader. Bringing over 25 years of global experience in governance and leadership as a subject-matter expert in sports and events, as well as 10 years’ experience of delivering events in the Middle East, her appointment as COO reflects BLR WORLD’s growth in the sporting industry, and its track record for delivering projects for major global sports events such as the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ and Paris Olympics & Paralympics 2024™.
Adept at designing project-based organisations, Pennington’s expertise in building and leading large teams ensures the curation and delivery of exceptional experiences, planning and execution of flawless operations and provision of seamless service excellence. Pennington held a Senior Leadership role in FIFA as Director Services in the Event Operations Division, where she was responsible for governance and leadership of the Services Sub-Division which consisted of several functional areas including Workforce, Human Resources and Recruitment for FIFA World Cup subsidiaries, volunteers and guest experience and operations for the FIFA World Cup™, FIFA Women's World Cup™ and all other FIFA Tournaments, Pennington also brings a breadth of knowledge and expertise from advisory, consulting and delivering projects at some of the world’s largest sporting events and mega events such as Olympic Games and Expo 2020, as well as delivery of global sports sponsorship hospitality programmes for Sponsors/Partners and high profile events for UAE and UK Governments.
