Lungi has worked in professional football for over a decade, leading several operational departments. Forming part of a senior management team that supports the board of directors, she is efficient in planning, organising, and working collaboratively to influence, design and deliver initiatives, essential to the accomplishment of the objectives of the football business.
Joining in early 2019, she is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Birmingham City Football Club, having spent several years at Charlton Athletic Football Club. With a strong foundation in human resource & operational leadership, her responsibilities vary from overseeing the women’s team to operational & stakeholder management across all company sites. Lungi is a collaborative & conscientious leader, choosing to put people at the centre of all that she does. Having been met with a number of challenges in her current role, she has continued to lead with resilience, determination & purpose, which has often led to success.
She sits on the Barclays Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship Board, representing the interests of clubs as the women’s game continues its trajectory of growth. Within her remit she chairs the Women’s Championship Commercial Committee, ensuring that the views and interests of the women’s championship clubs are thoroughly considered and put forward as the leagues transition to the next phase of development and commercial viability.
An advocate & champion for equity in the work place, she is also a Director with Women in Football; an organisation rooted in empowering women, men and non-binary people with the knowledge, expertise and collective support to create a stronger, brighter and more diverse football industry. Having joined the board in May 2018, she has been an integral member, who has been dedicated to moving the organisation into its next phase of expansion, influencing the industry at a truly revolutionary time.
In October 2018, she was named as a Sports Industry NextGen Leader for 2019 – one of 30 under 30 rising professionals from across the UK sports industry.
Born in South Africa to a sport loving family, Lungi believes in the power of sport that provides shared community, purpose and the ability to drive change. She is especially dedicated to its power to develop people and believes in the possibility of finding the balance of diversity & representation at all levels of sport.
