SPORT FOR HUMANITY

The Project: Vatican 2016. Sport at the Service of Humanity: The First Global Conference on Faith & Sport

“Challenge yourself in the game of life, as you do in the game of sport”.

With Pope Francis’ words serving as inspiration, the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture conceptualized the idea of hosting a global conference on Faith and Sport – a gathering of the world’s top faith, sport and business leaders – to converge in Rome for a “Davos style” meeting of the minds, to discuss and explore the role of Faith and Sport as a positive partnership for social change.

THE CHALLENGE

To turn a big-picture vision into reality. In July 2014, the Vatican formally engaged LANG to “architect” the overall project – develop the strategy and business plan, including the procurement of project seed funding, operations management, marketing communications and stakeholder engagement.

THE LANG APPROACH

Phase 1: July 2014 – Formed a Core Management Team

• Tapping into its network, LANG formed a core management team of trusted partners and industry experts – “believers” who shared the Vatican’s vision and committed their time, resources, knowledge and network to help plan, develop the strategy and secure the required seed funding for the project.

Phase 2: September 2015 – Hosted an Advisory Committee Summit at the Vatican

• With LANG’s advise, the Vatican formed an Advisory Committee, a distinguished group of 30 global leaders and influencers from faith, sport, business, government and other sectors. The Vatican hosted the 30-member Advisory Committee at a 2-day summit at the Vatican, to help shape the agenda, serve as early adaptors and prepare for the planned first global conference in 2016. Importantly, the 2015 Advisory Committee meeting helped make the case for funding among the corporate sector participants.

Phase 3: October 2016 – Successfully hosted the First Global Conference on Faith & Sport at the Vatican

• Serving as overall Project Manager, LANG architected, managed and implemented the staging of Sport at Service of Humanity: The First Global Conference on Faith & Sport at the Vatican. Importantly, the conference launched a global movement based on the Declaration of Principles endorsed by conference delegates.

THE RESULTS

To learn more about the conference, please visit the official website: www.sportforhumanity.com, Twitter and Facebook.