Our team

Nick is the founder and CEO of Benchmark. Nick first recognized the power of sport to create connections, share experiences and change lives more than two decades ago, and since then he has gone on to build a series of ground-breaking events, networks and communities, which bring people, businesses and society together. Today Benchmark is seen as a leader in its field: a group of companies that inspire positive change and deliver social, emotional and commercial value to every stakeholder, organization and investor involved.

Nick began by launching the Sport Industry Group in 2000. Today it is the UK sports industry’s foremost networking organization. He followed this in 2007 with London’s first-ever Square Mile Relay, a race series that now spans the world and 15 years on is still headlined by the inaugural partner, Bloomberg.

In 2008, increasingly convinced of sport’s universal power to do good and tackle some of the most complex issues of our time, Nick founded the global foundation Beyond Sport and now serves as its Chair of Board of Directors.

In 2014 Beyond Sport was the catalyst for the launch of thinkBeyond, which has since grown into one of the world’s leading sport and social impact agencies, advising some of the world’s biggest rights holders, teams, brands, sponsors and talent, including Bloomberg, SAP, Manchester United, Disney, Unilever, IOC, Mayor of London, NFL, North Face and Olympic legend Michael Johnson.

With the rise of e-sport, the world’s fastest-growing grassroots ‘sport’, Benchmark signed a long-term partnership with British Universities. Three years in, NSE (National Student Esports) has a regular playing base of 25,000 and enjoys partnerships with Intel, Barclays and Monster.

Even during the pandemic, Benchmark continued to boost its reputation as an innovator, adding the Bloomberg Square Mile Virtual Club, Sport Podcast Group, and The Defiance Projects to its roster.

A regular commentator on sport’s role in sustainable development, social equality and purpose, Nick has sat on the Global Advisory Board for The World Economic Forum on Sport and Society, and speaks regularly on leadership, shared value and the future of sport, business and society.

Jean Afterman is only the third female to hold the position of Assistant General Manager in Major League Baseball history. 2021 marked her 20th season as the Yankees’ Assistant General Manager and tenth as Senior Vice President.

Afterman has been an integral part of the Yankees’ efforts and operations in Asia, having joined the team with a diverse business and legal background, focusing on international sports and licensing with an emphasis on U.S.-Japan matters. In her first year, she was instrumental in developing the club’s relationship with the Yomiuri Giants of the Japan Central League and signing three-time MVP Hideki Matsui. In 2007, she joined team President Randy Levine and General Manager Brian Cashman on a week-long trip to Asia that concluded with a working agreement with the Chinese Baseball Association.

Her contributions and leadership have been repeatedly recognized throughout her baseball career. Afterman was selected as one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in New York” by the New York Post in 2003 and 2007, and was named one of the 2004 “Power 100” by the Sporting News. In 2007, she was profiled as one of Crain’s New York Business’ “100 Most Influential Women in New York Business,” and in 2008, she was noted by Forbes as one of the top female executives in Baseball. In 2010, Afterman was named by WISE (Women in Sports and Events) as one of the “Women of the Year,” and was tabbed by New York Moves magazine as a “Power Woman.” In 2013, she was again profiled on the front page of her hometown newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle. In 2017, she was named one of Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal’s “Game Changers,” and her story was featured on the YES Network and ESPN.com. Most recently, she was named one of Crain’s New York Business “2019 Most Notable Women in the Business of Sports,” and was awarded Baseball America’s “2019 Trailblazer of the Year Award,” becoming the inaugural winner of the honor. In 2021, she was again honored when she was recognized by the Sports Business Journal as one of its class of 2021 members of “The Champions: Pioneers and Innovators in Sports Business.”

Afterman is a frequent guest speaker on the topics of women in sports and the business of baseball, having participated in events sponsored by Major League Baseball, Columbia Business School, New York University, SABR, Beyond Sport, the Sports Lawyers Association and WISE, among others.

Prior to joining the Yankees, she managed her own practice, providing athletic representation and management with a specialization in arbitration proceedings. From 1994-99, Afterman was General Counsel at KDN Sports, Inc., and handled business and legal affairs for international baseball clients, including Hideo Nomo, Hideki Irabu, Masato Yoshii, Alfonso Soriano and more than 30 Major and Minor League players. In 1996, She was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to a federal advisory committee, the National Organic Standards Board.

Afterman maintains an active role in the Bronx community, working closely with P.S. 35, an elementary school within walking distance from Yankee Stadium. Over the last 11 years, she has organized Yankees-sponsored Read-A-Thons and directed a mentoring program which matches Yankees employees with fourth and fifth grade students. Additionally, she has worked with high school-aged students through New York City’s Explorers program, which engages young people through career-orientation programs. Afterman received the 2009 “Exploring Leadership Award” for her work with the group. In 2012 and 2013, she served on the Board of Trustees of the Women’s Sports Foundation, and in 2015, she was appointed to serve on the advisory committee that oversees the Commissioner’s Front Office and Field Staff Diversity Pipeline Program. In 2018 and 2019, Afterman served on the Board of Directors of DREAM (formerly Harlem RBI) and in 2020, she joined the Board of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association.

A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley in 1979, Afterman was the recipient of the Rosalynn Schneider Eisner Prize and the Mark Goodson Scholarship Grant. She received her J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1991. In 2009, she was named “Alumni of the Year” by the Katherine Delmar Burke School in San Francisco.

Lex Chalat leads Soccer Forward, the U.S. Soccer’s 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup legacy initiative. The organization will support U.S. Soccer’s vision to serve the sport and advance the belief that soccer is more than a game—it’s a force for good. A catalyst for change, she has more than 15 years of experience in business development and fundraising, cause communications and delivering activations and legacy strategies for major sporting events, federations, leagues and teams.

Chalat was previously with the Qatar Foundation (QF), where she served as Director of Legacy and Community Engagement. In the lead up to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Chalat was part of a team responsible for coordinating the organization’s more than 50 entities across education, research, and community development to ensure that it holistically maximized the world’s biggest sports tournament and enabled long-lasting impact. With the tournament completed, she transitioned to the office of QF CEO and Vice-Chairperson as Executive Director of Partnerships and Strategic Alignment.

Prior to joining QF, she was Managing Director of Beyond Sport. After joining in 2008, she helped the organization grow from the ground up while also co-founding Think Beyond in 2014, a social impact and sustainability consultancy that provides ways for businesses, sports organizations and charities across the world to create positive social change using sport. She currently serves on Beyond Sport’s Board of Directors and is a global adviser to Think Beyond.

For the last 15 years, Chalat has worked and lived in over 20 countries curating and spearheading discussions and partnerships where high-level experts in politics, tech, innovation, shared-value and ethics speak, engage and debate on sport’s role in hard-hitting issues like the refugee crisis, youth gun crime and racial and ethnic divides.

She has led on projects that have included developing ESPN’s global community engagement approach, activating the International Olympic Committee’s Sport for All policies, crafting SAP’s vision and implementation to be a purpose-driven sport sponsor, aiding Manchester United in shaping their youth commitments at Davos, and finding new ways BT Sport can engage younger, socially conscious fans. She’s developed global CSR , purpose-driven sponsorship and sport strategies for brand giants like Unilever, Bloomberg, Virgin and Disney and been involved on various legacy projects from South Africa to London to Brazil to Qatar. She’s helped advise influential entities from the Holy See to the US State Deparment to the World Economic Forum and spearheaded partnerships with organizations like TIME Magazine, Dow Jones, Barclays, Chevron, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, MLS, NASCAR, the Premier League and Premiership Rugby. She’s also worked with influencers like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, David Beckham, Muhammad Ali, Tony Blair, Michael Johnson, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Tiger Woods and Billie Jean King.

Chalat is the former Curator of the London Hub of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers (a group of young leaders nominated for their potential to lead change in society) and was named one of the top 10 under 30 to watch in sports by SportsPro Magazine. She’s on the UJA Sports for Youth Committee and the Junior Council for American Ballet Theatre.

A graduate of University of Pennsylvania and London School of Economics, she has appeared on BBC’s 5Live Radio and Sky News and has published pieces in The New Yorker, the Junket Quarterly, Huffington Post, Art in London Magazine and Art Review Magazine.

Global sports streaming platform, DAZN – created by fans, for fans – is leading the charge to give affordable access to sport anytime, anywhere. In his role as EVP, John Gleasure works on the company’s long-term strategy and focuses on key priorities including key global business partnerships, new ventures and diversity and inclusion.

Gleasure is a member of the DAZN Group executive committee management team and is a founder of DAZN and Perform Group. With more than 25 years of experience within international media, rights, marketing and distribution, he previously held leadership roles at Sky Sports, EMI Records, Hutchison Whampoa and Sony Pictures.

Lisa Nelson is a global strategic and technology leader with over 25 years of experience across the technology, software and financial services industries. Her diverse experience spans companies of all sizes – from early-stage, high-growth startups to mature, multi-national corporations.

Motivated by her desire to create a new way of working and living, Nelson retired from corporate America in 2019 to build a portfolio of things she loves. She currently serves as an independent board director and strategic advisor to both public and private companies across the tech, financial services, sports and consumer goods industries. She is also an advisor to several venture capital funds around the world and is an angel investor in several female-founded startups.

Prior to shifting her focus “portfolio life,” Nelson was a full-time operator. She most recently served as Managing Director of Microsoft’s first venture fund, M12, which she co-founded. During her 14-year tenure at Microsoft, she also served in executive roles across finance and business development. Prior to that, she worked in financial services in London and public accounting in Australia.

Nelson is a global citizen, having lived in Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and SE Asia. She has also traveled to more than 90 countries. These experiences, combined with her Asian and Pacific Islander heritage, have given her a truly global perspective. Nelson currently splits her time between Seattle, Washington and Auckland, New Zealand. She is an accomplished triathlete and avid runner and has completed over 100 races, including Ironman.

No one understands fast-moving pop culture and its potential ability to do good, better than Melissa C. Potter. Concerned, connected, and committed, her priority has always been to utilize entertainment (television, film and music) to shift hearts and minds. 
 
Potter is a forerunner in creating meaningful social change through her expertise in spearheading social impact strategies and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. She has a proven track record with national non-profit organizations, as well as some of the world’s largest and most influential brands. Throughout her prestigious career, Potter has established herself as a respected, nationally known thought leader developing innovative ideas and creative solutions. 
 
Her current role as Vice President, Strategy and Impact at Paramount enables Potter to supervise each brand’s commitment to the long-term social impact of cultural shifts in society. With expertise including the issues of Race, Identity, Culture, Equity, and Social Justice, she is known for masterfully managing moments of crisis with her unflappable style. 
 
Additionally, she is responsible for spearheading the revolutionary MTV Entertainment Group Culture Orientation program in collaboration with the country’s leading racial and social justice organizations. This ground-breaking initiative unites shared values, increases understanding, and amplifies learning to empower the entire creative community to tell stories that reflect the 
diversity of Paramount viewers. 
 
A native of New York, Potter received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Northeastern University University and Masters in Corporation Communication and Public Relations from New York University. She serves as Chair of the Board for the National Job Corps Association and is Chair of the Board of Directors of Fostering Change for Children. She was awarded “Change Agent of the Year” in 2018 from the Digital Diversity Network, is a Webby Anthem Awards juror and a Diversity Committee Member for Transform Films. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. 

Cameron Rogers is a CFA charterholder with over 15 years of professional investing and wealth management experience. She advises individuals, families, and nonprofit organizations around matters including public and private markets investing, generational transitions of wealth and sustainable investing. She previously served as a Client Advisor at Ellevest and a Vice President at J.P. Morgan.

Rogers received her bachelors degree in finance and international business from Georgetown University. She is a proud board member for both Beyond Sport and Women for Women International, and sits on the Bronx Museum Acquisitions Committee.

Ambassador Shabazz is a sought-after speaker across the United States, Europe, Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Recognized as a masterful creator and an astute businesswoman, she is fondly termed by her colleagues as an “ideas architect.” She was raised in New York as the eldest of six daughters born to Dr. Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X Shabazz.

A producer, writer and diplomat, Ambassador Shabazz has spent over four decades offering keynote addresses, while developing curriculums and programs for educational institutions, executive forums, diplomatic networks, penal systems, conferences and human service organizations globally. Her purpose is to motivate and encourage the young and mature alike to recognize the value in and appreciation of diverse cultural engagement, traditional rites of passage and perspectives.

In 1996, she established the Pilgrimage Foundation in honor of her Father’s spiritual journey to the Holy land. In tribute to her mother’s legacy of service as an educator, as well as the leadership of both sets of grandparents and their parents before them, she has remained steadfast in guiding on experiences that expand one’s own personal prism and regard for others. The Foundation has touched hundreds of thousands of lives around the world reaching the under-served and well as the privileged.

The former Prime Minister of Belize recognized her as a key advisor on International Cultural Affairs & Project Development and, in 2002, appointed her as the Ambassador-at-Large representing the country internationally and in perpetuity. Following, the Ministries of Human Development, Culture, Education and Youth & Sports also incorporated her insights and guidance to their Cabinets. Since then, she has been invited to participate in the US State Department’s Diplomatic Briefing Forums and The United Nations Association. Much of her expertise fosters diplomatic relations between cultures along with discerning traditional and contemporary practices, capacity building, human resource training economic development.

Additionally, she and Yolanda King (the oldest daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King) founded Nucleus, Inc in 1977, which traveled nationally to 100 cities per year until 1994 reaching high schools and universities in 44 States. Since 2020 Ambassador Shabazz formalized her relationship with Newark Public Schools as the Honorary Provost for both the Malcolm X Shabazz H.S. Stem Academy and the brand-new Newark School for Global Studies.

She is also the founder of Legacy Inc., “Everybody Has One”, The Humanity Passport Project, the Malcolm X Shabazz Birthplace & Foundation and The O.U.R.S. Project. Ambassador Shabazz was on the World Economic Forum’s Task Force on the Digital Divide, serves on several international, humanitarian Boards, councils and committees, and offers private consultations to executive and diplomatic leaders. Most recently, she was appointed as the Secretary General of RASIT’s (The Royal Academy of Science International Trust) World Youth League.

Ambassador Shabazz has written for outlets such as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Essence Magazine, EL MUNDO’s Spain Edition and others. In 1999, she published the new foreword to her father’s classic, “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” and is completing her memoirs, titled From Mine Eyes.

She is a graduate of the United Nations International School and majored in International Law with a minor in English at New York’s Briarcliff College.

Caryl M. Stern is an activist, executive, author and public speaker who has dedicated her career to making a difference for others. She is the CIO for LionTree, an independent investment and merchant bank with deep roots in the media, technology, communications, consumer and creative industries. She previously served as the Executive Director of the Walton Family Foundation (2020–2023), served for 14 years as President and CEO of UNICEF USA and, before that, was Senior Associate National Director and Chief Operating Officer at the Anti-Defamation League; the founding director of its A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute; and the Dean of Students at Polytechnic University.

Caryl was invited to present at the White House’s inaugural summit on The United State of Women and was named one of “25 Women Changing the World in 2017” by People Magazine. She serves on the boards of directors of The Container Store and the We Are Family Foundation, in addition to being a member of the Citizens & Scholars and Chime for Change Advisory Boards.

The recipient of five honorary doctoral degrees, Caryl earned a bachelor’s degree in studio art and a master’s degree in college student personnel administration and completed her Ph.D. coursework in the same field.