The Mayor’s London Basketball Taskforce

Nadeem Javaid MBE is the Mayoral Director for Global Relations and Communities, and Chair of the Taskforce. He leads the Mayor’s work on global engagement and community relations, strengthening London’s ties with cities, governments, and international organisations.

Nadeem works to ensure London remains a leading global city, driving collaboration on key issues such as trade, major events, and international cooperation. His role focuses on enhancing London’s global influence, fostering partnerships on international challenges, and engaging with diverse communities to build a more inclusive and connected city.

Henry Utku is the Senior Director of Basketball Operations at the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has had a brief professional basketball career, playing in Turkey. Since joining the NBA, he has contributed to large developments such as opening the first ever NBA Basketball school programme, which focuses on long-term athlete development.

Henry also worked to develop the NBA Junior League Programme, a large-scale youth competition, featuring 111 leagues in 33 countries across Europe and the Middle East during the 2022–2023 season.

Neal Meyer is the Associate Vice President of Basketball Operations (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and previously the Senior Director of Basketball Operations in Europe and the Middle East. He has spent 16 years working for five NBA teams in numerous capacities.

Before working at the NBA, in the last 20 years, Neal coached with some of the top teams in the NBA such as San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers. He currently manages all youth and elite basketball development programmes and initiatives in the region.

Gael Caselli is the Vice President of Sports at AEG Europe. In addition, he holds board positions at Hammarby Fotboll AB and Accor Arena.

Prior to this current role, Gael was the Head of International Development at Ligue de Football Professionnel, leading various initiatives including media rights distribution and brand development projects. Gael also worked as the Media Rights Director at SPORTFIVE, overseeing France, Italy, and Benelux, and as the Manager of Media Distribution at the NBA.

Lenz Balan is the President at the London Lions and a former vice-president of 777 Partners.

Lenz's background is in investment banking – he previously worked at York Street Capital Partners and Morgan Stanley.

Professor Amanda Broderick is the Vice-Chancellor and President at the University of East London. She was previously CEO at Newcastle University London and has held Chairs in International Business and Marketing at multiple institutions in the UK, and Visiting Chairs internationally.

Amanda has a strong profile of forging successful collaborations within world-class higher education and business, and an outstanding track record in transformative change.

Justine Baynes is the Chief Executive at British Wheelchair Basketball, and previously Director of Marketing at British Triathlon Federation.

With an extensive background in the Charity, Retail and Leisure/Sports industry, Justine has held a number of senior leadership positions prior to joining British Wheelchair Basketball, with particular skills in Marketing and Communications.

Inua Ellams is a writer and curator. He is a cross disciplinary artist, an internationally touring performer, a poet, playwright, screenwriter, graphic artist and designer.

Inua has written several works specifically about basketball, including The Spaulding Suite – a movement piece for the Southbank Centre, and The Half God of Rainfall – an epic poem for the page and stage.

Sam Neter is the Founder of the UK's largest British basketball media platform, Hoopsfix. He is the Executive Director at Hoopsfix Foundation, a not-for-profit supporting basketball in the UK. He also runs a comprehensive creative agency and consultancy, Cut The Net, specialising in servicing basketball teams and organisations.

As the Executive Director of Partnerships at Sport England, Phil Smith has responsibility for several areas of the Sport England business, including strategic partnerships. He has represented Sport England as a Board Director of both the Football Foundation and UK Coaching.

Phil’s team manages long-term investments of several hundred million in various sporting bodies, aiming to increase sports participation and helping the sport sector to become more productive, sustainable and responsible.

Simon Mills is a Progression Adviser at UK Sport. In his previous role as Performance Director at Table Tennis England, he led teams to numerous World and European Championships, as well as England’s first ever Commonwealth Games (2018) medal in the Women’s Team event. Simon specialises in player and coach development strategy.

Louise Thomas is Co-Founder and Director of Break Communications, a youth engagement and creative communications agency putting young people at the front of campaigns for brands, charities, public services, and fighting to centre marginalised voices. Louise has worked in a range of commercial and media roles, from music PR to the launch of PlayStation 3, and has worked on the launch of O2’s 'Think Big' youth corporate social responsibility campaign.

Audrey Solvar is Events Senior Manager at the Basketball Africa League. Audrey launched MOKA, her own events agency, in 2018; BLACK CREATORS MATTER, an educational and networking platform for black content creators, in 2019; and OPEN CALL AFRICA, an educational programme for creators in Africa, in 2021.

Jeremy Sochan is a Taskforce Athlete Representative and professional basketball player in the NBA, known for his dynamic playstyle and strong connection to his roots in the United Kingdom.

Born in Milton Keynes to a Polish mother and an American father, Jeremy's basketball journey began at an early age, playing for local UK teams before moving to the United States to further his training. After a standout college career at Baylor University, he declared for the NBA draft and was selected in the first round, becoming one of the few British players to reach the league in recent years.

Luol Deng is a Taskforce Athlete Representative, celebrated former professional basketball player, and two-time NBA All-Star, whose career has spanned continents and inspired countless athletes worldwide. He was born in South Sudan and raised in the UK.

Luol's basketball career began in London, where he quickly rose to prominence as one of the UK's brightest young talents. After excelling in high school and college basketball in the United States, he entered the NBA as a first-round draft pick. Over a 15-year career, Luol played for multiple teams, earning All-Star honours and recognition as one of the league's most versatile and hardworking players.