Lex Chalat currently oversees the legacy strategy for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at the Qatar Foundation (QF), a non-profit that drives innovation and entrepreneurship, fosters social development and a culture of lifelong learning, and endeavors to prepare the world’s brightest minds to tackle tomorrow’s biggest challenges.
In this role, she’s 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 maximizes the world’s biggest sports tournament and enables long-lasting impact. She leads on projects that will use the World Cup as a platform to enable disruptive education, sustainability, innovation and social progress, aiming to achieve the Qatar National Vision 2030 and contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This includes addressing issues such as women and girls’ empowerment through football and coaching training; developing volunteer programs; activating QF’s dynamic campus, Education City, through socially progressive and sustainable events; and developing the strategy legacy plan for Education City Stadium. In addition, she supports the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, identifying ways QF can ensure a sustainable future for progress and change beyond 2022.
Prior to joining QF in January 2021, Chalat was Managing Director of the Beyond Sport Foundation, which convenes, funds and supports organizations using sport as a tool for social change. After joining in 2008, she helped the organization grow from the ground up while also co-founding thinkBeyond in 2014, a sister advisory firm that provides ways for governments, companies 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 thinkBeyond.
For the last 13 years, she’s 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.
Chalat 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 Dpt 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.