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Anita Asante is a pioneering BAME keynote speaker, football coach, and former international athlete who embodies resilience, leadership, and advocacy. A passionate advocate for equality and inclusion, Anita draws on her extraordinary journey across elite sport and education to inspire diverse audiences. Her experiences, from grassroots football to the Olympic stage, position her as a compelling voice for change across industries.
Anita’s football career began when she joined Arsenal‘s youth ranks, progressing to the senior team in the 2003/2004 season. She became an integral part of the squad that won the historic 2006–07 quadruple, claiming the UEFA Women’s Cup, FA Women’s Cup, FA Women’s National Premier League, and FA Women’s Premier League Cup. Seeking new challenges, Anita later played for top clubs including Chelsea and Aston Villa, as well as multiple American teams such as Chicago Red Stars and Sky Blue FC. Her success extended overseas to Sweden, where she won the Svenska Cupen and the Damallsvenskan league with Göteborg and FC Rosengård. After an illustrious playing career, Anita transitioned into coaching, and in July 2022 was appointed First Team Coach at Bristol City Women’s Football Club, helping the team earn promotion to the WSL.
Internationally, Anita earned 71 caps for England and represented Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympics. She played in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup and was part of England’s squad that reached the Euro 2009 final. For her outstanding contributions, Anita was honoured with the Outstanding Achievement Award by the Queen in 2006 and, in 2023, was inducted into the Women’s Super League Hall of Fame. Beyond football, Anita’s academic accomplishments include a BA in Politics and English from Brunel University and research towards a PhD in the governance of women’s football. Openly lesbian, Anita is a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and uses her platform to champion diversity within and beyond the world of sport.
As a keynote speaker, Anita shares powerful lessons on overcoming adversity, promoting representation, and building inclusive environments. An ambassador for Show Racism the Red Card, Anita speaks from personal experience about racism, sexism, and homophobia in professional sport. Her sessions are a call to action, urging organisations to embrace diversity and harness the power of inclusive leadership. Through candid storytelling and actionable insights, Anita empowers audiences to drive meaningful cultural change across sectors.
Anita Asante is regularly booked to engage audiences at events, read their latest feedback below:
“Anita spoke at MAD//Fest 2019 and was inspirational, candid and engaging. Her background in professional sport added hugely to a discussion at a marketing event on daring to be different and breaking boundaries. The feedback on this session was amazing and I couldn’t recommend Anita enough!”
“Anita was a great fantastic addition to our FA Pride Inside 2020 panel event in June. Anita’s experience as an elite athlete provided an amazing insight from not just a performance perspective, but importantly specifically on how that intersected with elements of her identity. She facilitated in the successful delivery of a very informative and authentic panel.”
“Anita joined our final Festival of Football panel in July 2019 and was such a valuable participant. A passionate advocate for equality and anti-discrimination, Anita is an incredibly knowledgeable and eloquent speaker. Anita’s strength is in being able to articulate powerful and original thought in an accessible and engaging manner.”
“Big thanks to Anita for the session yesterday. I thought she was excellent – warm, authentic, passionate, informed, confident and relatable. The feedback was universally positive and she definitely made me pause and think.”
“We loved having Anita join our event last month – she was absolutely brilliant. CVC also said what a pleasure Anita was to have at the event. She and Dion were a great double act, particularly during the Q&A.”
“Anita was amazing and very well received by everyone at NBCU – please do pass on our gratitude as she was a pleasure to work with and had some very insightful and impactful experiences and thoughts to share.”
The BAME Speakers Agency has been one of the UK’s leading bureaus for Black, Asian and minority ethnic speakers since 2020. We supply speakers for corporate and public events across the world, and cater to both in-person occasions and online webinars.
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