Emma is a double Olympic Bronze medallist in Ice Hockey (1998 and 2010. Emma was elected by athletes to the IOC Athletes’ Commission at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 and elected as Chair of the Commission at the Beijing Games 2022. Emma has a BBA in Finance from The Ohio State University and a MSc in  Economics Finance from Aalto University (2013). Emma represents athlete voice in the IOC Executive Board and a number of IOC Commissions such as the Olympic Programme Commission, and the Legal Affairs Commission. Emma is also the former Chair of the Finnish Athletes’ Commissions and a member of Finnish Advisory Board of Sport Ethics. By living and playing in many countries like Austria, Finland, USA and Russia and by competing in five Olympics, Emma has a vast athletic experience and is passionate about representing athletes in decision making at the highest level.  

Ms Floor van Houdt works in the European Commission since more than 25 years. She is currently active as Head of Unit in charge of EU Sport Policy. Prior to this, she worked on several EU policies, including youth, maritime affairs, entrepreneurship and research. 

Originally from the Netherlands, she studied law and European Studies in the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium before moving to Brussels to start her career in European policy. 

A citizen of Italy, Giovanni Di Cola studied in Rome and Paris, earning a four-year Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of Rome La Sapienza, a Master’s degree (DEA) from Sciences Po Paris in Soviet Studies, and a PhD in Development Economics from the University of Paris X (Ouest).

Mr Di Cola has a wide experience within the United Nations System, having served in various UN agencies (UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, and ILO) with assignments at the UN Staff College and the UN Secretariat, on matters related to the UN reform, Youth Leadership and Sport for Development and Peace.

His field experience spans more than 30 years starting with West Africa (Senegal and Niger) from 1983 to 1986 working in national (UNICEF), sub-regional (ILO) and regional offices (UNESCO); then in the regional office for Latin America and Caribbean (ILO) between 1994 and 1998 and in Trinidad and Tobago (ILO sub-regional office and Decent work team for the Caribbean) between 2009-2015.

In the above capacities he dealt with topics related to strategic programming, gender, development cooperation and partnerships, labour-based programmes, youth employment and skills, human rights and sport and management and executive leadership.

In 2015, he was appointed Special Adviser to the Deputy Director General for Field Operations and Partnerships at the ILO in Geneva dealing with UN reform, Sustainable Development Goals, global partnerships, and Mega Sporting Events and human and labour rights.

Since 2016, he was instrumental in establishing the multistakeholder initiative as Centre for Sport and Human Rights in 2021, to which he ensured that ILO could be represented as founding member and permanent observer.

He was lead expert of the ILO Global Forum on Decent work in the world of sport of January 2020, in which the ILO Points of Consensus were adopted.

He published more than 20 articles and books on decent work agenda in sport, skills in and through sport, sport and tourism, human rights, and local economic development and sport.

He has been acting as ILO Focal Person on sport and development since 2001 and contributed to the first Report by the UN Secretary General on Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) in 2003. He assisted the UN Special Adviser on SDP (and former President of the Swiss Confederation) between 2003-2006.

He served as Board Member and Chair of reform committees of international sport federations in 2004-06 and in 2016-19 and provided advice to the IOC for its Sustainability strategy adopted in 2017.

He was appointed as the Officer in Charge of the ILO Office for Türkiye and assumed his duties as of 1 April 2023.

He is fluent in French, English, Spanish and Italian (mother tongue).