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Mel has been speaking to communities of change for over two decades, and is passionate about helping elevate worthy work and helping people achieve their goals. Mel's talks and speeches are designed to inspire, motivate and empower audiences to take action.
The Food Bank movement. The United Way movement. The Y movement. People in prison. People without energy to heat their homes. Mel's career has been to deliver for the most vulnerable in our nation.
Mel is the author (with Grant Jarvie and Tony Hwang) of Sport, Revolution and the Beijing Olympics (Berg), the dystopian sci-fi novel The Power and the children's book Truman's Search, as well the upcoming How the U.S. Can Win the World Cup and the children's book Soccer Is A Verb.
A method for building equitable, transparent, and high-integrity organizations through leadership rooted in values and vision.
U — Uncover Truths
Reveal the hidden, uncomfortable, or overlooked realities within systems—corruption, inequity, exclusion. Begin with radical honesty.
P — Prioritize People
Center humanity in policy and practice. Design leadership and governance models that uplift the most vulnerable and reflect shared dignity.
L — Lead with Integrity
Model the values you want embedded in the organization. Demonstrate courage, accountability, and ethical clarity in every action.
I — Institutionalize Equity
Move beyond performative change—embed equity in structures, policies, hiring, resource allocation, and metrics.
F — Forge Transparent Culture
Create mechanisms and norms that make transparency a feature, not a crisis response—open communication, shared governance, and community feedback loops.
T — Transform with Courage
Embrace continuous improvement. Don’t tweak the old system—reimagine and rebuild it with boldness, humility, and forward vision.
There are 26,000 neighborhoods in the United States. In each one, there is a chance to win at the World Cup – by using the power of sport to drive a healthy present and a hopeful future in our sporting society. It all begins with the leaders and the resources found in sport. Mel is the only former global sports executive in the world to come clean on the corruption in global sport governance, spending two-and-a-half decades working to hold people and organizations accountable, and, ultimately, to offer up an alternative vision for sport in the USA and around the world. This talk will share heretofore never seen documents and rarely revealed insights to dive into the frameworks, facts, fictions, and fun surrounding the biggest sports experiences of our time, and how they can and must be used as “forcing functions” for good in sport and in society. Importantly, that all begins at the neighborhood level. ..
Mel, a former CONCACAF official, became the first high-level football insider to go public with substantial allegations of corruption, nonfeasance, and malfeasance by CONCACAF and FIFA leadership.
Mel speaking at Ignite Carroll 11, Westminster MD
Mel speaking at Ignite Carroll 11, Westminster MD
Mel speaking on behalf of southern Maryland organizations doing worthy work.
Mel speaking at Ignite Baltimore 9, Baltimore MD
Mel serving as the curator of the first TEDxBaltimore
Mel Brennan shaking hands with President Barack Obama after a discussion the two had on how to uplift the middle class and a press conference on that issue.
For more information on Mel's availability, send a message. Tell us about your event, and we will get back to you soon with more information!
