Mairead King is the director of The Arsenal Foundation, where she leads initiatives aimed at supporting young people through the power of football. With a background in communications and international development, her career reflects a commitment to creating meaningful impact in various sectors. Mairead’s work addresses the challenges faced by girls today while leveraging the influence of football to drive change.
“Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and therefore also half of its potential.”
My educational background and career journey
I’m Irish, and my educational journey began in Dublin, where I graduated in communications from Dublin City University. My dream was to work in the media, and, for many years, I did just that, specifically in broadcasting across Ireland, Bulgaria, and Poland, before finally landing a position at the BBC in London. However, I always felt a strong pull towards the international development sector and developed a keen interest in how large NGOs operated with a business mindset, focusing on impact.
After 13 years at the BBC, I made a complete career shift into international development. I volunteered and became a chapter leader at Room to Read, an NGO focused on educating teenage girls in Asia and Africa. This experience helped me build the skills needed to secure a full-time role as head of corporate partnerships at Save the Children UK.
What’s interesting is that many of my skills and experiences from broadcasting were transferable to this new sector. You never know where your career path will take you or how what you learn today will help you tomorrow. After almost seven years at Save the Children, where I learned so much about international development, I was presented with a new challenge: becoming the director of The Arsenal Foundation. If you had told the 17-year-old me in Dublin that one day I would work at a Premier League football club in London, I would have never believed it!
The mission of The Arsenal Foundation
Arsenal Football Club has always understood the power it has to bring people together and make a difference in the community. The Arsenal Foundation was launched in May 2012, with the mission to help young people fulfil their potential. We have partnered with organisations like Save the Children, the Willow Foundation, and Islington Giving, alongside numerous projects that benefit from our grants and support. The Arsenal Foundation harnesses the power of football and the Arsenal name to inspire and support young people in North London and around the globe. Just knowing that Arsenal cares can be a tremendous source of motivation for individuals facing difficulties in their lives.
Day-to-day responsibilities
As the director of The Arsenal Foundation, I am responsible for our strategic direction. The key question I ask is: are we making the most meaningful impact we can? We are continually building on our learnings, collaborating with others, and listening to the voices of our participants to create a sense of belonging within our communities. We know that belonging is essential for building resilience and enabling communities to thrive — something we’ve been doing in North London for 40 years.
Our challenge now is how to bring this impact to a global scale and engage our supporters, players, staff, and partners in our work. It’s an exciting challenge that keeps us moving forward. I work closely with our communications and content teams to share our stories and ensure the voices of our participants are heard. Additionally, I collaborate with our supporters, staff, and players to raise vital funds to support our initiatives.
Collaboration with Save the Children
For over ten years, The Arsenal Foundation and Save the Children have partnered to bring hope to children in some of the toughest environments, such as Iraq, Somalia, Indonesia, and the Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan. In 2018, we combined our expertise to create Coaching for Life, launched in Za’atari. This programme uses the power of football to build a sense of belonging and improve the physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of children and their families affected by the Syrian war.
We are incredibly proud that through our dedication and passion, we have already helped almost 5,000 children living in Za’atari to have a brighter future. Since the start of the programme, girls’ participation in Coaching for Life has doubled.
The response and lasting impact
The response to Coaching for Life has exceeded our expectations. Demand from participants, parents, coaches, and the wider community has increased significantly. We regularly visit the camp to gather feedback and hear firsthand what’s working and what needs improvement. It’s inspiring to witness the collaboration between all parties involved. As demand has increased, we have adapted our programming while ensuring that the resilience modules incorporated into the football and coaching sessions remain effective in delivering meaningful impact.
We have also made great strides in achieving gender equity within the programme and hope to continue impacting through our current gender-transformative approach. While we don’t claim to solve all the challenges children face in the camp, we know that if children and young people experience a sense of belonging and have a safe place to play, along with a trusted adult as a role model — like the Syrian coaches we’ve trained — they are more likely to develop resilience and thrive.
That’s a strong legacy for any organisation, and because we are a football club, we leverage sport to bring about change. It’s the joy and fun of football that creates that special sense of belonging. To visit the camp and hear children laughing and playing football is unforgettable. We all cherish those joyful moments with family and friends. There’s even a wall with the Arsenal crest painted on it in the camp. I hope that as adults, some of the children in our programmes will remember that we were there and that Arsenal played a part in enabling their community to thrive. You cannot ask for a better legacy than that.
The importance of International Day of the Girl
It is crucial to mark International Day of the Girl each year. Women and girls represent half of the world’s population, and therefore, half of its potential. Unfortunately, gender inequality persists everywhere, stunting social progress.
Women continue to be underrepresented at all levels of political leadership. Globally, women and girls perform a disproportionate share of unpaid domestic work. The inequalities faced by girls often begin at birth and follow them throughout their lives. In some regions, girls are denied access to healthcare or proper nutrition, leading to higher mortality rates. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right; it’s a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world.
Last year, around the fifth anniversary of Coaching for Life, we achieved a significant breakthrough in gender equity within the programme. Our focus has now turned to a gender-transformative approach that addresses deep-rooted stereotypes, ensuring that children in the camp benefit from lasting change. This means engaging men and boys in discussions about positive masculinity and the barriers young girls face. The drive for equality never stops.
Supporting The Arsenal Foundation
If you’d like to support our work, you can donate at www.arsenal.com/donate, or we have a dedicated Just Giving page for The Arsenal Foundation if you wish to arrange your own fundraiser.
Looking ahead
It’s been a busy summer, and I’m excited to keep this momentum going. I’m strategising how we can make our Coaching for Life even more sustainable and empowering for the local community. I’m eager to see more of our stories told by our participants and coaches on our channels.
As the football season is now in full swing, it’s also time to prepare fundraising events and fully engage our supporters. I want them to feel as much a part of and as proud of our off-the-pitch work as they do of our men’s and women’s teams on the pitch. One thing is for sure: working at a football club like Arsenal means you never stand still, you’re always moving forward.
All images © Charlie Forghan-Bailey / Save the Children
