Demi Stokes

Why organisations work with Demi Stokes

• A first-hand voice from the England squad that won UEFA Women’s Euro 2022, the most commercially significant moment in English women’s football.
• Nine seasons at the top of the Women’s Super League with Manchester City, including a WSL title, three FA Cups and three League Cups, plus a return to first-team football after the premature birth of her son.
• A current player and Newcastle United captain, which gives event audiences access to a live insider perspective rather than a retrospective career story.
• A credible advocate on premature birth and neonatal care through her Pampers UK ambassadorship with Bliss and UNICEF, suited to wellbeing, parental-leave and ERG-focused events.

Biography highlights

• Member of the England squad that won UEFA Women’s Euro 2022; 69 senior caps between 2014 and 2023.
• Won the FA Women’s Super League, three FA Women’s Cups and three League Cups with Manchester City between 2015 and 2024.
• Named in the PFA WSL Team of the Year in 2018 and 2019.
• Captained Team GB to gold at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan and represented Team GB at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
• Signed for Newcastle United Women in July 2024 and named club captain ahead of the 2025/26 season.
• Pampers UK ambassador for the #PampersforPreemies campaign with Bliss and UNICEF.

Biography

Most elite athletes peak inside a single environment. Demi Stokes built her career across four of them. Sunderland gave her a first-team debut at sixteen and an FA Cup final in 2009. A scholarship to the University of South Florida added four years of US college football. A summer at Vancouver Whitecaps in the USL W League followed before Manchester City signed her in January 2015.

What she built at City is the substance of the speaking story. Nine seasons, more than 100 first-team appearances, the 2016 FA WSL title, three FA Women’s Cups and three League Cups. Two PFA WSL Team of the Year selections, in 2018 and 2019. A senior England debut in 2014, and a place in the squad that won UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 at Wembley, the most commercially important moment in English women’s football.

The personal layer runs alongside the career. Stokes was born ten weeks premature herself, and her son Harlen spent time in a neonatal unit after a difficult pregnancy that included pre-eclampsia. She has spoken openly about that period in interviews with Grazia and Mother & Baby, and works with Pampers UK on the #PampersforPreemies campaign in partnership with Bliss and UNICEF. The throughline that audiences hear is how a senior international footballer sustains performance through events that most workplaces still struggle to talk about.

She left Manchester City in May 2024, signed for Newcastle United Women in July, and was named club captain ahead of the 2025/26 season. The story she brings to a room is current, not archived.

Key speaking topics

• Lionesses and UEFA Women’s Euro 2022
• Women’s football and the professionalisation of the game
• Return to elite performance after a difficult pregnancy
• Premature birth, neonatal care and family advocacy
• Leadership in a dressing room and team identity
• Long-career resilience across clubs, countries and codes

Ideal for

• Internal events tied to International Women’s Day, parental-leave policy launches or working-parent ERGs.
• Wellbeing, EDI and culture programmes looking for a credible voice on resilience and identity rather than a clinical specialist.
• Sport-sponsorship activations, hospitality nights and awards dinners where a current Lioness presence is the brief.

Audience outcomes

• An inside account of the England squad that won UEFA Women’s Euro 2022, told by a senior squad member.
• A direct view of how a top-flight athlete returns to performance after a high-risk pregnancy and a premature birth.
• A useable reference point for managers thinking about how to support employees through major personal events.
• A current-player perspective on dressing-room leadership and the demands of being a club captain.