Mark Evans
Director
Originating from a teaching background, Mark has held executive leadership positions in the AFL for more than 25 years, with a track record of creating a high-performance culture and building partnerships to deliver results to strategy.
With experience in executive roles in Communications, Player Development and Football Operations, Mark’s leadership as General Manager Football Operations at Hawthorn Football Club delivered on football strategies to take the club into a golden era of premiership success.
Mark joined the AFL’s Executive as General Manager Football Operations from 2013 to 2017, and was responsible for all aspects of the game, Laws, officiating, player welfare, talent pathways and venues. He played a key role in CBA negotiations, the implementation of the Football Soft Cap and delivered the Future Directions of Football strategy which resulted in the formation of the AFLW competition.
In 2017 Mark was appointed as Chief Executive of the Gold Coast SUNS and led the successful campaign for an AFL Women's license to enter the competition in 2020, reset the club’s football and business strategies -including a major re-brand – that has delivered extraordinary growth in participation, membership, attendance, corporate and non-football revenues.
Mark holds a Bachelor of Education and complemented MBA studies by completing executive programs in strategy, strategic leadership, negotiation and innovation at the Harvard Business School.
Since 2017, Mark has been a Director of Fight MND, a foundation which raises funds from activities including the annual Big Freeze and has invested more than $120m to finding a treatment or cure for MND.
Mark and his wife Lynne are entrenched on the Gold Coast - and actively recruiting their adult children to relocate to the region!