Speaking during the “Athlete Voice in Action” session on Saturday 23 May, Forbes shared the journey of New Zealand’s Athlete Leaders Network and highlighted the growing importance of athlete representation in decision-making across the Olympic Movement.

The Oceania Athletes’ Forum, held alongside the 2026 ONOC Annual General Assembly for the first time, brought together athlete representatives, commission members and stakeholders from across the region to strengthen athlete leadership, governance and collaboration.

Forbes said the Athlete Leaders Network was created from a desire to strengthen athlete voice and provide more meaningful opportunities for athletes to influence sport systems beyond competition.

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“The Athlete Leaders Network was birthed out of people just like you, people in this room,” Forbes told delegates during his presentation. “The big idea was really around how can we nurture athlete leaders now for a better tomorrow.”

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The ALN was initially established in 2021 following calls from the New Zealand Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission for more diverse athlete representation. It later evolved into an independent athlete voice organisation supported by High Performance Sport New Zealand.

Forbes explained that the network was built around three key pillars; advocate, engage and support, while focusing on strengthening the “voice and mana of athletes.”

Throughout his presentation, Forbes stressed that athlete advocacy was not simply about speaking loudly, but about understanding systems, building capability and creating pathways for athletes to contribute meaningfully to governance and leadership discussions.

He noted that athletes today were increasingly seeking opportunities to understand governance structures, policies, wellbeing frameworks and decision-making processes within sport.

Forbes also reflected on the importance of creating visible pathways for athletes to transition into leadership positions.

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“For a lot of us, especially in the Pacific Islands, seeing is believing,” he shared. “If I can see an athlete who I recently trained with or played with now sitting in governance spaces and forums leading the way around change, then I can think there’s a pathway and there’s an opportunity.”

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One of the major themes of the Forum was the inclusion of athlete representatives within the ONOC General Assembly process. The 2026 Forum marked the first time athletes were invited to observe and participate alongside National Olympic Committee leaders during the regional assembly.

In an interview following his presentation, Forbes described the initiative as a critical step forward for athlete representation across Oceania.

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“I think it’s a critical piece,” Forbes said. “Having those athletes in those forums with those representatives that have basically been leading the way, knowing that they’ve got their own voice that they can share and add to the conversation, but also being amongst them and rubbing shoulders.”

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He added that many of the most valuable learnings often happened informally through networking and peer-to-peer engagement.

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“This is living proof, having athletes from across the Pacific in the room, sharing ideas, sharing thoughts, and learning along the way,” he said. “Connecting sports, not leaving our athletes in their own silos, but actually connecting across the sports sector, different sports and disciplines.”

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Forbes encouraged Pacific athlete representatives to continue building confidence, capability and networks, while also embracing opportunities to learn beyond their sporting performance.

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“There’s a lot more athletes that are confident and putting their hand up to step into spaces like these,” he said. “The more they do that, the more they grow their toolkit and capabilities.”

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He also expressed his commitment to supporting Pacific nations and sharing lessons learned through the Athlete Leaders Network experience in New Zealand.

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“As a proud Pacific Islander, I’d love to be able to share some of the learnings we’ve got,” Forbes said. “Whatever we can do to fast forward some of the learnings for our Pacific neighbours, that should be the easy part.”

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The Oceania Athletes’ Forum forms part of ONOC’s broader strategic objective to strengthen athlete representation, governance, wellbeing and collaboration across the region.