Liesel Jolly: Visa Women’s Football Leader, Career, Age, Education and Karen Carney Connection
Liesel Jolly is a senior sponsorship and partnership marketing professional whose career has become closely connected with the growth of women’s football in Europe. She has spent more than 15 years at Visa, building experience across Olympic and Paralympic sponsorship, Formula E, athlete marketing, major football tournaments and entertainment partnerships.
Her current work centres strongly on women’s football. She leads major parts of Visa’s European women’s football activity, including the UEFA partnership and Team Visa athletes. She is also a trustee of The Rachel Yankey Foundation, an organisation working to give girls greater access to football.
Beyond her corporate career, Jolly has gained recognition for programmes designed to support female footballers both during and after their playing careers. Her work on Visa’s The Second Half programme is especially important because it brought her into close professional collaboration with former England footballer Karen Carney.
Who Is Liesel Jolly?
Liesel Jolly is a UK-based senior sponsorship and partnership marketing leader at Visa. She specialises in sports sponsorship, athlete partnerships, women’s football and major brand collaborations. Her work combines commercial strategy with a strong interest in equality and inclusion. Women’s football has become one of the main areas of her career, and she has played an important role in Visa’s work with UEFA competitions and female players.
Her professional experience is broader than football. During her years at Visa, she has worked on the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Formula E, growth markets, client programmes and entertainment partnerships. Jolly is also a Chartered Manager and holds an Executive MBA.
Liesel Jolly Age and Birth Year
Liesel Jolly was born in 1982 and is 43 years old as of August 2026. Her exact day and month of birth have not been publicly confirmed. However, strong social media evidence supports the 1982 birth year.
On 23 October 2022, a close friend shared photographs from a birthday weekend celebrating Jolly and described her as “soon to be 40”. Jolly personally replied to the post and thanked the group for helping make the weekend special.
How Her Education Supports the Timeline
Her university dates also fit this age. She began a BSc in Zoology at Anglia Ruskin University in 2001. A person born in 1982 would have been about 18 or 19 when beginning university, which fits a normal undergraduate timeline. She would later continue at the same university for postgraduate study.
Liesel Jolly Education
Liesel Jolly has an academic background that is quite different from her current career in sponsorship and sport.
Anglia Ruskin University
She studied Zoology at Anglia Ruskin University from 2001 to 2004, completing a BSc. She then continued her studies with an MPhil in Behavioural Ecology from 2004 to 2007. This means her early academic interests were rooted in science, animal behaviour and ecology rather than marketing.
European Sponsorship Association
In 2012, she completed an ESA Skills Workshop focused on building a career in sponsorship. By this stage, she had already entered Visa and was developing experience in partnership marketing.
University of Exeter
From 2021 to 2022, Jolly completed an Executive MBA at the University of Exeter. The qualification added senior business and leadership training to the practical experience she had already gained across major sponsorship programmes.
Chartered Management Institute
During the same period, she completed a Level 7 qualification in Senior Leadership and Management Practice through the Chartered Management Institute. Her professional title includes CMgr MCMI, reflecting Chartered Manager status and membership of the organisation.
Early Career Before Visa
Before joining Visa, Jolly worked for IDTFS in Gibraltar. She first worked as a KYC Assistant between March and November 2008. She then moved into a Finance Assistant – Chargebacks position, remaining in that role from November 2008 until November 2010. These early positions gave her experience in financial services, compliance and business operations before she moved into sponsorship and partnership work.
Liesel Jolly’s Career at Visa
Jolly joined Visa in January 2011. Her career at the company has lasted more than 15 years and has included several different roles.
Prepaid Sales Assistant
Her first Visa position was Prepaid Sales Assistant, which she held from January to September 2011.
London 2012 Partnership Marketing
In September 2011, she moved into the Partnership Management team as Partnership Marketing Executive – London 2012. The role placed her close to Visa’s sponsorship of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. She helped prepare and manage Visa Europe’s major guest programme for London 2012. Her responsibilities included client communications, event delivery, senior stakeholder liaison and the management of commercial sponsorship rights.
Prepaid and Growth Markets Roles
After London 2012, she became a Prepaid Programme Manager Liaison from November 2012 to August 2013. She worked with senior executives, issuers and programme partners across Europe. From September 2013 to May 2014, she served as a Growth & Emerging Markets Business Operations Executive. The role covered 16 European growth and emerging markets and involved business analysis, forecasting and project management.
Sponsorship and Event Management
In June 2014, Jolly returned to a role closely linked with sponsorship. She worked in Guest and Event Management until March 2017. Her responsibilities included B2B and B2C events, guest programmes and sponsorship activation across Europe. One of the major properties connected with this period was FIA Formula E. From March 2017 to October 2018, she worked as Marketing Events Manager; Sponsorships & Partnerships. These positions helped build the experience that later placed her at the centre of Visa’s women’s football strategy.
Liesel Jolly and Women’s Football
In October 2018, Jolly became Senior Manager, Sponsorship & Partnership Marketing. Women’s football became one of the most important parts of her responsibilities. She has led strategic work connected with Visa’s European women’s football portfolio, including UEFA competitions and Team Visa athletes. Her responsibilities include sponsorship strategy, tournament activity, marketing campaigns, athlete contracts, content production and commercial planning. She also works across agencies, rights holders, sales teams and marketing departments.
UEFA Women’s Football Partnership
Visa became an important commercial partner of UEFA women’s football in 2018. Jolly has played a significant role in managing and developing that relationship. Her work includes tournament activation, brand campaigns, client activity and the use of football assets to strengthen Visa’s position across European markets. She has also contributed strategic direction to research focused on the commercial growth of women’s football.
Team Visa Women’s Footballer Programme
One of Jolly’s clearest responsibilities is the Team Visa Women’s Footballer programme. The programme works with female footballers as Visa athletes and brand partners. Jolly’s work covers athlete contracting, campaign integration, content shoots and wider marketing activity. Her X account also identifies her with the management of the Team Visa Women’s Footballer programme.
The Second Half Programme
A major part of Jolly’s work has been The Second Half, a programme created to help professional female footballers prepare for life after playing. She helped develop the strategy and co-create the programme in 2020. The programme provides career support, mentoring, networking and development opportunities. Its purpose is important because professional football careers are relatively short, and many players need support when moving into new industries after retirement.
Liesel Jolly and Karen Carney
Karen Carney has a confirmed professional connection with Jolly through The Second Half. Carney, a former England international, worked with Visa on the development of the programme alongside other leading figures in women’s football. Jolly and Carney have also publicly praised each other’s professional work.
Is Karen Carney Liesel Jolly’s Partner?
There is no confirmed evidence that Karen Carney is Liesel Jolly’s romantic partner, wife or girlfriend. Their established connection is professional and centres strongly on women’s football and The Second Half. Neither woman has publicly confirmed a romantic relationship between them.
The Rachel Yankey Foundation
In May 2024, Jolly became a trustee of The Rachel Yankey Foundation. The organisation works to empower girls through football and remove cultural and socioeconomic barriers that can prevent young people from entering the sport. Jolly has described the foundation as an initiative with ambitious plans to create lasting opportunities for girls both on and off the pitch. Her Instagram biography also identifies her as a trustee of the foundation.
Awards and Professional Recognition
Liesel Jolly’s work has received growing recognition within sport and business. In 2024, she received Highly Commended recognition in the Outstanding Employee category at the Employer’s Excellence Awards. In 2025, she won the Corporate Football Trailblazer honour at the Global Football Industry Awards. The award recognised her contribution to the football industry through corporate leadership and sponsorship. She has also taken part in judging and industry initiatives connected with women’s football and sport business.
VisaPepTalks and Positive Change
Liesel Jolly has been involved with Visa’s #VisaPepTalks campaign. The campaign was created in response to online abuse directed at female footballers. It encouraged supporters to share positive messages and create a more supportive digital environment. The campaign later received international media recognition. Her involvement reflects a wider theme in her career: using commercial sponsorship to create both business value and positive social impact.
UEFA Women’s EURO 2025
Liesel Jolly played an important role in Visa’s activity during UEFA Women’s EURO 2025. Visa activated its partnership across all 31 matches and eight host cities. Jolly personally attended many matches during the tournament and spent several weeks in Switzerland supporting the programme. The tournament became another major milestone in her women’s football career.
Entertainment Partnerships
Her responsibilities at Visa extend beyond sport. Her current work also includes entertainment partnerships, with Spotify named among the major brands connected to her portfolio. Her broader experience demonstrates that she is not limited to football sponsorship alone. She works across brand strategy, customer engagement, commercial partnerships and major international campaigns.
Liesel Jolly on Social Media
Liesel Jolly maintains a professional presence across several platforms. Her LinkedIn account focuses heavily on Visa, women’s football, sponsorship and leadership. Her X account uses the handle @JollyLiesel and identifies her with Team Visa Women’s Footballer programme management. Her Instagram account, @lieseljolly, highlights her connection with The Rachel Yankey Foundation. The Instagram snapshot shared in 2026 showed 207 posts, 204 followers and 665 accounts followed. These figures can change over time.
Liesel Jolly Personal Life
Liesel Jolly keeps much of her private life away from her professional work. Her parents, siblings and children have not been publicly confirmed through reliable sources. There is also no confirmed husband, wife or romantic partner. She is based in the United Kingdom and has a strong professional connection with London, but her exact birthplace has not been confirmed.
Why Liesel Jolly Has Become Important in Women’s Football
Jolly’s career shows how sponsorship can influence the development of modern sport. Her work is not limited to placing a company logo on tournaments. She has helped create athlete programmes, career development initiatives, research projects and campaigns focused on improving the environment surrounding women’s football.
Her long Visa career also gives her unusual depth. She has moved from financial operations and prepaid services into Olympic sponsorship, Formula E, major European football partnerships and entertainment marketing. That combination of commercial experience and commitment to inclusion has made her an increasingly recognised figure in the business side of women’s football.
Final Thoughts
Liesel Jolly has built a career that connects major international brands with sport, athletes and social progress. Born in 1982, she is 43 years old as of August 2026 and has spent more than 15 years at Visa. Her work with UEFA women’s football, Team Visa, The Second Half and The Rachel Yankey Foundation has placed her firmly within the modern women’s football industry.
She also holds an Executive MBA, Chartered Manager status and an academic background in Zoology and Behavioural Ecology. Although online interest often focuses on her connection with Karen Carney, their confirmed relationship is professional. Jolly’s own achievements provide a much stronger story: a long corporate career, major sports partnerships and a growing role in shaping opportunities for women in football.
