Who We Are
Elevate Strategic is led by Deane Pieters OLY, one of Australia’s leading specialists in the areas of sport, business, events and major stadia projects.
Our Founder
Deane Pieters OLY is the founder & CEO of Elevate, a specialised agency focused on sports-based management, athlete advisory, commercial marketing, strategy and business improvement.
Deane has more than 28 years of experience working with international, national and state sporting organisations, major stadia, multiple leagues, sporting clubs, athletes, commercial partners, major events, businesses, brands, government agencies & community programs/causes.
In 2024, Deane established the Sports Futures Foundation, an organisation dedicated to supporting athletes as they transition from high performance sport to the workplace and beyond.
Prior to establishing Elevate, Deane was employed by the West Coast Eagles Football Club as EGM of Business Strategy and Growth, where he was responsible for initiating and developing new business projects and leading organisational strategy and growth.
Deane has developed his leadership architecture on three principles: people, performance and professionalism. He is driven to get the best out of people and organisations and frequently draws from his education and knowledge as a graduate of Stanford Business School, Stanford University (USA).
Deane has built his exemplary executive career on extraordinary achievements as a former freestyle Olympic swimmer, representing Australia in swimming in 1991-1993. He is also a former world lifesaving champion (1990), and Australian surf lifesaving representative. Deane is a recipient of the Australian Sports Medal in 2000.
About Sports Futures Foundation:
Sports Futures Foundation is a collaboration with Elevate Strategic which provides relevant advice tools and content covering six key themes including athlete transition, mentoring and advisory services.
Sports Futures Foundation Ltd is a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the health and wellbeing of athletes both during and after their sporting careers.
With a strong focus on mental health, the foundation has been established to bridge a critical gap in the industry by supporting athletes as they transition from high performance sports to the workplace and beyond. It offers guidance, tools, services, education and networking opportunities to athletes at every stage of their careers.
Our Purpose
Unlocking the potential
together to achieve incredible
things is at the heart of
what we do and why we do it.
At Elevate, this purpose guides everything we do every day by focusing on ten purpose principles.
1
We bring industry-leading insights and knowledge sharing to light to assist clients to drive commercial and business growth outcomes.
2
We bring strong connections, industry leaders and alliance partners to help expand your business operations.
3
We grow organisations and inspire greatness in individuals to help them achieve their full potential.
4
We help strengthen core business, explore and discover new opportunities and create new possibilities.
5
We give our clients a competitive advantage by delivering solutions to help engage their fan base, grow attendances and new audiences, promote their brand, build value from new markets and accelerate growth.
6
We are committed to every client and take pride in everything we do, championing all stakeholders.
7
We are committed to delivering value for money relationships through tailored solutions that exceed expectations and connect clients to the wider business community, leading directly to measurable value growth.
8
We manage complexity in a changing environment by offering progressive ideas on planning and organisation strategy.
9
We bring simplicity to strategy, reimagined by focusing our efforts on the things that matter most.
10
We apply inspired fresh thinking and a collaborative approach to drive continuous improvement and innovation.
7
We are committed to delivering value for money relationships through tailored solutions that exceed expectations and connect clients to the wider business community, leading directly to measurable value growth.
Our Story
Managing complexity in a changing
environment will ultimately
demonstrate your resilience
and future success.
Deane established his sports-based management, commercial marketing, strategy and business improvement agency in 2022 after identifying a gap in the market as a result of unprecedented world events that resulted in critical shortages of skilled labour and industry specialists working in the areas of sport, business, events and major stadia projects.
In 2024, Deane established the Sports Futures Foundation, an organisation dedicated to supporting athletes/ players as they transition from high-performance sport to the workplace and beyond.
How athletes and organisations manage the complexity of the changing environment will ultimately demonstrate their resilience and future success.
Deane’s approach is about working collaboratively with athletes and organisations in response to the current environment, unlocking resources, improving efficiencies and pivoting resources to meet current and future operational requirements.
Deane’s philosophy is to identify and nurture clients, on a selective basis and personally invest in these relationships, through tailored solutions that exceed your expectations and connect you to the wider business community leading directly to measurable value growth.
Deane jealously guards his intellectual property and integrity in all dealings which is defined by values which guide how we work and how we treat our clients. His professional conduct, and the clients he partners with, will always reflect this philosophy.
Our Value Proposition
Elevate provides exceptional value through two key aspects:
- Quality of our work
- Low costs and overheads
We achieve high quality work through strong technical skills, experience and a practical approach to project scoping and delivery.
We maintain low costs by maintaining a small team of professionals, engaging select contractors as required. This allows us to maintain low overheads, while keeping all critical skills in-house. We also have a very low marketing spend, with the bulk of our project requests coming from repeat customers and referral business.
This unique proposition puts Elevate in a unique position by showing our resourcefulness, and by offering more value and opportunities to help clients improve their business operations, thrive as a brand, and profitably grow their organisation.
Contact Us
Get ready to go to the next level by exploring how our services can support you to unlock the potential to achieve incredible things.
