Forward Press is a sports communications and content marketing consultancy. Its mission is to shape conversation at the intersection of sports, media and technology by helping its clients tell authentic and memorable stories to the audiences that matter most to them.

Forward Press was founded by Willem Suyderhoud, a senior sports communications executive with a proven track record of high performance at Meta and Nike.

For more than six years, Willem led sports communications at Meta (formerly Facebook). He was responsible for crafting the company’s evolving sports narrative, evangelizing it to press and partners around the world, and preparing the company’s top sports executives to successfully deliver it to influential business and tech audiences. He also spearheaded the communications strategy and execution for Facebook’s high-profile live sports and original content projects and most recently led the company’s sports metaverse storytelling. Willem is a team player with experience navigating and influencing large, company-wide cross-functional projects and advising senior business executives.

Prior to Meta, Willem was a Global Communications Director at Nike. He specialized in creating content featuring Nike athletes and designers that showcased the brand’s innovation.

Willem earned an MBA with a focus on marketing from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, which helped him transition from an award-winning career in sports broadcasting. He received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Willem lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Kat, and their three children. He is an avid golfer and supporter of teams that rarely reciprocate the love he has for them.