about the founder

Born in 2005, Esther Elias grew up playing football in South-East London, where the game meant more than sport — it was community, identity, and resilience.

At the age of two, she suffered a severe leg injury that would later require a tibial alignment operation at 15. The months that followed, spent wheelchair-bound, could have distanced her from football — but instead, they deepened her connection to it. While on crutches, Esther completed her FA Level 1 Coaching Qualification, determined to stay involved in the game that had shaped her.

Growing Up Neurodivergent

Growing up neurodivergent, Esther found her later school years increasingly challenging. With the support of staff at her secondary school, she learned a defining lesson that continues to shape her work today:

“Sometimes the right people showing up can change everything.”

That principle became the foundation of the Effort Over Environment Collective— creating spaces where support, opportunity, and community meet.

Resilience in Motion

In 2021, Esther had to learn to walk again following her operation.
In 2022, she had moved into temporary accommodation, beginning life away from South-East London for the first time in 16 years.
In 2023, she began counselling for her mental health, addressing years of unspoken struggle.

She shares these moments not for sympathy, but to highlight the realities faced by many inner-city girls and women — health, housing, mental wellbeing, and access to opportunity. These are the same barriers that the EOE Collective now works to dismantle.

The Beginning of Effort Over Environment

At 16, Esther launched Effort Over Environment (EOE) — a movement born from her belief that:

“Effort can always outweigh your environment.”

By 17, she was the youngest and only female coach at Crystal Palace Women’s Academy, and the youngest member of the London FA Inclusion Advisory Board.

By 19, she became the youngest and only Black female coach at Nottingham Forest Academy, all while completing her UEFA C Licence and Level 2 in Talent Identification.

Every achievement carried the same message: barriers can be broken, and effort can transcend circumstance.

A Home for the Underdogs

Every chapter of Esther’s story — from injury to recovery, from coaching on crutches to building community — has been driven by resilience and faith.

Those same values are at the heart of the EOE Collective, a space she founded for girls and women who, like her, have had to fight to be seen, supported, and believed in.

“It takes a village to rise — and that’s exactly what the EOE Collective is: a home for the underdogs.”