Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Kellen Lovell

Surfing

Served as envoy

  • 2023  –  Papua New Guinea

Kellen Lovell is an adventure photographer, videographer and surfer who grew up in Hawaii. Wanting to combine his passion for the ocean with serving his country, he joined the US Coast Guard where he served in Alaska as a small boat crewman and certified rescue swimmer.

After the 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami, Kellen spent 2 years living and volunteering at a refugee camp in Thailand. While there he also volunteered for a number of non profit organizations and NGOs. He managed teams who were instrumental in rebuilding homes for tsunami victims.

Kellen attended San Diego State University where he studied cultural anthropology and archeology. While in college he served on the board of directors at the WindanSea Surf Club, one of the largest and most respected international 501c3 non profit surfing organizations which strives to “promote the sport of surfing and the positive image of surfers as athletes and good citizens, through the sponsorship of competitive surfing events and charitable community activities”.

Kellen currently lives in Hawaii and travels the world filming content for companies like Alison’s Adventures, Discovery Channel, Mastercard, Hewlett Packard, Western Digital, Adidas, Clif Bar and Hydroflask.

Alison Teal

Surfing

Served as envoy

  • 2023  –  Papua New Guinea

Alison Teal, Time Magazine’s Female Indiana Jones, is an explorer, author, surfer, conservationist and award wining filmmaker. She travels the world with her pink surfboard made from recycled trash on a quest to educate through entertainment and make waves of change in protecting the greatest treasure on earth – our world waters. Through her millions of social media followers and beyond, Alison’s passion is to inspire and entertain the kid – and explorer – in everyone.

Alison has worn many coconut hats directing, shooting, writing, editing, producing, hosting and acting for content on with DISCOVERY, NAT GEO, PARAMOUNT PICTURES, SONY PICTURES, and brand such as MASTERCARD, HAWAIIAN AIRLINES, KEEN, PATAGONIA, WD, CLIF BAR, RED BULL, LAR MER, and DISCOVERY+ and has been featured in all major press outlets from GMA, CNN, FOX, ELLEN, OPRAH, BBC, NBC, ABC, CBS, AL JAZEER, USA TODAY, LA & NY TIMES and TIME MAGAZINE. She was chosen by PARAMOUNT PICTURES and NICKELODEON to be the “real life explore like Dora” and the Indiana Jones by TIME MAGAZINE.

Alison was recently published by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not in her book Alison’s Adventures Your Password to the world distributed by Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House. Her writing, films, and viral social content has been instrumental in changing multiple environmental laws including the cleanup of Trash Island.

Alison graduated Summa Cum Laude from USC film school and created her own family friendly film series “Alison’s Adventures” which she directs, producers, edits, and hosts. She has won international acclaim at film festivals across the world and spoke on stages from Ted Talks to Parliament and Economic World Forum.

Alison grew up in a hand built treehouse in Hawaii and was home schooled around the world by her adventure photographer parents – on the back of a camel, on Mt. Everest, or on a dugout canoe in the most exotic and dangerous places on earth. Through her books and films she aims to inspire the next generation of explorers and eco-warriors!

Maluhia Kinimaka

Surfing

Served as envoy

  • 2023  –  Papua New Guinea

Maluhiahali’iokauaiepilialoha Kinimaka, known affectionately as Maluhia, grew up on the east coast of Kaua’i in the Anahola Hawaiian Homesteads. As the eldest daughter of big wave surfing legend, Titus Kinimaka, Maluhia was raised amongst some of Hawaii’s finest water-men, hula masters, and musicians. Preserving Hawaiian heritage, language, environment, and way of life has been, and will always be, imperative to her.

At the age of four, Maluhia began surfing and developed a deep passion for her ancestral practice. She would go on to qualify for the Hawaii Junior Olympic Surf Team at the age of 11, as well as winning State and National Championship titles for herself before the age of 16. Maluhia’s mother is a small-business owner and former school teacher, and was very insistent that she also pursue her academic gifts. At the age of 17, Maluhia was accepted to Stanford University on full academic scholarship, where she would go on to graduate in 2018 with a degree in Atmosphere and Energy Engineering.

Since then, Maluhia has worked at a Kauai-based architecture firm, Design Concepts Hawaii, creating residential homes with an emphasis on sustainable development. Simultaneously, Maluhia has been balancing her professional surfing career with Roxy and Reef, two of the industry’s largest corporations. She is currently ranked at number 9 on the World Surf League’s Women’s qualifying series in Hawaii, and is applying to start her PhD next year while continuing to advance her professional surfing career. Maluhia hopes to honor the resilience of her ancestors by giving back to her island community, and to perpetuate her cultural practices of surfing and environmental stewardship with integrity for future generations to come.

Dr. Andrea Woodson-Smith

Wheelchair Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2013  –  China
  • 2015  –  Papua New Guinea
  • 2015  –  Australia
  • 2018  –  Botswana

Dr. Andrea Woodson-Smith is a full professor at North Carolina Central University specializing in adapted physical activity and sports and physical education pedagogy. She earned her PhD from Texas Woman’s University specializing in adapted physical education, MS from North Carolina Central University specializing in adapted physical education and a BS from James Madison University, Kinesiology where she also competed as a Division I women’s basketball athlete.

She received an invite to try out for the American Basketball League (ABL) and also tried out for the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was a volunteer assistant women’s basketball coach for Texas Woman’s University and an Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach for Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, IL, an assistant varsity girls’ basketball coach and JV volleyball coach for East Chapel Hill High School and JV volleyball coach and assistant varsity volleyball coach for Waynesboro High School.

She participated in the 2003 and 2011 ParaPan American Games, 2006 and 2010 and 2012 U.S Paralympic team. She has also participated as the Vice Chair of the Women’s Division, Chair of the Youth Development Committee of the Women’s Division, Committee member of the High Performance Committee and currently member of the ADM and High Performance Committees and serves as a Sports Envoy for the U.S. Department of State.

During her spare time, she is an advocate for colon cancer, children’s cancer and equality for all girls and women in sports and a 7th grade girls Life Group Leader for New Hope Church