Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Region: Virtual

Abdel Nader

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2020  –  Virtual

Abdel Nader is an Egyptian-American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nader was born in Alexandria, Egyptin 1993.Nader moved with his family to the United States at the age of 3 to Skokie, Illinois. He speaks fluent Arabic. He majored in liberal studies at Iowa State University. He played college basketball for the Northern Illinois Huskies and the Iowa State Cyclones before being drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 58th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft. On July 14,2017, Nader agreed to a 4-year, $6M deal with the Celtics. He made his NBA debut on October 18 against the Milwaukee Bucks. On July 23, 2018, Nader was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Rodney Purvis. Oklahoma City also received cash considerations in the deal. On November 28, 2019, Nader scored his career-high 23 points with two rebounds in a 136–119 loss against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Jeremy Guthrie

Baseball

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Panama
  • 2017  –  Nigeria
  • 2018  –  Brazil
  • 2020  –  Virtual

Beginning his baseball career as the starting pitcher at Stanford University, Jeremy Guthrie currently plays for the Eastern Reyes del Tigre of the Constellation Energy League, but played for 15 years in MLB for the Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, and the Washington Nationals.

Guthrie pitched for Team USA in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. During his time with the Kansas City Royals, he logged the most innings of his career during the 2013 season with 211⅔. He finished with a 15–12 record and a 4.04 ERA. The 2014 season Guthrie posted a 4.13 ERA over 202.2 innings and finished the regular season with a record of 13–11.

Guthrie is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and he served for two years as a missionary for the church in Spain. On February 1, 2018, Guthrie began a three-year assignment as president of its Texas Houston South Mission for the LDS church.

Jen Welter

American Football

Served as envoy

  • 2020  –  Virtual
  • 2022  –  New Zealand
  • 2022  –  Samoa

Dr. Jen Welter is the first female to coach in the National Football League (NFL). In the summer of 2015, she served as a linebackers coach for the Arizona Cardinals. Widely known as a trailblazer and pioneer in professional American football, she most recently served as a defensive specialist for the Alliance of American Football (AAF). Following her record-breaking accomplishment with the Cardinals, Welter became the head coach of the first Australian women’s national team in 2017. Welter became the first woman to play running back in a men’s professional football league with the Texas Revolution. In early 2015, Welter was hired as the first female coach in men’s professional football, helping coach the most successful Revolution season in franchise history. Prior to joining the world of men’s professional football, Welter had a highly decorated 14-year career in women’s professional football which included four World Championships, two gold medals as a member of Team USA in the 2010 and 2013 International Federation of American Football’s (IFAF) Women’s World Championship, and eight all-star selections. She was inducted into the first class of the Women’s Football Hall of Fame on November 30, 2018. Welter is committed to increasing access and opportunities in football. To empower women through football, Welter designed her signature program, “A Day in the Life,” Camp and continues to create a range of camps for girls and women through her GRRRidiron Flag Football Camp. Her initiatives go on to include everything a “Camp on the Corner” program for youth in under-served areas to publications like “Play Big: Lessons in Being Limitless from the First Woman to Coach in the NFL. ”Welter has served on the advisory board for the NFL’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Game for Life Academy since 2017. She holds a doctorate degree in Psychology, a Master’s in Sport Psychology, and a Bachelor’s degree from Boston College.

Rudy Garcia Tolson

Paratriathalon

Swimming (para)

Served as envoy

  • 2020  –  Virtual
  • 2023  –  Virtual
  • 2023  –  Vietnam

Rudy Garcia-Tolson was born September 14th, 1988 in Bloomington, California. The youngest of 4 children. At age five, having already undergone 15 surgeries to correct a rare birth defect, Garcia-Tolson elected to amputate both legs above the knee. He opted for greater mobility and a full, active life with prosthetics. Undaunted, he began swimming, then running, and has been winning ever since! By age 15, he had won a Gold medal in the Paralympic Games breaking world records in swimming.

When he was eight years old, he stated that he would swim in the 2004 Paralympic Games. He was true to his word and won the gold medal in the 200 meter individual medley and broke the world record for his SM7 class.

In 2008 Beijing Paralympics, when he was 20, he again won the gold medal in the 200 meter Individual Medley event, breaking his own SM7 world record twice in the process. He also won bronze medal in 100m breaststroke SB7.

At the 2012 Paralympics in London, he broke the SM7 world record in 200 meter Individual Medley heat. In the final, both he and Yevheniy Bohodayko swam faster still. Bohodayko touched the wall first; Garcia-Tolson won silver.

As part of 2012 Paralympics, Rudy also qualified and competed on 100 meters and 200 meters track and field.

At the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Garcia-Tolson broke his PR (personal record) and gain back the AR (American Record) in 100m breaststroke SB7. In the 200meter Individual Medley again he broke his PR and won silver.

Rudy has spoken across the country to groups ranging from Fortune 500 companies to inner city public schools.

His blend of energy and humor inspires organizations and individuals to adopt his swim motto, No Legs No Limits, A Brave Heart is a Powerful Weapon, as their new standard of excellence

Rudy shares stories about choosing to amputate his legs at a young age, swimming in the Paralympics, and playing jokes with his prothetic legs to give motivation for overcoming adversity and reaching peak performance.

Jesse Lovejoy

STEAM

Served as envoy

  • 2019  –  Fiji
  • 2021  –  Virtual

Jesse Lovejoy is the director of 49ers EDU & the San Francisco 49ers Museum. He is also the managing partner of EDU Academy. Lovejoy joined the 49ers in August 2013, when he was brought on to envision and implement educational and community programming for the 49ers, and develop the content of and operating structure/plan for the 49ers Museum.

While spearheading the 2014 launch of the Museum—a 20,000 square foot facility featuring 11 unique gallery and exhibit spaces exclusively dedicated to the 49ers past, present and future—Lovejoy concurrently led the 49ers into a domain where no professional sports organization had ventured before, a comprehensive STEAM Education Program for students in grades K-8, completely free to the end-user. In 2017, as inbound interest in the 49ers STEAM efforts continued to rise, Lovejoy formed and launched EDU Academy, a consulting arm which helps organizations envision, build and launch education programs.

Lovejoy sits on the board of governors for the International Sports Heritage Association, the education committee for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and the corporate council for the National Association for Gifted Children. He was named as one of Silicon Valley’s 40 most influential people under 40 years of age in 2016 by the Silicon Valley Business Journal, and one of SportTechie’s “20 Innovators” in 2017.

Before he joined the 49ers, Lovejoy was director of community relations and marketing for the San Diego Sports Commission/San Diego Hall of Champions where he served as a brand champion for community relations initiatives, awards programs, and educational opportunities for nearly three years.

Prior to his role with the San Diego Hall of Champions, Lovejoy served as a substitute teacher for the Catholic Diocese in San Diego and then as an English teacher at a language academy before taking the Hall of Champions position.

Lovejoy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from San Diego State University-California State University.

Deja Young

Track & Field Paralympics

Served as envoy

  • 2019  –  Nigeria
  • 2020  –  Virtual
  • 2021  –  Japan

Born with brachial plexus that caused nerve damage and limited mobility to her right shoulder, Young has excelled with her unique running form. A standout on her high school track team, she lettered all four years while also competing in volleyball and softball. Despite her success, she received a lot of resistance from recruiters and college coaches because of her disability. She earned a track scholarship to Wichita State University where she was All-Conference. It was at a college meet that she learned about Paralympic track and field, a path that would lead her to her first Paralympic titles at the Paralympic Games Rio 2016. She also served as an athlete mentor as part of the Sports Envoy Program of the U.S. State Department to Nigeria in 2018.

Lorrie Fair

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2008  –  Morocco
  • 2010  –  Paraguay
  • 2012  –  Afghanistan
  • 2012  –  Venezuela
  • 2013  –  Iraq
  • 2014  –  Burma
  • 2016  –  Nepal
  • 2018  –  Pakistan
  • 2020  –  Virtual
  • 2022  –  Cote d'Ivoire
  • 2023  –  Brunei

As an undergraduate student at Carolina, Lorrie Fair Allen helped the women’s soccer team to national championships in 1996, 1997 and 1999. During the same period of time, Allen was succeeding on the field globally, becoming a FIFA World Cup champion and an Olympic silver medalist in 2000.

These days, Allen, a mother of two boys under the age of five, works as a program director for the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project and volunteers as a sports envoy for the U.S. Department of State.

Her dual passion of soccer and advocacy began to take root when she arrived at Chapel Hill. The women’s soccer program is special, and one of coach Anson Dorrance’s goals is to build leaders, Allen said in a 2018 interview. “His biggest hope is that that extends beyond the soccer field.”

As a State Department sports envoy since 2008, Allen works to support the embassies’ diplomatic missions abroad by connecting with people from diverse cultures using a shared love for soccer. Allen also led a six-month expedition beginning in London and ending in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup as part of the organization, Kickabout, which she co-founded and self-funded.

At the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, Allen spearheads the foundation’s grantmaking. She seeks out and identifies community-based organizations in Southern Africa that engage young people to keep themselves and their peers safe from HIV and helps them apply for grants to support them in accomplishing their goals.

In 2016, Allen became a Carolina student once again, pursuing an online master’s degree in public administration through the School of Government.

Danielle Slaton

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2010  –  Paraguay
  • 2012  –  Malaysia
  • 2012  –  Burma
  • 2014  –  Jordan
  • 2021  –  Jordan

Danielle Slaton currently works as the Director of the Coaching for Life Academy at Santa Clara University where she teaches coaches, athletes, and parents about how to integrate life skills development through sports. She is also a sideline reporter for the San Jose Earthquakes and a women’s soccer analyst for NBC, Fox Sports, and the Pac-12 Networks.

Danielle was a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team from 2000-2005, winning a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics and a bronze in the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She attended Santa Clara University where she captained the women’s soccer team to the 2001 NCAA National Championship. After she retired from playing, Danielle coached soccer at Northwestern from 2006-2009, where she also earned her Master’s Degree in Sports Administration.

Danielle is passionate about continuing to grow the game of soccer and teaching life lessons through sports. She serves as an advisor to U.S. Soccer’s Athlete Council, travels as a sports envoy on behalf of the U.S. State Department coaching youth about the life lessons that soccer can teach, and is a certified Positive Coaching Alliance trainer.

Jessica McDonald

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2020  –  Virtual

Jessica McDonald is a powerful forward with a proven track record of goal-scoring—she was the first NWSL player to reach 33 regular-season goals. In 2017 and 2018, McDonald’s goals and assists helped lead the North Carolina Courage to two NWSL Shields. She is also mother to seven-year-old Jeremiah and her son is a huge part of her motivation to chase her dreams. “I want him to be proud of his mom,” McDonald says with an ear to ear smile. In the past ten years, Jessica McDonald has played for nine different professional teams—the Chicago Red Stars, SC Herford, Melbourne Victory FC, the Seattle Reign, the Portland Thorns, the Houston Dash, and the North Carolina Courage (previously the Western New York Flash). As a mother, moving from city to city wasn’t easy, but McDonald refused to give up her dream: to one day make the National Team. “I wanted to be able to tell my son Jeremiah that I went for it,” says McDonald. On November 2016, she earned her long-awaited call-up to the U.S. WNT. At age 31, her years of unwavering perseverance and steady goal scoring paid off. She’s headed to France for the 2019 World Cup, where she’ll look to inject speed and strength into the frontline.

Joanna Lohman

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Argentina
  • 2015  –  Thailand
  • 2016  –  Botswana
  • 2017  –  Ivory Coast
  • 2018  –  Niger
  • 2019  –  Nigeria
  • 2021  –  Virtual
  • 2022  –  Virtual
  • 2024  –  Cambodia

Joanna Lohman is a keynote speaker and performance coach. She is a former professional soccer player and member of the United States Women’s National Team. She is the first player in Washington Spirit history to have her jersey retired, honoring her 16-year playing career where she built a platform for social impact. She is the author of, Raising Tomorrow’s Champions, and an authenticity activator. She continues her influence as a Sport Diplomat and global leader who has shared her message with organizations all over the world, including: The Minnesota Vikings, The Human Rights Campaign, Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Qualcomm, Lifetime Television, Sanofi, American Staffing Association, McDonalds, CNN and universities all over the country.