Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Adrianne Sloboh

Skateboarding

Served as envoy

  • 2023  –  Barbados
  • 2023  –  Grenada

Adrianne Sloboh grew up in Simi Valley California. After high school, Adrianne received a full ride basketball scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

Since leaving college Adrianne has pursued Skateboarding full time. Her sponsorships include DGK skateboards, Cariuma shoes, Krux trucks, and spitfire wheels. Adrianne has appeared in several national commercials and was a guest star on an episode of NCIS New Orleans, as well as two episodes of Animal Kingdom on TNT. Adrianne was also featured on the cover of Thrasher magazine.

Cheryl Jumao-as

Skateboarding

Served as envoy

  • 2018  –  Malaysia

Ben Hatchell

Skateboarding

Served as envoy

  • 2019  –  Estonia
  • 2019  –  Finland
  • 2019  –  Denmark

Hatchell is a regular on X Games Park podiums, with 4 medals in 9 XG starts. He’s multi-talented: He has the mini ramp mastered and consistently lands a 540 in the bowl. He’s also won vert and street contests, and that combination of skills makes him a formidable competitor. Ben skates hard, fast and big — he finds great lines, is a lot of fun to watch and could contend for gold.

Neftalie Williams

Skateboarding

Served as envoy

  • 2016  –  Netherlands
  • 2017  –  Cambodia
  • 2021  –  Kazakhstan
  • 2023  –  Barbados
  • 2023  –  Grenada

Neftalie Williams is the first professor of skateboarding business, media and culture in the United States. and conducts research and lectures at the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism in Los Angeles California. Known as “the father of skateboarding diplomacy, and the ambassador of good times” [Bod Boyle, President of Dwindle Skateboard Distribution], Neftalie demonstrates how skateboarding creates a construct identity and global culture, providing a common language and shared experience amongst a diverse transnational community.

Neftalie’s theories identify how emerging sports practioners act as global ambassadors providing the blueprint for a unified youth community across race, and ethnic divides. A recent graduate from U.S.C.’s Master of Public Diplomacy program, his work analyzes the effects of globalization on issues of diversity, identity and youth empowerment, using the lens of emerging sport culture

Drawing on over a decade of experience in the skateboarding industry, Neftalie is currently responsible for nurturing young talent from Havana to Sao Paulo, as team manager to the Citystars skateboarding team, founded by legendary pro skater, Kareem Campbell. He is also a member of the Dusters Skateboarders and Dwindle Skateboarding Distribution family. As a founding member of the Maloof Skateboarding Organization, Neftalie works with the Maloof family donating world-class skateparks to the cities of Queens, New York, Washington, D.C. and Kimberley, South Africa, as well as managing the world’s greatest skateboarding event, the Maloof Money Cup.

In addition to his work empowering and uniting the skateboarding communities of South Africa, Brazil and the Netherlands, as Chairman of Cuba Skate, a Washington, D.C. based non-profit, Neftalie turns theory into practice and uses skateboarding diplomacy to create people to people exchange between communities in Cuba and the U.S. In 2015, their work was the centerpiece of a month long exhibit at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., culminating in the Atlantic magazine documenting them raising the first sanctioning of the Cuban flag in the Kennedy Center’s Hall of Nation’s.

As the former Executive Director of New England Skatecamp, Neftalie helped launch the careers of professional skate luminaries, Ryan Gallant and PJ Ladd and designed skateparks in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Expanding his regional base, Neftalie eventually worked as a member of the Skate Park of Tampa, preparing him to present skateboarding events with former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in Los Angeles.

Neftalie is exploring historical relationships between sport, sports diplomacy and its effect on national history and racial identity, as the Research Director for The African-American Experience in Major League Baseball project (AAEMLB) housed in the USC Annenberg Institute for Sports Media and Society.

Neftalie’s scholarly, instructional, research and media work on skateboarding’s transnational community has been featured domestically and internationally in various outlets including: The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The N.Y. Times, the L.A. Times, Epoca Magazine, The BBC, The Kennedy Center, Public Diplomacy Magazine, ESPN.com, Yahoo! Sports, Time out-Chicago, Transworld Skateboarding, Transworld Business, The Swiss Art Space, G-Shock, the Guinness Book of World Records, Angeleno Magazine, the Robb report, Vapors Magazine, Color Magazine, YRB, Line-Up and FTK Magazines.

Lizzie Armanto

Skateboarding

Served as envoy

  • 2019  –  Estonia
  • 2019  –  Finland
  • 2019  –  Denmark

Lizzie Armanto is one of the most groundbreaking ladies in skateboard history. Pouring sweat, skill, and creativity into full parts for both Thrasher Magazine and Birdhouse in 2017, she also became the first female to be featured on the cover of Transworld Skateboarding in addition to Thrasher cover honors. Armanto is also one of the leaders of a new onslaught of fierce women skaters making names for themselves in the Vans Park Series circuit.

If that’s not enough, she’s also the first female skater to successfully complete Tony Hawk’s 360 Loop, in addition to being featured as a primary character in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 video game. With over 30 awards on her mantle, along with the first-ever Gold in X-Games Womens Park competition in 2013, Lizzie’s path is paved in milestones and setting the tone for generations of women in skateboarding.

Jamie Palmore

Skateboarding

Served as envoy

  • 2018  –  Kazakhstan

Jamie Palmore is an American skateboarder. He resides in San Diego, CA.

Jimmy Cao

Skateboarding

Served as envoy

  • 2018  –  Kazakhstan
  • 2018  –  Malaysia

Jimmy Cao has been skateboarding professionally since 2013 and is currently sponsored by SK8MAFIA, OJ Wheels, Independent Trucks, Jessup Griptape, Hard Luck bearings and Slappy’s Garage. He is mostly a street skater and has starring roles in numerous skateboarding videos, including “JSLVX1000” and Sk8Mafia’s “Stee.” Jimmy has often been featured in internationally recognized skateboard magazines such as Thrasher and Transworld. Jimmy frequently travels around the world to engage with local skateboarders and promote the sport, including to Vietnam, China, and all over Europe.

Jimmy lives in San Diego, California and frequently teaches skateboarding at the local YMCA to new and experienced skateboarders alike. When he’s not involved in skateboarding, he enjoys watching and playing futbol (American soccer), hanging out with his fiancé and their son, Mason, who is almost 2 years old.