Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Year: 2016

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.

Lisa Berg

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2016  –  Venezuela
  • 2017  –  Vietnam
  • 2019  –  Burma
  • 2019  –  Kuwait
  • 2022  –  Cameroon
  • 2023  –  Mexico
  • 2024  –  Jordan

Lisa Berg is a professional soccer coach, development strategist, talent scout, and an international instructor who consults with federations and organizations around the world to develop the lives of women and girls through sport.

Berg has over 20 years of coaching experience and she has taught coaching courses in more than 20 countries. She holds the USSF A Coaching License, CONCACAF D License, M.S. in Exercise and Sport Psychology (Texas Tech University), and B.S. in Kinesiology (University of Minnesota). She earned the NSCAA Level 3 Goalkeeping Diploma, USC Director of Coaching Diploma, USC Performance Analysis Diploma, and is a CSCS from the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Berg is currently located in Mexico City, Mexico. She is a former scout for the FMF assisting with talent identification for the Seleccion Nacional Mexicana. In her role, she identified women players for all categories of the Mexican National Teams, she connected players to professional teams, mentored female coaches, and worked with youth soccer academies. She assisted with evaluations of the FMF’s FIFA Academia Femenil Project to identify players for the U15 and U17 youth national teams. She continues to work with She Wins a Mexican non-profit and she travels globally to execute her work to empower women and girls globally through education, consulting, and coaching.

Berg has served as an Envoy for the US Department of State’s Sports Diplomacy program in Mexico (2023), Cameroon (2022), Burma (2019), Kuwait (2019), Vietnam (2017), and Venezuela (2016). She co-founded Growing the Game for Girls in 2010 which handles projects of the 501c3 non-profit ISC Outreach, Inc. in the following countries: Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Egypt, Zanzibar, Swaziland, Rwanda, South Sudan, Brazil, and Mexico. The aim is to use grassroot sport clinics, courses, and workshops to reach at-risk and disadvantaged communities of children and women including those with deafness and disabilities.

Berg is the Head Coach in the Midwest ODP Regional Program. She served as the Girls’ Technical Director of Dakota Olympic Development Program (ODP) from 2018-2020. She has instructed coaching courses for MYSA, WYSA, USSF, SFA (Swaziland), and FUFA (Uganda). She previously worked with Salvo Soccer Club in Minnesota as their Director of Athletic Development, goalkeeper trainer, and head coach of their top girls and boys teams. She has served as an assistant women’s soccer coach at Bethel University (DIV III), Arkansas State University (DIV I), and University of MN (DIV I) and has brought each program to post-season play. She played NCAA Division I soccer at the University of Minnesota, T.C. from 2002-2005. She was a former US Soccer Talent Scout and works alongside other federations to establish scouting structures and strategies.

In 2011-2015, she was the Technical Advisor for Uganda’s Women’s National Football Team and served as the assistant coach during the 2012 Olympic Qualifiers against Egypt and DR Congo and the 2014 U20 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers against South Sudan. In addition to her technical roles with the Ugandan National Team, she led the first ever CAF C License Course in Uganda creating curriculum, mentoring instructors and candidates, and overseeing the evaluation and certification of top professional and national team coaches in Uganda. Lisa was part of the 2013 launch of the immensely successful Airtel Rising Stars Tournament in Uganda which finds new talents to feature in their U17 National Teams. She advocated for the inclusion of more girls teams and proper scouting of youth players to overcome age-cheating and tribalism. Berg continues to mentor former national team players to become the up and coming leaders of the future. She has created a mentoring program that exposes professional players and national team stars to careers in sport. Through workshops and one on one mentoring, these players become leaders in sport.

She has been a presenter at multiple events promoting sport for development advocating for gender equality hosted by CONCACAF, UNWomen, Valencia FC, and Women Deliver. She has also attended conferences and symposiums hosted by FIFA, the US Olympic Committee, and CONCACAF. She has been a key presenter at the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association (MYSA) Winter Coaching Symposium. In addition to these speaking appearances, she has taught graduate and undergraduate courses at Texas Tech University.

Staci Wilson

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  Peru
  • 2016  –  Senegal
  • 2018  –  Niger
  • 2019  –  Nigeria
  • 2019  –  Ethiopia
  • 2022  –  Cameroon
  • 2023  –  Mexico

Staci Wilson – former professional soccer player with extensive experience training athletes, teams and coaches. An NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach, she holds a US Soccer B Coaching License, and has teaching certifications in yoga and Pilates. She played professional soccer for the Carolina Courage and on the 1996 USWNT that won the first ever Olympic Gold Medal for Women’s Football. Currently Wilson coaches youth, high school in south Florida and has a soccer consulting business. She devotes free time to giving back to the sport through charitable organizations that target females and underserved communities.

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.

Lori Lindsey

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Canada
  • 2015  –  Egypt
  • 2015  –  Jordan
  • 2016  –  New Zealand
  • 2016  –  Venezuela
  • 2016  –  Samoa
  • 2017  –  Colombia

Lori Lindsey played at the University of Virginia (UVA) from 1998-2001 and was the school’s first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, winning the award two consecutive years (2000, 2001) joining North Carolina’s Mia Hamm as the only other player to achieve that distinction. She finished as the sixth all-time scorer in UVA history with 33 goals and 76 points, NSCAA Second-Team All-American in 2001, and third-Team All-American in 2000. She was also a 2001 finalist for the Mid Atlantic Conference Award and named Female Athlete of the Year at UVA for the 2001-02 academic year.

Lori Lindsey broke into the National Team relatively late in her career but was a consistent call-up from 2009 to 2012. Lori Lindsey made her first appearance on the National Team in July 24, 2005, vs. Iceland. She was called into WNT training camps on the strength of her WPS performance in 2009 but did not appear in a match. Her best and most active year for the USA was in 2010, playing in 13 matches while starting six and upping her career cap total to 14. In 2011 Lori played in 10 games, starting three, and made her first Women’s World Cup team, playing in one match in Germany, starting and playing the entire 90 minutes in the USA’s second group match, with a victory over Colombia. Finally in, 2012 she played in six matches, starting two, and scored her first career national team goal against Guatemala – on a header – at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Vancouver, Canada. She was named as an alternate to the 2012 Olympic Team and traveled with the squad to the U.K

Through the Women’s Professional Soccer League, she played for the Washington Spirit and with Canberra United in Australia. She was the captain of the Washington Spirit in 2013. In the years prior to playing for the Washington Spirit and Canberra United, she also played for the Western New York Flash in the WPSL-Elite and the Philadelphia Independence. Lori was the first player taken in the 2010 Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) Expansion Draft by the Independence and that year she was named to the WPS Best XI and was also named to the WPS All-Star Team.

Zola Solamente

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  Bolivia
  • 2016  –  Jordan
  • 2016  –  Netherlands
  • 2016  –  Senegal
  • 2017  –  Belarus
  • 2017  –  Albania
  • 2018  –  Tajikistan
  • 2019  –  Bahrain
  • 2023  –  Eswatini
  • 2024  –  Jordan

Zola Solamente began playing soccer at the age of 5, with her older brother and his friends. She continued to play with boys until middle school, when she switched to a female club/travel team. From ages 12 – 17, Zola was a captain of her club team, as well as with the Olympic Development Program, and was a member of the East Regional team, which competed internationally.

Zola played at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill 1990-1993. She was a starter at UNC for all four years of her career. She won 4 National Championships, 4 ACC Championships, and was named All-American her senior year. She was invited to play on the US Women’s National team in 1993. She traveled with the team for 2.5 years participating in international tournaments.

In 1995 Zola retired from international soccer to become a mother and pursue a career in fine arts. She now owns Arden Gallery Ltd. in Boston, MA, which she has been directing for 23 years. She continues to share her passion for soccer by providing individual and small-group soccer clinics to female players ages 12 – 18 in the greater Boston area. The focus of these training sessions is to improve technical skills, increase tactical awareness, and deepen strength/fitness levels. She also is a member of a USTA tennis league and rows competitively as single sculler. Since the fall of 2014 she has been traveling with the US State Department as a Sports Envoy coaching and mentoring children in under-served and at-risk environments in the Middle East, Africa, and South America. Zola is passionate about empowering girls and women through sports, especially the beautiful game of soccer.