U.S. Department of State and National Football League Partner to Engage Youth Worldwide

From players and coaches signing young people overseas to teams mentoring emerging women in sports, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and the League National Football League (NFL) today announced their intention to create new opportunities for collaboration and cooperation through sports diplomacy, a powerful tool used to support American foreign policy at home and abroad.

This fall, as part of the United States Department of State – espnW Global Sports Mentoring Program – the Department’s first exchange for women in sports – the NFL and the Green Bay Packers will for the first time serve as an organization of mentors for Fouzia Madhouni from Morocco. Madhouni is the first professional African American football player and the founder of “We Can Morocco”, an organization that empowers women and girls through leadership courses and American football sessions while talking to men about the role they play in promoting gender equality. . She will be mentored by Taryn Hutt, vice president of NFL club marketing; Nicole Ledvina, vice president of human resources at Green Bay Packers; and Chris Cohorst, human resources manager at Green Bay Packers in New York and Green Bay, Wisconsin. Madhouni will work with them to develop an action plan to implement in her home country to empower women and girls through sport.

Additionally, beginning in 2023, in coordination with NFL and U.S. embassies and consulates around the world, NFL players and coaches will travel overseas through the Sports Envoy Program. of the State Department, which sends American athletes, coaches and administrators abroad to engage the young and underrepresented. communities on the ground and in society about the importance of key American values, such as democracy, diversity and inclusion, and civic engagement.

The NFL joins many other professional and amateur sports leagues and organizations in supporting United States sports diplomacy efforts, including Athletes Unlimited, Harlem Globetrotters, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, NASCAR, National Basketball Association, the National Collegiate Athletic Association. (NCAA), National Hockey League, National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), Special Olympics, USA Boxing, USA Cycling, USA Hockey, USA Rugby, USA Skateboarding, USA Softball, USA Swimming, USA Volleyball, USA Wrestling, USA Fencing Association, US Figure Skating, US Soccer, US Ski and Snowboard, US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, US Tennis Association (USTA), US Track and Field, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the World League of surfing.

For more information, please contact the Office of Educational and Cultural Affairs at [email protected] and follow the Department’s Sports Diplomacy Division on Twitter @SportsDiplomacy.