S3|E2: On the Team: Sports for inclusion, Identity, and Belonging
“On the Team: Sports for Inclusion, Identity, and Belonging” - takes us on a journey with athletes, followed by thought leaders, and culminating with an open question and answer forum with all of our guests. We focus on the role of sports and athletes in establishing inclusive environments, ensuring all are welcome and comfortable both on and off the field.
Rob Balucas: the founder and Chief Creative Catalyst at babaLucas Creative. When he was thrust into extraordinary circumstances in 2015 when a cycling accident rendered him paraplegic, he vowed to return to triathlon within a year and raced in 3 sprint-distance triathlons the next year after his injury. He has since competed in 6 half IRONMANs, including the 2019 half IRONMAN World Championships in Nice, France, as well as most recently partook in the 2022 IRONMAN World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
Victoria Crawford is an American model, actress, and former professional WWE wrestler known in the ring as Alicia Fox. Victoria debuted on SmackDown in June 2008, using the Alicia Fox name and the gimmick of a wedding planner. In October 2014, she began starring in the reality television series Total Divas on the E! network. In June 2015, Victoria aligned herself with The Bella Twins in the “Diva’s Revolution”, thus forming “Team Bella”. Victoria signed a contract with WWE in 2006 and debuted in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a WWE developmental territory, in July 2006. In November, she moved to the ECW brand, where she managed DJ Gabriel in 2008. The following year, she began challenging for the WWE Divas Championship, which she won in June 2010, holding the title for two months, becoming the first and only African American Divas Champion in WWE history.
Jesse Florkowski: Born and raised in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada by my grandparents. I was born without a right arm above elbow due to a birth defect called ABS (Amniotic Band Syndrome). He played many sports growing up which included golf, 10-pin bowling, baseball and hockey. His true love was bowling and golf and he has since gone on to 26x adaptive divisional golf champion: appeared on many radio stations, local newspapers and magazine, Featured on TSN and ScoreGolf headlined 50 greatest things about golf, 3x national ACAC/CCAA college participant,14x 300 perfect games in bowling, 3x 800 series in bowling, represented Alberta 2x at YBC Youth bowling nationals
Jarvis Sam is the CEO and Founder of the multi-services DEI firm The Rainbow Disruption and the former Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at Nike Inc. He was recently named in Forbes 30 Under 30 in Sports class of 2021, as well as in Portland Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. In his previous role, he oversaw a team of people focused on driving diverse representation, inclusive leadership and social justice education, professional development, and the ecosystem of promoting and creating a culture of belonging inside and outside of Nike. Prior to Nike, Jarvis worked as the first Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Snap, Inc., (Snapchat) where he was accountable for building the company’s first ever Diversity & Inclusion strategy, establishing the first five employee resource groups and rolling out the initial iteration of the global unconscious bias awareness and implicit association training. Jarvis is a graduate of Rice University, where he studied History, Public Policy, and Sport Management with emphasis in Race and Gender Rhetoric; he also received his MBA from Brown University and IE School of Business. He is an adjunct faculty member at Brown University and has lectured at numerous universities and institutions of higher learning around the world. Sam has given more than 400 public speeches, fireside chats, keynotes and panels and is considered an expert in the space.
Wquinton Smith joined Wisconsin Athletics as the Assistant Direct of Inclusion & Engagement in October 2021. He earned his Bachelor's degree in African-American/Black Studies (2011) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was a four-year letterwinner for the University’s men’s basketball team from 2007-2011. He later completed his Master's degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis (2017) at UW and is currently pursuing his doctoral degree in ELPA. During his doctoral studies, he worked as a graduate research assistant (2019-2021) and is currently studying how former Black student-athletes make meaning of their academic, social, and athletic experiences at predominantly white institutions. He hopes to find what affects their level of engagement as alumni due to the perception of their lived experience as undergraduates.
Dave Lenox is Managing Partner at Valtas Group and an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit, change management, and organization design and management fields. Skilled in International Relations, Inclusive Governance models, Organizational Development, Social Media, and Training.Dave spent over 35 years serving in leadership roles at Special Olympics; President and CEO of Special Olympics Washington (SOWA), Vice President for Leadership Development and Education at Special Olympics Inc. in Washington, DC., Executive Director for Special Olympics West Virginia, and CEO for Special Olympics North Carolina. He has a BS in Special Education from Missouri State University and a Master of Science degree in Business Organization and Design from Capella University.
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