GSM Live: More than an athlete, the making of a global human

When athletes have causes they are passionate about, how can they channel it to engage community and create real change, and how can the world of sport better support their efforts? In this GSM Live, explore what it means to engage as a global human in sport today. 

In three distinct conversations, we will first examine the ways sport itself can create the controversies we seek to solve with Charles Brown Jr. and Tracy A. Jones. Then Bacardi Jackson and former NFL player Chris Draft discuss how we can honor the humanity of athletes that decide to speak up. And to close, a discussion examining the evolution of the activism of Mystics Point Guard Natasha Cloud with Stephanie Tryce.

Joining the conversation:
Natasha Cloud | WNBA Player with the Washington Mystics and activist for civil rights and social justice

Natasha Cloud is a racial justice activist who sat out the 2020 WNBA season to bring awareness to gun violence and aid the Black Lives Matter movement and continues to use her platform to address social issues in and out of sport, such as fair pay and "attention equity" by the media for her and fellow players in the league. While at Saint Joseph’s, Cloud led the team to two appearances in the NCAA tournament, two Philadelphia Big Five titles and the 2013 Atlantic 10 championship. She was the first Hawk to be drafted to the WNBA since Susan Moran in 2002. Cloud was drafted to the WNBA in 2015, won her first WNBA Championship in 2019 and is the recipient of the WNBA’s 2019 Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award.

Chris Draft | Former NFL player and lung cancer research advocate with The Chris Draft Family Foundation

Draft is a former American football linebacker. He previously played for the Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, St. Louis Rams, and Buffalo Bills. Draft played college football at Stanford University. 

In 2006, Stanford University graduate Chris Draft established the Chris Draft Family Foundation, keeping a promise he made to his late wife to pledge to help others survive lung cancer. The Foundation focuses on eight primary initiatives with overarching themes that stress the importance of education, healthy lifestyles, character development, personal responsibility, self-discipline and physical fitness. www.chrisdraftfamilyfoundation.org

Charles Brown Jr. | Dual major kinesiology and liberal studies scholar and the Delaware State University Football Team captain

Recognized as a leader within the campus community, Charles serves as the SAAC President for Delaware State and was recently appointed to be the SAAC representative for the MEAC. He assumed these roles in addition to his studies and various athletic commitments because he believes change starts with the student-athletes. As the starting linebacker for the Delaware State football team, Charles believes student-athletes need strong representation for not just any student-athlete but those who serve in a leadership capacity on their teams. Not seeing previous football players represented nationally within SAAC motivated him to become more involved in Delaware State's and MEAC SAAC activities early in his undergraduate experience.

His motto in service is "If you can lead a team, you can help lead change for what we need and want as student-athletes on campus and in society."

Stephanie Tryce, J.D., M.S. Sport Management | Assistant Professor of Sports Marketing in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph's University

An Assistant Professor of Sports Marketing in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University. She began her teaching career at the McCormack Sport Management Department at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where she also earned a Masters in Sport Management. Professor Tryce practiced employment discrimination law and served as Affiliated Faculty at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Professor Tryce’s research intersects sport, law, and marketing, with a focus on social justice. Professor Tryce is a member of the University of Michigan’s Diversity Scholars Network and holds a Certificate for Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University.

Bacardi Jackson | Deputy Legal Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Children's Rights Practice Group

As the deputy legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Children’s Rights Practice Group, Bacardi Jackson oversees efforts to stop the school-to-prison pipeline and ensure equitable access to mental health services and high-quality public education.

Jackson is a seasoned trial attorney with over 20 years of litigation experience in state, federal and administrative courts. She previously served as a managing attorney for the Tucker Law Group, a Black-owned litigation boutique, where she established and managed the firm’s Florida office. She represented a wide range of clients, including Fortune 100 companies, colleges, universities, governmental entities and individuals in civil rights, employment, catastrophic personal injury and other complex civil cases.

Tracy A. Jones | Executive Director, PA4WN™ Lab and
Adjunct Lecturer, Widener University, School of Business Administration

Tracy’s professional career is driven by an obligation to honor the humanity, dignity, and cultural safety of the communities he engages in. During his eight years in public accounting, Tracy became aware of how the (un)intentional intersections of business and policy impacted the quality of life for individuals in society. This led him to pursue a career as a social entrepreneur for seven years, specializing in strategic initiatives, financial planning, compliance, and capital management for small businesses, non-profits, and higher education clients. The strategies and systems he creatively designed and implemented for organizations allowed stakeholders to go beyond the traditional financial metrics to unpack, acknowledge, and reimagine the “totality of impact” and the “harm in our collective good.”

As a former collegiate student-athlete, Tracy collaborates with other student-athletes on a volunteer basis to help youth athletes navigate life transitions post-competition. Additionally, Tracy is a member of the Epsilon Pi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi and the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA). www.pa4wnlab.org

Hosted by:
Scott N. Brooks, PhD | Director at Global Sport Institute

Event starts at: 4PM Pacific, US; 7PM Eastern, US

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