Sports Without Borders: Sports Diplomacy Lunchtime Symposium

Utah Global Diplomacy is hosting a lunchtime symposium called Sports Without Borders: Sports Diplomacy on Friday, October 23, at the World Trade Center Utah (WTC Utah) lobby in downtown Salt Lake City. The conversation centers on sports as a tool for diplomacy rather than just competition, looking at how athletes, coaches, organizations, and fans can build relationships across cultures, connect communities, and foster international exchange. Much of that discussion is set against Utah's preparations to host the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The panel brings together five people from very different backgrounds. Travis J. Murphy, CEO of Jetr Global Sports + Entertainment, is a former NBA executive and U.S. Foreign Service Officer who served in the State Department's Sports Diplomacy Division. Adam Miles, founder of Refugee Soccer and #SheBelongs, spent nearly 20 years on Wall Street before starting those programs. Tracy Meier, Chief Program & Education Officer at the National Ability Center, has more than 24 years in adaptive recreation. Clay Partain is with STS, Sports Salt Lake, and Eileen May-West is the Program Director at Wasatch Adaptive Sports. Murphy and Miles will join the conversation virtually.

Moderating the group is Michael Deaver, with Strategies 360 and the Honorary Consul of Indonesia to Utah, who also spent time as an executive with the Utah Sports Commission. The symposium is presented by Utah Global Diplomacy, a nonprofit founded in 1965 and based in Murray that has operated since 1967 on the belief that everyone has the right and responsibility to help shape U.S. foreign relations by connecting "one handshake at a time."

It runs from 11 AM to 1 PM on Friday, October 23, in the WTC Utah lobby, and lunch is included.