MentorTalks: Playing it Forward
Got 30 minutes? Join Chineze “Chinny” Nwagbo, U.S. Sports Envoy.
Chineze "Chinny" Nwagbo recently MentorTalks to chat about her career and time as an ExchangeAlumni of the U.S. Sports Envoy program.
How did Chinny go from studying biology to becoming a professional basketball player? How did she transition to become a Sports Envoy for the U.S. Department of State? What does American identity mean to Chinny? And what does it mean to her to be an ExchangeAlumni?
Tune in now to find the answers to these questions and much more!
Speaker Bio
Chineze Nwagbo started her basketball career at Duval Senior High School, in Lanham, Maryland, where she is recognized as a four-year varsity letter recipient and two-time team captain. Her honors include 2 back-to-back State Championship Titles, All-American Honorable Mention, All-County First Team, All-Gazette, USA Today’s Most Improved and Most Important Player to Scout in Maryland, amongst a plethora of other accolades.
Chinny was a standout basketball player at Syracuse, where she earned her B.S. in Biology. Shortly after graduating, Chinny embarked on a career playing professionally for 11 years in Spain, Chile, Brazil, Poland, Portugal, & Israel, winning 4 MVP titles, appearances in championship games. The highlight of her career was when she represented her parent’s native country of Nigeria in the 2006 World Championship Games.
After retiring in 2016, Chinny began a series of ventures with the NBA. In China, she helped develop grassroots implementation of an NBA-based basketball curriculum. She has done work for Jr. NBA programs, the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders developmental camps, and has been brought on to work with the Atlanta Hawks, NY Knicks, Washington Wizards, and the National Basketball Players Association as a youth development coach and mentor.
She has served as a Sports Envoy for the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Sports Diplomacy program, which was designed to use platforms in sports as transformative power to create social change in global communities around the world by bridging divides, creating cultural understanding, supporting women’s empowerment (& sex equality), advocating safe environments for kids with disabilities to play, and championing the importance of creating a more equitable and peaceful society.
As an Envoy, Chinny has traveled to various parts of the world, building relations with a myriad of different U.S. Embassies, Sports Federations, Sultans, Chargé d’ Affaires, administrators, coaches, and players. She has also dedicated her time as a motivational speaker to various youth programs and amazing nonprofits geared toward providing resources for under-represented, & underserved youth around the world. In her spare time, she has appeared on New Channel 8’s SportsTalk show as a guest sports analyst and hopes to play an instrumental role in the growth of the game, especially serving as a role model for young girls.
All these experiences have led Chinny to where she is today at PeacePlayers, a guiding light who couldn’t be more thrilled to continue doing the work that matters most to her: providing opportunities for young people around the world!