About
Dr. Ashleigh Huffman is the Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Aspen Institute and the former Chief of Sports Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Huffman works with governments, sports leagues, universities, and businesses to tackle global issues in sport and advance democratic priorities such as gender equity, diversity and inclusion, disability rights, and racial justice. As the Chief of Sports Diplomacy, she served as a leading advisor on international sport policy and oversaw international exchange opportunities, including world championships, the Olympics and Paralympics, and the World Cup.
Before joining the U.S. Department of State, Ashleigh was a professor at the University of Tennessee and co-founder of the Center for Sport, Peace, and Society. In that role, she worked closely with the State Department and espnW to launch the Global Sports Mentoring Program, an international mentoring program for women and persons with disabilities, which was awarded in 2018 with the ESPN Stuart Scott Humanitarian Award and the Peace and Sport "Diplomatic Action of the Year” Award.
Ashleigh has worked with athletes, coaches, leagues, and national governing bodies of sport in 120 countries, devising plans for sustainable legacy projects, leadership development, and social change. Ashleigh earned her PhD at the University of Tennessee in Sociocultural Studies and was a two-time captain of her basketball team at Eastern Kentucky University.