Sport for social change

Empowering New Voices through Education and Sport Training (ENVEST) is a series of sports diplomacy missions aimed at ways sport can create social change, funded by grants from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs (ECA), through their Sports Diplomacy Division.

The CSL has been awarded several grants, starting in 2007, through which they have been able to conduct various cultural exchanges between citizens of the United States and other countries, including China, Ethiopia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan. The CSL has managed over $2 million in grants from the U.S. Department of State and values the partnership with ECA, allowing them live out their core values of empowerment and global mindedness through sport-for-development missions.

In addition to the cultural exchanges, Dr. Carrie LeCrom received a Fulbright Fellowship to create a sport for social change program in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Aimed at teaching job skills to teenage girls in rural farming communities by teaching them to be soccer coaches, ENVEST South Africa is an ongoing commitment to the power of sport in developing young people for successful futures. 

ENVEST cultural exchanges

  • ENVEST two-way cultural exchanges allow for once-in-a-lifetime trips abroad for U.S. youth athletes, coaches, and administrators, as well as reciprocating trips for youth, coaches, and administrators abroad to travel to the United States.
  • The focus of these projects varies, but always falls under the umbrella of sport for social change. Exchanges have covered topics including, but not limited to, coaching education, gender empowerment, health education, sport for persons with disabilities, and life skill development. 
  • As part of each program, participants are carefully selected and expected to carry out a sport for social change project in their own home communities, spreading the power of sport well beyond those involved directly in ENVEST's exchanges. 

The goals of ENVEST

  1. Harness the power of sport as a teaching tool to increase mutual understanding
    between people of the United States and other countries.
  2. Provide opportunities for sport coaches, administrators, and youth to learn and
    develop in ways that will benefit their home communities.
  3. Engage multiple groups in creating action plans around clearly identified social issues.
  4. Create an ongoing dialogue and open lines of communication between all participants
    to promote the exchange of ideas before, during, and after completion of the program,
    which will support the program’s long-term sustainability and multiplier effect.
An ENVEST student from Kazakhstan.
An ENVEST student from Kazakhstan.
An ENVEST student from Kazakhstan.

An ENVEST student from Kazakhstan.

CSL faculty and alumni at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of At
CSL faculty and alumni at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of At
An ENVEST soccer session.

An ENVEST soccer session.

The 2018 U.S. ENVEST delegation to Turkenistan.
The 2018 U.S. ENVEST delegation to Turkenistan.
The 2018 U.S. ENVEST delegation to Turkenistan.

The 2018 U.S. ENVEST delegation to Turkenistan.

The ENVEST youth delegation with Richmond-area students.
The ENVEST youth delegation with Richmond-area students.
The ENVEST youth delegation with Richmond-area students.

The ENVEST youth delegation with Richmond-area students.

Carrie LeCrom and guest speakers at CSL’s celebration of National Girls and Wome
Carrie LeCrom and guest speakers at CSL’s celebration of National Girls and Wome
The Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan delegation presents its social action plan.

The Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan delegation presents its social action plan.

Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan students play soccer in Richmond.
Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan students play soccer in Richmond.
Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan students play soccer in Richmond.

Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan students play soccer in Richmond.