The World ParaVolley Board is pleased to announce that Lori Okimura (USA) has been appointed Sport Director until the next General Assembly in December 2022.
Significantly, Lori is the first female Sport Director in the history of World ParaVolley.
Lori’s extensive experience includes 16 years as an Executive Management Consultant, 6 years as a World ParaVolley Technical Official, 24 years as a sponsor, Technical Delegate and Manager of events for the FIVB (for volleyball and beach volleyball) and 7 years on the Board of USA Volleyball, including 5 years as Chairperson ending in 2019. She holds a B.A. Arts (Public Relations) and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California and has been inducted into the USA Volleyball Hall of Fame for her services to the sport. She serves on the Board of Trustees of Safe Sport International (UK) and is an Executive Board member of Angel City Sports, a humanitarian adaptive sports organization based in Los Angeles, California. We are indeed fortunate to have her volunteer for World ParaVolley.
Lori said:
“I see this opportunity to serve as Sport Director of World ParaVolley as one to include other voices and ideas from our community and reach out to colleagues from my previous path in international sport. I am eager to build on the excellent work done by my predecessors, and to highlight the work of other volunteers in our leadership, especially within the World ParaVolley zones. I would also like to find more ways to include the WPV Athlete Voices into the strategic plan and work together with the other directors to amplify all areas of the organization, including coach & referee education/development, fundraising, equity initiatives and safeguarding. Let my appointment serve as an open call to adaptive sport allies to include our disciplines into their programming and open more doors for participation, competition and advancement. Looking ahead to the Paralympics in Paris, Los Angeles, and Brisbane there is a lot of work to be done. Fortunately, World ParaVolley has great people already in place to allow sitting volleyball and beach paravolley to thrive.”
World ParaVolley President Barry Couzner OAM said:
“It is fantastic that Lori Okimura has taken up the position of Sport Director as the organisation and the athletes will benefit from her great skill set, wide experience, varying interests and many networks in sport governance and development. Her appointment means that one of the most important roles on the Board is filled with an incredibly talented person with an amazing CV that will enable her to make an impactful contribution to the governance of World ParaVolley. I look forward to working with her with much enthusiasm.”
Lori will commence duties immediately in the important role of Sport Director and can be contacted on: sportdirector@worldparavolley.org