We are pleased to announce that Sally Roberts, co-founder and CEO of Wrestle Like a Girl, will be a featured speaker at the Global Ties U.S. 2026 National Meeting: America at 250. She will join us on Wednesday, February 18 during the Sports Diplomacy Plenary for a keynote conversation exploring how U.S. citizen engagement in sports is an opportunity to showcase American excellence and entrepreneurship, and advance U.S. foreign policy. Sally will be in conversation with Travis Parker from CenterCircle Sport.
Sally Roberts is a U.S. sports diplomat, Army veteran, and co-founder and CEO of Wrestle Like a Girl, a national nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of women’s leadership and opportunities through sport.
A former elite athlete, Sally trained for eight years at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and earned distinction as a three-time U.S. National Champion, World Cup Champion, two-time World Bronze Medalist, and an Olympic Alternate. She later served in the U.S. Army, including a combat deployment to Afghanistan, and represented the United States through the Army’s World Class Athlete Program.
Through her leadership at Wrestle Like a Girl and her work with U.S. Department of State-supported sports diplomacy initiatives, Sally demonstrates how U.S. citizen engagement through sport advances democratic values, cross-cultural understanding, and global cooperation. Sally is widely recognized for helping to secure NCAA Championship status for women’s wrestling, a landmark achievement that helped to reshape the collegiate athletics landscape for women worldwide. Internationally, Sally has worked on programs in Azerbaijan, Jordan, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, engaging individuals at the intersection of sports, civic leadership, and foreign policy.
Travis Parker is the CEO of CenterCircle Sport, a DC-based agency that designs and delivers sports diplomacy seminars, trainings, and programs for teams, governments, and businesses.
Registration for the Global Ties U.S. 2026 National Meeting, the premier annual gathering of international exchange leaders and public diplomacy professionals, is open until Friday, February 6. Learn more and register HERE.