WNBA player Chiney Ogwumike has always been passionate about her Nigerian heritage.
Now she’s getting a chance to help all of Africa as a member of the inaugural President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States, the White House announced Tuesday.
“Best way to describe it, it feels like it’s a calling of a lifetime,” Ogwumike told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday. “It’s something so authentic to who I am and what I stand for and what I want to do for service. You can be exponentially impactful — calling of a lifetime for me.”
The 31-year-old Stanford graduate and Los Angeles Sparks forward started her public advocacy for African women when she and her sister Nneka launched a UNICEF fundraiser in 2014 following the kidnapping of Nigerian girls by Boko Haram.
“It creates opportunities for kids and young people that look like m so that they can transform their lives the same way I experienced it,” Ogwumike said. “I had the best of both worlds, with Nigerian determination and American opportunities that are endless. It’s a pathway for youth to change their lives to empower themselves.”
The council, which was first announced by Vice President Kamala Harris at the 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, will be chaired…
