ESPN Announces 2024 Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award Honorees

June 28, 2024 

ESPN has announced this year’s Sports Humanitarian Awards sponsored by PENN Entertainment nominees, including the 2024 honorees of the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award. The three national and twenty regional recipients are tackling pressing social issues and providing sustainable solutions through the power of sport. The national honorees will be recognized during the 2024 ESPYS in Los Angeles, California, which will be televised on July 11. 

“Sports has the ability to bring people together and drive positive change to make a difference in communities that need it most,” said Kevin Martinez, vice president of ESPN Corporate Citizenship. “ESPN is proud that the Sports Humanitarian Awards will once again recognize athletes and sports figures who are using the power of sports to make a difference in communities across the globe.”

The Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award celebrates and honors young people who are using the power of sport as a catalyst for change and making a positive impact on society. National honorees will receive a $10,000 grant, while regional recipients will each receive a $2,500 grant. The charitable grants can either be awarded as a college academic scholarship or be directed to an eligible non-profit associated with the honoree. The 2024 honorees are: 

• Conor Campell – Campell is a student-athlete from Trenton, New Jersey. He is a Bonner Community Scholar and has contributed more than 300 hours advocating for youth access to affordable athletic opportunities as well as contributing to research to identify funding partners for the program. When sports programs in Trenton were dropped due to budget cuts, he advocated to reinstate sports by reaching out to the New Jersey Senate, Education Commissioner and Senate Budget Committee Chair. Through his work with Academic Sports Academy and The College of New Jersey, Campell has developed an affordable basketball and enrichment program, providing safe after-school programming for elementary and middle school students. It includes tutoring, sports activities, youth development, mentoring and life skills development.
   
• Ayanna Shah – Five years ago, Shah and her sister Amani founded Second Serve to shatter barriers to entry in sports by redistributing gently used tennis equipment and offering free clinics to under-resourced youth. In her role as CEO, Shah has grown the organization’s profile and impact, recruiting 100 new volunteers, confirming 76 new partnerships and reaching 46 states. As a youth-led organization, she empowers young people to grow into leaders by creating service opportunities. She has created a team of 220 young leaders between the ages of 12 and 17, each of which collects equipment and donates to a multitude of low-income communities throughout the US and around the world. To date, they have distributed over 27,000 pieces of equipment.
  
  
• Hannah Smith – Smith was born with Spina Bifida and was introduced to adaptive sports at the age of 11 through Sportable, an organization that creates opportunities by making sports accessible and inclusive for individuals with physical disabilities and visual impairments. Since joining Sportable a decade ago, she has become a competitive wheelchair basketball player and advocate for the promotion of adaptive sports globally. Smith developed and launched Sportable's inaugural wheelchair basketball camp and women’s wheelchair basketball clinic. As part of a US State Department-sponsored adaptive sports cultural exchange to Turkmenistan in 2019, she served as a youth ambassador representing USA. In 2023, she also created the See It, Be It storytelling project, a social media initiative aimed at showcasing the diverse career aspirations of youth with disabilities and inspiring young people to pursue their dreams. 

In addition to the three national honorees, the following young people have been named regional recipients:

• Graham Allen, San Diego, Calif.
• Devin Arana, Los Angeles, Calif.
• Bryan Aviles, Austin, Texas
• Sara Blau, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
• Alayna Burns, Durham, N.C.
• Jalen Coleman, Inglewood, Calif.
• Mia Darr, Milwaukee, Wis.
• Lila Emerson, Edina, Minn.
• Brandon Hersh, Durham, N.C.
• Aubrey McLin, Davis, Calif.
• Kethan Mokadam, Columbus, Ohio
• Sameer Mullick, Queens Village, N.Y.
• Mikayla Paquette, Boston, Mass.
• Mia Philippi, Portland, Ore.
• Gianni Quintero, Milwaukee, Wis.
• Santo Raggiri, New York, N.Y.
• Anne Stauffer, Owensboro, Ky.
• Kourtni (Mackenzi) Stewart, Mableton, Ga.
• Claire Wegmann-Krider, Edina, Minn.
• Graham Wooden, Oneonta, N.Y.

Beyond Sport facilitated the application and selection phase of the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award program.