sport is more than a game.
At The Huffman Group, we advise governments, organizing committees, federations, and mission-driven organizations on how to use sport to build trust, expand access, and create systems-level impact.
Athletes shape national narratives. Leagues transcend borders. mega-events rewire economies. Sports accelerate diplomacy.
Yet sport remains one of the most under-leveraged systems in global strategy.
This is the opportunity.
I’m Dr. Ashleigh huffman
I’m a sports diplomat, strategist, and systems builder helping leaders use sport as a tool for diplomacy, inclusion, and public good. As a former college basketball player and former Chief of Sports Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State, I bring lived experience, global policy expertise, and a deep belief in sport’s power to connect people and transform communities. As the founder of The Huffman Group, I work with governments, organizing committees, federations, nonprofits, and civic leaders to design sport initiatives that are strategic, human-centered, and built for lasting impact.
What sets me apart is that I have lived this work from every angle.
Very few people in this field have moved between the locker room, the classroom, the research space, and the highest levels of government. That range allows me to see what others often miss: how a beautiful idea becomes a real program, how a program becomes policy, how policy becomes systems change, and how sport can create public value far beyond the field of play.
I don’t just talk about the power of sport. I have built it, studied it, taught it, and represented it on the world stage.