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Dikembe Mutombo, Special Olympics Board of Directors and Global Ambassador

Dikembe Mutombo (1966 – 2024)

Global Ambassador

NBA Legend Dikembe Mutombo is the President and CEO of the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, which he created in 1997. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, the foundation's mission is to improve the health, education, and quality of life for the people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One of their major projects was the construction of a new general hospital in the capital city of Kinshasa, DR Congo, the country in which he was born.

A graduate of Georgetown University, Mr. Mutombo played professional basketball for 18 years before retiring from the Houston Rockets in 2009.

He is the first Youth Emissary for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP); and he also served on the Advisory Board for the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health; and presently serves on the boards of the National Constitution Center and Opportunity International. Mr. Mutombo has also served as an advisor and consultant to Freeport McMoRan; and as an advisor to Hewlett-Packard.

Mr. Mutombo has been named ABC's Person of the Week, Essence Magazine's 2001 Achiever, and Sporting News' No. 1 Good Guy. Mr. Mutombo has been featured in Europe's TIME magazine, Sports Illustrated for Kids, the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Houston Chronicle just to name a few. In 2009, NBA Commissioner David Stern appointed Mutombo to the newly created position of Global Ambassador. In this capacity, he has traveled throughout the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Mr. Mutombo now works to expand and celebrate the game through numerous international NBA events including Basketball without Borders. In addition, he works closely on NBA Cares outreach efforts with Hall of Famer Bob Lanier, who serves as Special Assistant to the Commissioner. In 2015, Dikembe was inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame.

Engagement: In the summer of 2011, Dikembe participated in the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece with his family and became a true champion of the Special Olympics movement. Through NBA Cares, Dikembe has participated in numerous Special Olympics events around the world, including Basketball without Boarders (BWB) clinics in England, China and Africa. In 2012, Dikembe was recognized as a Special Olympics Global Ambassador. Dikembe vowed to continue to do work on behalf of the Special Olympic athletes and in 2013; Dikembe became a member of Special Olympics Board of Directors. After sponsoring a small delegation to participate in the 2015 World Games in Los Angeles to participate in athletics, Dikembe’s dream was to start a Special Olympics program in his native country, the Republic of Congo. In 2017, Dikembe’s dream became a reality, he established the first-ever Special Olympics Congo. Dikembe continues to be active in Special Olympics and has participated in many Special Olympics Unified events including basketball, floor hockey, floor ball, handball and bowling.

Global Ambassadors

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