Inspira podcast: Episode 15 - Lee Parker (UK)

Erika Mueller Chen speaks to Lee Parker about how his multi-cultural upbringing allows him to relate to diverse global communities, and why placing community voices at the center of Sport for Development is the key to sustainable impact.

About Inspira

Launched in January 2023, the Inspira Podcast with Erika Mueller Chen is an interview-based podcast that provides career advice and stories from global change-makers in Sport for Development, Social Impact, and the Diplomatic Service. In 2023, 50 interviews with inspirational leaders working in Sport for Development and Peace from over 35 different countries will be published.

About the Episode Guest

Lee Parker is a Sport for Development enthusiast with experience working with grassroots organizations globally to help build their capacity and impact, as well as working directly with children and young people from different backgrounds. He currently works at Laureus Sport For Good and is responsible for building relationships and networks, resourcing and distributing funding to organizations that use sport as a tool for social change across South America, Africa, and the UK. He leads the Laureus Sport for Good Cities initiative, an approach that incorporates a local community to dictate how funding, sport and physical activity should change their community for the better.

Lee has worked with many UK organizations in front line delivery and organizational development, including working with homeless young people and integrating elite athletes to become mentors for the next generation. Lee has also worked in Uganda, Colombia, and Mexico, supporting organizations to improve vital aspects of their work, including to build young leaders, transform their impact into evidence, and help advocate for the power of sport within their community and at policy level. Lee is passionate about the role of sport, its power to bring communities together, and is an advocate for ensuring community voices are heard and represented in strategic forums as much as possible.

Lee comes from a multi ethnic background and is a first generation Ecuadorian/Iranian. Lee's upbringing and experiences in a multi diverse part of London have shaped him to become not only an enthusiast in sport, and in particular basketball, but also an advocate for communities and removing barriers for people just like him.

Listen to Episode 15: Lee Parker (UK) - Why should community led solutions drive Sport for Development programs?

Learn More

To learn more about the Inspira Podcast, read episode transcripts, and access “Erika’s Global Resource Hub” - a robust written resource created to support folks interested in Sport for Development and Peace, please visit Erika’s LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/erikamchen.

Erika Mueller Chen is an international development specialist with over a decade of experience leveraging the amazing power of sport to promote peace and positive social impact. She currently works in Sports Diplomacy and resides in Mexico.