Meet our Founder

Tracy Evans, 3-time US Olympian, Kids Play International Founder and President, and multi-award winning philanthropist.

Tracy Evans, Founder of KPI

Tracy Evans has distinguished herself through a lifetime of achievement, both on and off the field of play. A three-time Olympian (1994, 1998, 2002) and national champion in freestyle skiing, she became one of the first aerial skiers to perform both a double-twisting triple somersault and triple-twisting double somersault in competition. Equally impressive to her revolutionary performance on the snow are her trailblazing efforts to ensure sport delivers on the promise of its power, globally.

Following a volunteer trip, prompted by her mother to Rwanda, Africa in 2008, Evans founded Kids Play International, a nonprofit organization which aims to promote gender equity and the Olympic values by introducing less familiar sports to children in post-genocide affected countries. Grounded in the Olympic value of fair play, KPI leverages the positive attributes of sport to empower youth to challenge and shift gender, social and cultural norms that reinforce inequality. The organization creates a safe, positive environment through sport to renegotiate these harmful cultural norms, giving young girls the same opportunities as boys to reach their full potential and find better ways to live, work and play together.

Under Evans’ vision and leadership, KPI’s model is designed to ingrain deeply within a single community over an extended period to create sustainable, lasting change. Powered through the organization’s Let’s Play Fair and All Girls United programs in Rwanda and now Cambodia, KPI offers both mixed-gender and single-gender, multi-sport opportunities that teach the values of respect and solidarity while demonstrating how both male and female genders contribute to a healthy community.

Tracy was chosen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as one of five Olympians (first US Olympian) to be recognized at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics for their Winter edition of Olympians for Life and also received the 2018 Rings of Gold Individual award given by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), both are in recognition of her great achievements as an Olympian in her sport of Freestyle Skiing as well as the work she has done after competition with Kids Play International.   Kids Play was also a finalist for the 2018 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Sports Award, the recipient of the 2016 Gatorade for the Love of Sports award for the Let’s Play Fair program in Rwanda. Evans was also honored to receive the Athletes in Excellence award in 2014 and Female Athlete Philanthropist of the Year award from United Athletes Foundation in 2011 alongside Jerry Rice.

Tracy is also a Casting Director who owns and operates AthleteSource CASTING. Her motivation and competitive spirit continually drive her to set herself apart in the Sport and Active Lifestyle Casting industry.  AthleteSource CASTING has developed a specialized niche and solid reputation in finding and auditioning athletes of all skill levels in the Commercial, Film, Television and Print industries.

ATHLETIC HIGHLIGHTS

tracy-ski-team

> 2002, 1998, 1994 Olympic Team Member

> 2002 US National Champion

> 2001, 1997, 1995 World Championship Team

> 2001, 1998 Ultimate Airwave Champion

> 1998 Gold Cup/Olympic Trials Champion, Lake Placid, NY

> 10-year Member of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team

Donations

Would you like to become a supporter of Kids Play International? Donations make our project happen.

Newsletter Sign Up

Privacy by SafeUnsubscribe

Travel With a Purpose

KPI’s volunteer trips allow people the opportunity to travel with a purpose and experience the impact of our mission firsthand.