August 15, 2016 – The You Can Play Project announces today that Chris Mosier will join You Can Play as Vice President of Program Development and Community Relations. Mosier competed for Team USA in the 2016 Duathlon World Championships held in Spain in July and is the first transgender man to qualify for a men’s national team. Mosier has an expansive history as an advocate for LGBTQ rights and support in athletics, and most recently served as Executive Director of GO! Athletes, an LGBTQ sports advocacy organization geared towards college and high school athletes.
In addition to his athletic and advocacy backgrounds, Mosier is featured in Nike’s first-ever ad highlighting a transgender athlete, as part of their #Unlimited campaign. This ad, which premiered last week during Olympic coverage, showcases Mosier’s courage as a trailblazing, inspirational athlete and role model. In June of this year, Mosier became the first transgender athlete to be featured in the ESPN Magazine Body Issue. An accomplished speaker and frequent guest on major television programs, Mosier’s other recent advocacy work includes running Transathlete.com, a resource for trans inclusion in athletics at various levels of sport.
“I am proud to be joining a non-profit organization that has positively impacted so many athletes, coaches, and fans,” said Mosier. “You Can Play’s programming works to ensure the safety and inclusion of all in sports, and through its growing number of partnerships and programming, has been a leader in creating safer spaces in sports. The You Can Play mission aligns with my personal drive to providing education and using visibility as a tool to create social change, and I am excited to join the team.”
You Can Play Co-Founder Patrick Burke stated, “Everyone at You Can Play is thrilled to be adding Chris to our team. His credentials are utterly impeccable. He is an elite athlete, an experienced and accomplished advocate, a student of LGBTQ issues, a tremendous public speaker, and, perhaps most important, a wonderful person and friend. It has been a personal dream of mine to hire Chris for several years, and I am overjoyed that it has finally happened. We are especially excited to have Chris expand our work on behalf of the trans community. We look forward to Chris leading the charge on our behalf to ensure sports becomes a welcoming environment for transgender athletes, coaches, and fans.”
Mosier will replace Anna Aagenes in the role, as Anna will be pursuing her MBA at Columbia University this Fall. Anna will remain with You Can Play in an advisory role and we thank her for all of her hard work and dedication in growing You Can Play’s reach and impact.
You Can Play Co-Founder Glenn Witman said, “Anna has been an incredible advocate, Vice-President, and friend to all of us at You Can Play. While we are heartbroken to lose her, we are excited to support her in her next steps at Columbia University. Columbia is lucky to have such an amazing, talented, and bright person joining their ranks. We are grateful to Anna for all her hard work, especially on behalf of women and the bisexual community. Anna did a wonderful job expanding our work with women’s leagues, and we will continue to build on her ground work for years to come.”
Additionally, Executive Director Wade Davis will be transitioning to the role of Director, Professional Sports Outreach and will continue his incredible work providing You Can Play trainings and workshops for our professional sports partners. A comprehensive search for an Executive Director replacement is underway.
You Can Play Co-Founder Brian Kitts stated, “Wade has served us for several years as Executive Director, and under his leadership You Can Play has become North America’s premier LGBTQ sports organization. Wade has built an organization that we are all incredibly proud of, and we thank him for his hard work. While Wade will be expanding the tremendous amount of advocacy work he does on behalf of women, people of color, and many groups facing injustice, we are excited that Wade will still be working with You Can Play to make professional sports more inclusive for LGBTQ athletes, coaches, and fans. We are optimistic and excited to identify the appropriate candidate for our next Executive Director.”
