NEFTALIE WILLIAMS
Scholar.Diplomat.Activist.Artist.skateboarder
Dr. Neftalie Williams during the “The Nation Skate” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Dr. Neftalie Williams is a sociologist and assistant professor at San Diego State University (SDSU) and directs the new SDSU Center for Skateboarding, Action Sports & Social Change. His previous positions include USC Provost’s Post-Doctoral Scholar at the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism and Yale Schwarzman Center Visiting Fellow. He investigates global issues of social cohesion, community building, diplomacy, and youth empowerment, using the lens of action sports culture. Williams holds a Ph.D. from the University of Waikato and has upcoming books with Hatchette Books and UC Press focused on skateboarding culture.
Williams is featured in multiple media outlets and provides commentary on the intersection of skateboarding, community development, and sports diplomacy in interviews with the New York Times, CNN, ABC, and other outlets. His research on social cohesion, community building, and intergenerational learning with the 2019-2020 USC x Tony Hawk Foundation project was also featured in the New York Times. It is the first national study to assess the impact skateboarding has on young people and their educational and career trajectories. The full Beyond the Board Report is now available.
The first ‘Ambassador of Skateboarding,’ and envoy for the US Department of State, he introduced the concept of skateboarding as a tool for cultural diplomacy in both theory and practice. Utilizing ‘skate diplomacy,’ he aided the US Embassy in the Netherlands in integrating young Syrian refugees into Holland. In Cambodia, his skate diplomacy efforts created new engagement between the U.S. embassy, Cambodian youth, and academic and cultural institutions. Former Chairman of Cuba Skate, Neftalie and the Cuba Skate team created fruitful cultural exchanges between Cuban youth and American professionals in Havana.
Expanding the public dialogue around diversity and inclusion, Neftalie founded "The Nation Skate," a series of public panels, lectures, skateboarding demonstrations, and media that explores the relationship between race, diversity, and diplomacy through skateboarding, academia, and popular culture. He co-founded the College Skateboarding Educational Foundation (CSEF), a non-profit dedicated to creating scholarships for young skateboarders to pursue higher education, and serves on the Boards for The Skatepark Project, formerly the Tony Hawk Foundation, Skateistan, McKinnon Center for Global Affairs, and USA Skateboarding.
