Andrea Woodson-Smith
Dr. Andrea Woodson-Smith, is a Professor at North Carolina Central University specializing in Adapted Physical Activity and Sports and Physical Education Pedagogy.
Prior to her professorship, Dr. Woodson-Smith was a Division I basketball athlete of James Madison University who spent three years participating on the women’s basketball team while consistently suffering through three hip fractures and chronic severe osteoarthritis. However, post college she received an invite to try out for the American Basketball League (ABL) and also tried out for the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She has coached girls’ and women’s basketball at the high school and collegiate level as well as volleyball at the high school level.
In 2004, she was selected as a member of the USA Paralympic women’s wheelchair basketball team. She participated on the 2006 World Cup team (Silver), 2010 World Cup team (Gold), 2011 Parapan American team (Gold) and finished her career on the 2012 US Paralympic team (4th). She has participated in the NWBA since 1999 as well as held leadership positions within the Association. Among those are Vice Chair of the Women’s Division, Chair of the Youth Development Committee of the Women’s Division, Committee member of the High Performance Committee. She now holds positions on the ADM, Athlete Advisory and High Performance Committees. In addition to participating in wheelchair basketball, she has also competed in wheelchair softball and adaptive crossfit.
Currently, she serves as a Sports Envoy for the U.S. Department of State discussing disability rights, inclusion, gender equity and adapted sport. She has presented in Guangzhou, China, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea and Gaborone, Botswana to discuss these topics with government leaders, organization/agency leaders, athletes, parents and students. Her Department, Kinesiology and Recreation Administration is also a visitation site for the Visitor’s Program 360 that is run through the U.S. Department of State in which they were host to visitors from Zimbabwe.
During her spare time, she is an advocate for Colon Cancer, Children’s Cancer and equity for all girls and women in sports and an 8th grade girls Life Group Leader for New Hope Church.
Position
- Equity & Inclusion Leadership Team
The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Leadership Team includes a diverse representation of voices from the disability community and will regularly meet to assess and create best practices through policy and programs. The group’s focus is on how Move United may better serve each person with a disability. Members are tasked with identifying the gaps and barriers in the Adaptive Sports community and are champions of necessary change. To learn more or contact members of the team, please email equity@moveunitedsport.org.
