Lex Gillette

Board Member

Lex Gillette is a member of the board of directors and current vice-president of SimiSleighs Foundation. He is a lifelong advocate for disability awareness, working to change perceptions and break down barriers that exist for persons living with a disability.

Gillette is a globally recognized Paralympic track and field athlete for Team USA. Competing primarily in the long jump, Gillette has amassed five Paralympic medals, four world champion titles, and he currently holds the world record in the long jump for totally blind athletes with a leap of 22 ft 1 in (6.73m). Gillette lost his sight at eight years old due to recurrent retina detachments. After a total of 13 operations on his eyes, doctors told Gillette he would never see again. Fortunately, with the aid of his mother and other dedicated individuals, he was able to transform that tragedy into a triumph. He currently lives in San Diego, CA and is training to compete at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and aims to bring back gold for the USA. He is the president of Trusted Voice Inc, a company that provides professional speaking services to Fortune 500 companies, professional sports teams, nonprofit organizations, and universities. He also serves on the board of directors for Future In Sight, a New Hampshire based organization that transforms lives of the blind and visually impaired by providing education, training, and support. He is the co-founder of Sight School Inc, a North Carolina based nonprofit whose mission is to teach people to see their potential. Gillette also sits on the advisory board for MVMT Ventures, an organization that aims to make technology more accessible for those persons living with a disability, and he sits on the board of directors for Classroom Champions, a nonprofit that works with athletes who devote their time educating students in lower-economic areas on the importance of pertinent life skills that are necessary in achieving success.

Sarah Smith

Board Member

Sarah Smith is a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of SimiSleighs Foundation. Sarah is a life-long advocate for the power of athletics in girls’ lives. In 2003, Sarah co-founded GirlSportWorks, a non-profit that she operated for 17 years teaching life skills to girls in Cusco, Peru. She also serves on the Board of Goals for Girls, an international NGO that uses soccer to teach young women leadership and inspire community change in the US, South Africa, and India. Sarah currently serves as the Director of Strategic Marketing at Roseburg, a family-owned forestry and wood products company, and is responsible for innovation, product strategy, and marketing. Sarah has worked in strategic planning and sales for Katerra, AECOM, and Booz Allen Hamilton, and started her career in international development with the Academy for Educational Development in Liberia and South Sudan. Sarah lives in Sun Valley, Idaho, is the proud mom of two young boys, and holds a BA and MBA from Yale University.

Enock Nkulanga

Board Member

Enock Nkulanga is a leading development practitioner whose career spans education, community development, youth leadership development and advocacy. His work was recognized by the President of the United States, Barack Obama in 2018 as he delivered the Mandela Lecture in Johannesburg, South Africa. Enock is the founder of LeadMinds Africa, a non-profit organization empowering the next generation of leaders in Africa. His past positions include the youngest ever Country Director of African Children’s Mission, an international nonprofit with operations in Uganda and Kenya. He has also served as the Global Youth Ambassador at TheirWorld advocating and campaigning for children’s rights to Education. Enock is also a Mandela Institute for Development Studies fellow who strongly believes that Africa’s future is dependent on the quality of emerging young leaders. Enock is one of the emerging young leaders accepted into the African Presidential Leaders Program (APLP) in Egypt. He has been hosted on national television as an outstanding emerging leader and featured in different publications. Enock loves to spend his time taking a walk, jogging, swimming, reading a great book, or mentoring, and equipping young people for leadership. Enock Nkulanga completed his bachelor’s degree in Development Studies at Makerere University and has been working in the Non-profit sector/international development since 2013.