World Affairs Symposium SeriesiCAL Export

Adam Miles, Founder and Executive Director of Refugee Soccer

In 2017 Adam Miles left the soul-sucking environment of Wall Street after nearly 20 years of working as a successful financial advisor serving venture capitalists, corporations, and high net worth individuals. Prior to his career as a financial professional Adam worked for global powerhouse, Honda Motor Co. in both the USA and Japan in various capacities including new model cost control and government relations. While staying very busy as an advisor, Adam founded Bridges To America, Inc. (the entity behind Refugee Soccer) in 2005 and has loved the extreme challenges of building and growing the mission of creating moments of hope and happiness for refugees. After 25 years helping others make money, Adam is now solely and happily focused on growing Refugee Soccer into a sustainable venture maximizing positive impact around the world.

Adam has lived numerous years outside the USA on several expatriate assignments, and is fluent in spoken and written Japanese. His home base is Utah but he travels extensively. He has four amazing children, and two great sons-in-law. He also has 5 beautiful, shining grandkids whom he loves dearly. He loves being active including mountain biking in nearby Park City. He is a published author and loves to write and speak publicly as he did with a TEDx Salt Lake City talk about refugees in 2022. Adam loves to say about this work: “It takes so little to do so much.” It is this view that provides him and his team the most extraordinary and fulfilling return on investment of time, capital, and heart.

Catherine Raney Norman, Olympian and Chair, Salt Lake City - Utah Committee for the Games

Catherine Raney Norman is a four-time Olympic speed skater from Elm Grove, Wisconsin who competed in the 1998 Winter Olympics, 2002 Winter Olympics, 2006 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Olympics. She serves as chair of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, which is seeking to bring the Olympics and Paralympics back to Utah in 2030 or 2034.

Raney Norman won the U.S. All round Championship six times and held three U.S. records. She was the silver medalist in the 1999 World Junior Championships in all around. She was inducted into the U.S. Speed Skating Hall of Fame in 2018.

Since retiring from speed skating, she has focused on service to Olympic and Paralympic sport. In 2012, she was appointed by Utah Governor Gary Herbert as an athlete member of an exploratory committee to investigate a future Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games for the state. In February, 2020, she was named to the inaugural Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games as an athlete board member and co-chair of the Athletes' Advisory Committee with Paralympian Chris Waddell. She is vice chair of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation (formerly known as Utah Athletic Foundation), where she joined as a board member in 2011. She was named to chair the committee on June 9, 2021.

Dr. Neftalie Williams, Sociologist and Assistant Professor at San Diego State University

Dr. Neftalie Williams is a sociologist and assistant professor at San Diego State University. His previous positions include USC Provost’s Post-Doctoral Scholar at the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism and Yale Schwarzman Center Visiting Fellow in Race, Culture & Community. He investigates global issues of race, diversity, identity, 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, diversity, equity and inclusion, regarding the Olympics for the New York Times, CNN, ABC, and other outlets. His research on race 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 Tony Hawk Foundation, Skateistan, McKinnon Center for Global Affairs, and chairs the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for USA Skateboarding. 

If you are interested in sharing information about your organization and would like to table at this event, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Number of tables is limited.

Details coming soon.