Nalwadda Immaculate was raised in a disadvantaged area in Uganda’s capital city of Kampala. She excelled as a basketball player and earned a university scholarship where she captained the team while earning a degree in computer science. As a student-athlete, Nalwadda became aware of the different treatment given toward male and female athletes. Spurred on by the inequality she encountered, she ran for president of the university’s student guild council. After winning the election, Nalwadda won a position as a student-athlete representative for the National University Sports Federation of Uganda, the country’s version of the NCAA. “People in Uganda often say, ‘Women cannot lead in sports,’” Nalwadda says. “Sport is a language that all people in Uganda understand, and it transforms people so they can give back to their communities.”

Currently the Youth Councilor-Elect with the Kampala City Council Authority and Secretary of Sport and Environment for Sustainability for Uganda Olympic Committee, Nalwadda’s passion for advocacy and gender equality has made her one of the most influential female leaders in sport, and a role model for girls nationwide. “If sports could empower me as a woman in the slum into the person I am today, it can empower any woman in Uganda.”