Batouly Camara named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 sports list

As a former UConn women’s basketball player, Batouly Camara is no stranger to success. However, the 24-year old graduate is beginning to rack up awards and honors at a staggering pace as well.

On Tuesday, Camara was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 sports list, which highlights young people who are making a difference in their field. Camara was part of three Final Four teams with the Huskies, but made the list because of her work empowering women around the globe.

Camara started Women and Children’s Empowerment (WAKE) in 2017 — a non-profit organization aimed at empower young women and girls through basketball with clinics and workshops around the world — as a college junior. With that, she wants to build an all-girl boarding school in Guinea — her family’s ancestral home — which will grant young girls an opportunity to receive an elite education, play basketball, earn scholarships and train for professional development.

In June, Camara was one of seven people to received the 2020 Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award at the ESPYs, given to high school or college-aged athletes who use the power of sports to improve their communities, as King does. She received a $10,000 grant towards WAKE from the award.

Camara graduated from UConn in may with a master’s degree in Sport Management. She also recently released a book, A Basketball Game on Wake Street, which portrays a diverse group of girls coming together to play basketball.

Other people included on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 sports list are WNBA players Natasha Cloud, Chiney Ogunmike and A’ja Wilson, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons, The Athletic’s Shams Charania and NFL star DeAndre Hopkins, to name a few. The full list can be seen here.

Fellow UConn alum Maya Moore — who was part of the list in 2015 — received a mention as “All-Star alumni” for her work in freeing her now-husband Jonathan Irons from prison.