Brittany Ward, the Founder of Rising Stars - the first all-abilities basketball program in the Territory

I am an American by birth but Australian by heart. I moved to Australia in 2012 only one week after graduating University. I originally came to Oz to play basketball - I played in Perth, Darwin, the Gold Coast. I even lived in NZ for a brief period of time when I over-stayed my visa. But as Territorians say, you'll be back...you always come back to Darwin. And it's true. I got married and started setting roots in Darwin by investing in the youth, particularly the underserved and at-risk youth. I started by founding the first all-abilities basketball program in the Territory called Rising Stars. This filled my heart with so much joy, that I expanded on my mission to be the light in this world and started working for Midnight Basketball which is now called Launch Basketball Night Series. I'm passionate about using sport as a vehicle to drive change in a young person's life. I know how impactful being a part of a team is, because sport in fact changed my life. Also, every program I created or was a part of had to eliminate barriers to access- meaning everything needed to be FREE to the participants. Moving back to the states, I have continued my work in youth development and empowerment by working for a non-profit called the Oklahoma City Police Athletic League. Our sports programs are free of charge to all PAL participants, and we serve nearly 1500 young people year over year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.