2026 Black Student-Athlete Summit

Nowoola Awopetu is a former Division I athlete and doctoral student in Counselor Education at Virginia Commonwealth University whose work explores identity, mental health, and the transition out of sport for Black student-athletes. He is the founder of Pressing Forward, a platform focused on athlete mental health, and faith. Drawing on his own journey and his research on culturally responsive support systems, he helps athletes navigate who they are beyond the game. Nowoola’s session, Discovering Purpose Beyond Athletics, invites athletes to reflect, reset, and reimagine their lives with clarity and confidence, both within sport and far beyond it.