Lilah Drafts-Johnson is a Sports and Society Program intern assisting with Project Play Summit 2024. She earned her undergraduate degree in Latin American Studies and Politics at Oberlin College, where she competed as a track and field athlete and won a Division III NCAA title in the 400m hurdles. After graduating, Lilah completed a Level 1 coaching certificate from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association while coaching sprinter-hurdlers at Amherst College.
Prior to arriving at the Aspen Institute, Lilah fused her passion for sport and social change through her role in the Player Programs department at the league office of Major League Baseball, where she co-managed the bilingual education and prevention components of the league-wide domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse policy. Today, Lilah continues to develop and facilitate workshops on sensitive topics like healthy relationships, consent, and mental health for diverse populations throughout the sports industry.
Lilah recently completed her M.A. in Physical Cultural Studies and Kinesiology at the University of Maryland, College Park, where her master’s thesis research examined the formulation and efficacy of domestic and sexual violence policies in professional sports. She has presented her research at several national conferences, including those hosted by the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, the Social Justice through Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium, and the University of Delaware’s Center for the Study and Prevention of Gender-Based Violence. She received a certificate in trauma support from Trauma Institute International in 2019 and participated in the Army of Survivor’s pilot program for Compassionate Coach, a trauma-informed coaching course, in 2024.
Lilah sees sport as a contested site that must be intentionally shaped to create spaces that promote liberation and community for participants. She is excited to be a part of this work alongside the Aspen Sport and Society team. Outside of work, Lilah enjoys creative writing, weightlifting, and cycling.