In 2023 we formed the inaugural #SheBelongs Team made up of 22 ambitious refugee and non-refugee young women from Utah, USA to visit New Zealand for the Women’s World Cup and share our message of inclusion and equality. (Watch our documentary film here.)
In 2024, after returning from this first life-changing experience executing our mission, we were inspired and compelled to expand the scope of #SheBelongs globally. So, we announced the first ever #SheBelongs Global Cup to be held in 2025 in Spain!
Sadly, and so unnecessarily, the world changed in November 2024 when the persistent, toxic attempts to marginalize, exclude, and dehumanize refugees and women reached new and shocking lows with alarming velocity. The deep and far-reaching damage caused by the unraveling of America’s once-proud tradition of welcoming refugees and legal immigrants has left many, including us, shaking their heads and struggling to steady their hearts.
Further, the alarming acceleration of misogyny and threats against women and girls, fueled by the reckless emboldenment of men who should know better by morally-challenged leaders and influencers have underscored the very real urgent challenges faced by the females we champion.
This confluence of risks could easily offer sufficient “cover” to sit out this Cup and wait for a calmer time. But the girls we support, and the mission we lead, simply cannot wait. These young women, refugee and non-refugee alike, don’t get to “sit out” their lives waking up in their bodies and in their life circumstances. So, instead of shrinking or stepping aside in this historical moment, “nevertheless, we persist.“
We have had to significantly scale back our Global Cup plans to manage the real risks to the legal refugees on our teams from around the world, and the reverberating financial effects of a staggering amount of global aid and humanitarian assistance being chainsawed to pieces in the name of fiscal efficiency.
But there is one thing we will never scale back: HOPE.
Accordingly, the new name of the Cup for 2025, and maybe forever, is the Global HOPE Cup. Click the video below to see how we intend to stand up with and for refugees and young women everywhere.
In the shadows of dark walls of exclusion and hostility, we resolutely go to Spain so that the light of the many young women of #SheBelongs can shine through. And even when it feels like there’s too much darkness and too few people who will stand with us, courageous forward-thinking humans come forward and join us.
As we head to Spain, we are pleased to announce significant moral support and participation from ADC San Fermín, CDE Dragones de Lavapiés, L’Associació Esportiva Ramassà, and Real Madrid Foundation.
We are thrilled to be holding the inaugural Global HOPE Cup in Spain, a world class nation that is home to the reigning queens of women’s soccer, La Roja! Matches and events will be held in various venues in Madrid and Barcelona.