Lori Okimura has achieved personal and professional milestones in her 35-year career, including being the first Asian American and Pacific Islander woman ever to be named President (2024) and previously Sport Director (2022) of World ParaVolley, the international sport federation of sitting and beach paravolley. She was the first American woman to serve as an international technical official on the Jury of the Paralympic Games sitting volleyball competition (Tokyo 2020 Paralympics), the first Asian American Pacific Islander to lead the national governing body of volleyball in the U.S. as the former Board Chair of USA Volleyball (2014-2019), and one of the few woman to serve as a technical delegate for beach volleyball on the FIVB World Tour (2004-2019) and only American, male or female, to serve on the Federation Internationale de Volleyball beach commission from 2016-2021. She served as the Assistant Technical Delegate for Sitting Volleyball at the Paris 2024 Paralympics and has been involved in nearly every area of international sport since her start in sporting goods manufacturing through to her service in both international federations governing volleyball, beach volleyball and paravolley starting at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics to the 2025 Paris Paralympics.
She is known for championing a rigorous safeguarding agenda when affiliating with organizations and corporations. She was appointed to the Board of Trustees of Safe Sport International (SSI) in 2021 and is one of the first to complete its international education, training, and consultancy coursework and has completed coursework and certification for various organizations, including the U.S. Center for SafeSport (including safeguarding environments for athletes with disabilities), the FIFA Guardians program, Darkness to Light Stewards of Children training, WADA anti-doping education program, Positive Coaching Alliance, and Athletes for Impact certification in civic engagement and social justice. Okimura served for 16 years on the Board of Kids In Sports Los Angeles mentored on the impact of sports participation in the lives of young people and their families by the legendary icons Rafer Johnson and Anita DeFrantz.
Her work to pursue safeguarding of athletes and create opportunities to increase the participation of kids in sport continues as an Advisory Board member for the Courage First Athlete Helpline focused on increasing support to athletes of all ages to provide support and resources to address abuse.
