Helen J. Carroll joined NCLR in August 2001 to lead the Sports Project. She is well known in the sports world as an acclaimed national championship basketball coach from the University of North Carolina-Asheville. Helen had been a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Athletic Director for 12 years, and now devotes all her efforts to fighting homophobia in sports by directing NCLR's Sports Project. She works closely with major national sports organizations including the San Francisco 49ers, the Women's Sports Foundation and the NCAA. She has been a dynamic speaker on panels with the NCAA, Nike, the U.S. Tennis Association, The New York Times and many others. She was featured in Dee Mosbacher's award-winning film, Out For A Change: Addressing Homophobia in Women's Sports, and author Pat Griffin's book,
Strong Women, Deep Closets.