Evelina Cabrera

Evelina Cabrera (San Fernando, September 26, 1986) is a soccer coach, sports coach, writer, and Argentine consultant, co-founder of the Argentine Women's Soccer Association (AFFAR). She was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for gender equality in sports by the Organization of American States (OAS) and selected by the BBC as one of the 100 most influential and inspiring women in the world in 2020. In November 2022, she was elected Jury for "The Madanjeet Singh UNESCO Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence." she published 3 books.

Evelina Cabrera

Personal information
Full name	María Evelina Cabrera
Date of birth	(1986-09-26) 26 September 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)
Managerial career
Years	Team
2021	Pachuca Reserves and Academy

She has been a speaker at the United Nations, W20, UNESCO, The Economist, among others.

Her Life

Born in 1986 in the city of San Fernando, Cabrera began her career as an amateur soccer player at the age of twenty-one with Club Atlético Platense.

Due to health issues in 2012, she had to stop playing football but decided to stay involved in sports in another role: Soccer coach. Her first coaching experience was with Club Atlético Nueva Chicago, where she was part of the coaching staff.

She led the Argentine national team in the Homeless World Cup, an annual football tournament with teams of homeless individuals from different countries, organized by Mexico City in October 2012.

In 2013, while working for the municipality of Tigre, she co-founded the Argentine Women's Soccer Association (AFFAR) with fellow Argentine players and coaches.

In 2014, she and her coaching partner presented a women's Soccer project at Club Defensores de Florida in Vicente López. Cabrera also began a new role in the municipality of Tigre, overseeing special activities planning in one of the disadvantaged neighborhoods' sports complexes.

At the end of the year, she completed her football coaching certification at the Argentine Soccer Coaches Association (ATFA) and became an ontological coach.

In 2015, she continued her work at Club Defensores de Florida, and the Argentine Women's Soccer Association gained more visibility, receiving endorsement from the Argentine Sports Confederation (CAD) and the National Sports Secretariat. It expanded to have branches in different provinces of the country.

In 2016, along with her coaching partner, she directed the women's futsal first division team of Club Villa La Ñata. She launched her women's Soccer school, EVCA, with the support of the Boca Social Foundation. She coached the first women's team presented by the Sanitary Works Union, winning the national tournament in their debut. She formed the first blind women's football team in Buenos Aires and was appointed one of the coaches for Las Luciérnagas, the National Blind Women's Soccer Team.

In 2016, Cabrera expressed her gratitude for having AFFAR join the UN campaign "Join Latin America" to end gender-based violence. She also organized the "Join Cup" with the United Nations, the Avon Foundation, and the Government of Buenos Aires City.

In March 2017, The Economist magazine recognized her for her work in women's Soccer, giving her a place at the "Argentina Summit 2017" congress and naming her a "ChangeMaker" for her social and sports work. She became the first woman in Argentina to sign with Nike in Soccer, paving the way for other female soccer player.

She continued coaching the Romanas, a blind women's soccer team, and running her EVCA soccer school. In August, she was chosen to represent the country in Spain at the "Soccer for Equality" event to discuss her work with AFFAR. She graced the cover of the renowned magazine "La Nación" and was chosen as one of the 50 influential figures in 2017.

In 2018, she was invited to represent the country and AFFAR at the United Nations headquarters in New York at the ECOSOC Youth Forum. She not only spoke at the SDG Media Zone but also was one of the five people selected to close the forum, receiving praise from Amina J. Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, for her presentation in New York and her life example.

She participated in the film "No llores por mi, Inglaterra," directed by Néstor Montalbano, featuring various actors and figures from Argentine Soccer.

She provided training to women incarcerated in San Martin's Penal 47. She took on the role of manager for the Atlas club in the women's futsal team. She closed the W20 Summit (G20) in Argentina as the youngest speaker.

In 2019, she initiated the development of the gender area at Boca Juniors club.

She contributed to the book "Pelota de Papel 3" with the story "Del 86." She was a speaker at BAPA-40, the second United Nations high-level conference on South-South cooperation. She was an ambassador for the Danone World Cup, where girls participated for the first time. In December, AFFAR became part of the Argentine Soccer Association (AFA) for the first time in its history.

She served as the godmother of the Valor project, working for social organizations in the southern area of Buenos Aires, alongside Quilmes brewery and malt house.

She was chosen by BBC News as one of the 100 most influential and inspiring women in the world in 2020.

In 2020, her first book, "Alta Negra," an autobiography of professional and personal overcoming, was published, followed by the release of her book "Juana, la futbolista" in 2021.

In March 2021, she started as a mentor in human development at Pachuca club in Mexico until December 2021.

In June 2021, she was appointed Ambassador for gender equality in sports by the Organization of American States.

In 2021 she launched her third book called "Liderate", especially for women entrepreneurs.

In November 2022, she was elected as the president of the Jury for "The Madanjeet Singh UNESCO Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence," a prize awarded every two years by UNESCO in France. It was inaugurated in 1996, following the United Nations' 1995 Year for Tolerance, and in connection with the 125th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth.

In June 2024, Evelina Cabrera married Dr. Justin Dunnavant, an archaeologist, professor, and founder of the Society of Black Archaeologists.

Currently, she serves on the National Board of Directors of America SCORES, a non-profit that focuses on youth empowerment and soccer.

Recognition

- Recognized as one of the two people who brought women's football to Club Nueva Chicago for the first time (2012).

- Selected as one of the "16 Argentine Women who Inspire" by the company Glaxo, "Hinds" (2014).

- Chosen as a social and sports figure by Clarín for her work with the Argentine Women's Football Association (2014).

- Honored with a plaque as a promoter of inclusion and gender equality by the Municipality of Loberia, Buenos Aires (2015).

- Selected as a social and sports influencer by The Economist for her work with women's football (2017).

- Awarded the "Sports Commitment" prize for her social and sports work with women's football by Boca Juniors club through its Boca Social Foundation (2017).

- Evita Award for social and gender equality work - Jujuy (2017).

- Recognized for her work with football and women's gender by Centro Rossi, Aca Salud, and Racket club (2017).

- Honored as an outstanding athlete of the year by the Deliberative Council of the province of Salta (2017).

- Chosen as one of the women featured in the photo

exhibition "100 Women Changing the World" by the French Embassy and Studio Harcourt (2018).

- María Elena Walsh Award for her career, granted by the Chamber of Deputies of the province of Buenos Aires (2018).

- The Educando Foundation awarded her the reference award for her career (2018).

- Selected as one of the 40 "Argentine Women" by L'Oreal and Studio Harcourt (2018).

- Recognized by the Educando Foundation for her sports and social career (2018).

- Declared a distinguished personality in sports by the autonomous city of Buenos Aires (2019).

- Chosen by BBC London as one of the 100 most influential women in the world (2020).

- Entrepreneur of the Year Argentina by EY Argentina (2021).

- Ambassador and Honored at the first Gala of European Women's Football in Spain by Mundo Deportivo (2021).

- Jury of "The Madanjeet Singh UNESCO Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence" (2022).

References