Dikembe Mutombo is the Chairman and President of the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation which he created in 1997. The Foundation’s mission is to improve the health, education, and quality of life for the people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He played professional basketball for 18 years before retiring from the Houston Rockets in 2009. Mr. Mutombo is the first Youth Emissary for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and he also served on the Advisory Board for the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health.
He presently serves on the boards of the National Constitution Center, Opportunity International, Special Olympics International, and on the National Board for UNICEF. Mr. Mutombo has also served as an advisor and consultant to Freeport McMoRan and as an advisor to Hewlett Packard.
In 2009, NBA Commissioner David Stern appointed Mr. Mutombo to the newly created position of Global Ambassador. In this new role, he travels throughout the Middle East, Asia, and Africa to grow and celebrate the game of basketball through numerous international NBA events including Basketball without Borders. In addition, he works closely with NBA Cares outreach efforts with Hall of Famer Bob Lanier who serves as Special Assistant to the Commissioner.
