Racheal Kundananji’s influence continues to grow across the Bay Area, the NWSL and the global football community. This year, her work off the pitch earned her a nomination for the prestigious NWSL Lauren Holiday Impact Award, which recognizes players whose leadership and service extend far beyond matchday. While she was not selected as the winner, her nomination reflected a body of work that has made a measurable impact both across the Bay Area and internationally.
At the heart of Kundananji’s community efforts is the Racheal Kundananji Legacy Foundation, which supports under-resourced female football players in her home country of Zambia and around the world. The foundation focuses on expanding access to the game by offering mentorship, resources and opportunities — areas that were often missing during Kundananji’s own journey playing with limited equipment and pathways to development.
Her commitment to global youth development led to her being named a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador in 2024. In this role, she focuses on promoting HIV prevention and empowering youth, specifically adolescent girls and young women. Motivated by her own experiences growing up in Zambia, she aims to create greater access to education and opportunity for the next generation.
By combining her global perspective and focus on the local community, she has catalyzed impactful initiatives across the Bay Area and earned well-deserved recognition for her work. In 2025, the SF Examiner and Nob Hill Gazette named her one of the Most Inspiring Women for her leadership advancing access to sport, promoting HIV and AIDS awareness and serving as a positive role model for young women and girls.
“It’s special to impact so many people and give young girls the proper avenues and opportunities to play football and pursue their goals,” Kundananji said. “I’m excited to continue working on important causes and team up with others here in the Bay Area to make meaningful change.”
This season, as part of her Lauren Holiday Impact Award nomination, Kundananji partnered with Soccer Without Borders—an Oakland-based nonprofit supporting immigrant and refugee youth who face barriers to the sport. The partnership culminated during NWSL Championship Week, when Bay FC, the league and Nationwide welcomed a group of middle school girls from the program to San Jose for a meaningful mentorship experience with Lauren Holiday Impact Award nominees from across the league.
The event built on a season-long partnership between Kundananji and the girls’ team, whom she had earlier supported in designing and unveiling their self-designed team kits in collaboration with Design FC. This experience fulfilled a request the girls had made for years but were unable to fulfill due to limited resources. Months of engagement between Kundananji and Soccer Without Borders culminated in the team participating in a professional-style media day, complete with hair and makeup, and a public kit unveiling on the pitch at PayPal Park during halftime of Bay FC’s August 16 match.
After working closely with Kundananji throughout the season to co-design the team’s custom kits, a young member of Soccer Without Borders was given a special opportunity to join the sidelines as a junior reporter during NWSL Championship Week. Her experience involved a tour of the e.l.f headquarters, reporting during the NWSL Skills Challenge and participating in FanFest and pre-match events with NWSL players on matchday. She was also given VIP tickets to the championship match at PayPal Park, where she captured the energy of the event from the sidelines and was invited to interview the league’s top players.
Kundananji’s inclination to provide access for young players stems directly from her personal experience having to fight for the opportunity to play.
“Growing up not having everything and trying to play the sport you love and not even affording to buy a soccer ball or anything, even training equipment – that is part of something that motivated me,” Kundananji explained.
The event during the NWSL Championship offered an example of how Kundananji and Bay FC are redefining community engagement, mentorship and youth access to the game. By incorporating Soccer Without Borders’ “Meet Me On the Pitch” curriculum—a trauma-informed program that uses soccer to support immigrant and refugee youth—the session emphasized identity exploration, leadership development, creative expression and connection-building between the players and the Lauren Holiday Impact Award nominees.
Across both community initiatives and league events, Kundananji proves consistent social impact. Her efforts over the past year reflect a player who contributes impactfully to the sport on multiple levels, advancing youth opportunities, strengthening Bay Area communities and representing Bay FC on a national stage.
Her work continues to shape the environment around her and reinforce the values that define Bay FC and the club’s commitment to communities across the Bay Area.
Watch more of Kundanaji and her work with Soccer Without Borders:
