Work Capacity

Mary “Trina” Bolton

Work Capacity:

Academic Capacity:

Co-author of "Bidding for Development: How the Olympic Bid Process Can Accelerate Transportation Development."

Background on Trina:

Trina’s inspiration to pursue a Master in Science & Public Policy Management from Carnegie Mellon’s Heinz College and current role at the intersection of sports and public diplomacy are rooted in her attraction to global policymaking. After earning a degree in international affairs at George Washington University, Trina grew her knowledge in this arena with a job of three years at the Brookings Institution.

Before graduate school, Trina worked and traveled for Global Atlanta, a journalism firm covering international relations as they apply to Georgia. During this time, she volunteered at the International Rescue Committee where she learned firsthand the transformational power of sports from the “Fugees”—a group of young soccer players from refugee families who overcame cultural differences to create a team in Atlanta. Originally from Atlanta, the 1996 Olympics and Paralympics first sparked Trina’s fascination in mega-sporting events. She has since run with this interest through various projects related to her academic and work capacities.

Getting in the Game Professionally-Trina’s work in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, SportsUnited Division

As a program officer in the U.S. Department of State’s Sports Diplomacy Division of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Trina works with U.S. Embassies to manage sports programs and people-to-people exchanges for delegations from every corner of the global. This Sports Diplomacy office within the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs taps into the power of sports to increase dialogue and cultural connectivity between people around the world—with the goal to promote U.S. foreign policymaking and positive social change worldwide. Using themes of inclusion, women’s empowerment, and conflict resolution as drivers, the outbound and inbound international programs sports engage both foreign and American youth, coaches, and people with different backgrounds to learn from one another through sports experiences.

At the State Department, Trina:

Manages outreach efforts through internal and external program descriptions, social media tools, website maintenance, material preparation, and media tracking.

Serves as the key representative of the Empowering Women and Girls through Sports Initiative through grant management, maintenance of a close working relationship with cooperative grant partners, contributions to all aspects of outbound envoy and inbound visitor programs, and leadership in the orchestration of the Initiative’s flagship espnW Global Sports Mentoring Program.

Drafts and publishes articles, State Department blog notes, press releases, and newsletters.

Serves as liaison between program office and Public Affairs, Communications, and Embassies overseas as well as private sector companies and NGO's.

Facilitates visitor delegation activities, briefs Ambassadors and Foreign Service Officers, communicates with contacts in leagues and federations, and works on special sports initiatives.

Note: Commenced in role as a graduate student intern and converted to full-time position after graduation in May 2012.

Empowering Women and Girls through Sports website:

Getting in the Game Academically and Personally-Author and Scholar with Background

For her graduate school capstone at the Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College, Trina completed a team systems synthesis project on the power of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) bid process in relation to urban development entitled the "Olympic Bid Process: An Engine for Transportation Development." This work resulted with a Springer Publishing contract to publish the findings as, "Bidding for Development: How the Olympic Bid Process Can Accelerate Transportation Development." The book builds on the project to further explore the intersection between transportation infrastructure development, the Olympic bid process, and the resulting legacies experienced by bid losers.

For the capstone project in 2012, Trina:

Worked with a team of colleagues to conduct a systematic review of academic literature through screening and analysis. Used this research as a foundation for continued analysis of original bid documents, information consultations with experts in the field, and in-depth comparisons between metropolitan infrastructure plans with a focus on Manchester and Istanbul. Coordinated communication, research, and social media strategy to raise the profile of the project. Participated in a conference to present the findings in London during the build-up to the 2012 Games.

Description of the resulting book:

In this context, "Bidding for Development" presents a Bid Framework outlining how and when cities may use the bid to unite resources, align transportation priorities, and empower leaders to achieve urban development objectives in preparation for the Olympic bid. While Manchester and Istanbul are the key case studies, the work delivers recommendations to all Olympic stakeholders as a means of improving the value of the bid process and concrete urban benefits for the residents of a region beyond the Games. Istanbul and Manchester were strategically selected as case studies and individually analyzed to illustrate how the bid process can catalyze urban development. Among the pool of repeat bidder, these cities emerged as the two most relevant and timely serial bid losers, due to Istanbul’s bid for the 2020 Games and Manchester’s proximity to the 2012 London Games. Istanbul and Manchester also offer robust data sources and together represent hallmark transportation initiatives as a part of the Olympic bid process. Further, the dichotomy between their economic contexts as an emerging country and a developed country, respectively, offers an additional lens through which to interpret findings. This book--first released at the end of 2013—is part of the Springer Sports Economics, Management and Policy Series.

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