As point guard for the Orange women’s basketball team, Raquel-Ann “Roxi” Nurse McNabb ’99 M.P.A. was known for helping her teammates ‘make buckets’—a lot of buckets. The 1997 Syracuse University Athlete of the Year, two-time MVP and three-time BIG EAST Academic All-Star still ranks fifth in all-time career assists at Syracuse.

Twenty-five years later, the busy mother of four is still focused on creating scoring opportunities as co-founder and executive director of the Caris Sports Foundation, which has helped nearly 500 young athletes throughout Arizona make buckets, touchdowns, slap shots, homeruns—even ollies and pirouettes.

“Studies show that kids in families who make less than $30,000 don’t play sports, because they just can’t afford it,” says McNabb. “Our mission is to give every child the opportunity to play sports by removing financial barriers.” The group funds equipment and fees for K-12 students in any organized sport, both competitive and recreational, and has plans to expand beyond Arizona into cities where the McNabb family has roots—including Syracuse.

The idea struck McNabb when she and her husband—legendary Orange and Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb ’98—saw players in their daughter’s basketball club struggling to pay travel costs. As coaches, they and other members of the club were providing financial assistance.

“These were kids that may never have left Arizona if they didn’t play on these teams,” she says. “We were like: ‘If we can do this within our small organization, what could we do on a greater scale for other sports, for other organizations?’” she recalls. They launched the foundation in 2019 and began hosting charity fundraisers like golf tournaments and other events.

After graduating with a B.S. in physical education from the School of Education, McNabb earned a master of public administration (M.P.A.) with a focus on nonprofit leadership at the Maxwell School.

She also holds a master’s in education policy from the University of Pennsylvania. “I knew that my heart was always going to be in something nonprofit,” McNabb recalls, “and I knew Maxwell was going to give me the tools to do that.”

McNabb says she often draws on the hands-on experiences she gained in the M.P.A. program, including an internship at the Samaritan Center, where she learned the administrative side of nonprofit management including working with grants.

Like her days on the court, McNabb’s academic pursuits were fueled by teamwork. She says, “It would be like 11 o’clock at night, close to midnight, and we’re in our groups working and studying.

But we’re doing it together, right?” She remains in contact with Maxwell classmates like Allegra Ivey ’99 M.P.A., with whom both Roxi and Donovan McNabb serve on the Syracuse University Board of Trustees.

Over the years, the couple has launched a range of philanthropic endeavors, including the Donovan McNabb Foundation, which has raised millions of dollars primarily for health care causes. The two also give generously to Syracuse University: they recently established the McNabb Family Opportunity Program Endowed Fund, which supports economically disadvantaged students, in addition to naming the Syracuse women’s basketball team lounge.

McNabb says her work with the Caris Sports Foundation transcends her love for the game. She points to the ways sports help children develop essential qualities like confidence, teamwork, problem solving and discipline.

While Caris aims to fund both males and females evenly, McNabb says the organization sees the most long-term impact among girls. Just this year, three young women funded by the foundation received athletic scholarships—two of them playing for “Big 4” Division 1 schools.

But in the end, for McNabb, ‘making buckets’ isn’t about making buckets of money; it’s about learning to take initiative, driving toward a goal and owning the risks. It’s an outlook she and her husband instilled in their own children, including daughter Alexis, who—like her mom—played basketball for the Orange and plans to earn a Maxwell M.P.A. with hopes of starting her own nonprofit. She has long dreamed of opening a homeless shelter.

“She said to me, ‘You know, Mom, you see a problem in society, and you try to fix it. That’s what we do,’” says Roxi. According to her daughter, who goes by Lexi, identifying problems and developing sustainable solutions fits both her business background and her nonprofit aspirations. She completed a B.S. in entrepreneurship at the Whitman School of Management in May and will soon start in the M.P.A./MBA dual degree program, offered in partnership between Whitman and Maxwell, to focus on social entrepreneurship.

“It is kind of the best of both worlds,” says Lexi. “I am going to be able to get that business degree but also be able to focus on the nonprofit work that I want to do in the future.” “Since the day I stepped on this earth, my parents have been putting on different fundraising events and been involved in community service,” Lexi reflects. “I think that is the reason for my mindset…when I leave this earth, I want to say that I’ve made the world at least 1% better in any way that I could have.”

By Jessica Smith

Shown above: Raquel-Ann “Roxi” Nurse McNabb and daughter, Lexi McNabb.