NEW YORK — Nicky van den Bos said she was “blessed to be in a household of women who strongly support empowering.”

The 2024 delegate for the U.S. Department of State Global Sports Mentoring Program lives in Auckland on the North Island among an urban population of about 1,531,400 and is CEO of Women in Sport Aotearoa for two years running.

From her early days as an advocate for women in sport, to about two weeks with the NHL and subsequent return to Auckland, van den Bos is learning to fly. Six days before presenting her action plan to mentors and other delegates at NHL headquarters in New York, she had a quiet moment to reflect.

“The journey so far, meeting with women from other walks of life and other communities around the world, is a very interesting way to end up,” van den Bos said. “You have very different views, worldly views. Same passion and mind around sports and women and girls, but different ways and different cultures.”

The 34-year-old came to the United States and Washington, D.C. for program orientation, before attending the espnW: Women + Sports Summit in Ojai, California, on Oct. 19. Days later, she joined the NHL for a collaboration between espnW, the University of Tennessee and U.S. Department of State. She then returned to Washington DC and another presentation Wednesday with a mic drop, a promise to close the inherent gap in female leadership in sport in New Zealand, those who aspire and get the chance to do in real life.

There’s one thing she’s not, a show-off. The United States, through her point of view, is a peacock showing off its bright feathers. Her home is less overtly confident.

“New Zealand is a bit of a culture where we don’t really like to shout about ourselves or shout about success or put ourselves very front and center, but we have a lot to be really proud of,” she said. “So, seeing that in action was quite bit of an obstacle to start but in saying that the women that I’ve met have been pretty incredible.”