Brenna Huckaby Cofounded Culxtured to Change the Narrative Around Para Sports

The three-time Paralympic gold medalist is helping to elevate elite athletes and their stories through the collective.
Brenna Huckaby was photographed by Yu Tsai in Hollywood, Fla.
Brenna Huckaby was photographed by Yu Tsai in Hollywood, Fla. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Three-time Paralympic gold medalist Brenna Huckaby is currently training for the 2026 Winter Paralympics, but that isn’t stopping the SI Swimsuit legend and mom of two from adding to her résumé along the way.

Alongside fellow Paralympians Dani Aravich (para nordic skiing), Chuck Aoki (wheelchair rugby) and Ryan Neiswender (wheelchair basketball), Huckaby cofounded Culxtured, a media collective that aims to change the narrative around para sports, last fall.

“We had just gotten tired of the media around para sports not showcasing us in the way that so many [disabled] athletes want to be seen,” Huckaby explains of the brand’s “why.” “It’s been pretty slow to evolve, just the narrative around para sports. It’s usually around the disability, inspiration and in the stories of resilience and overcoming adversity and not necessarily about how we are elite athletes and we work incredibly hard to be where we’re at and just showcasing that athleticism.”

What is Culxtured?

Huckaby, whose right leg was amputated above the knee due to osteosarcoma at the age of 14, began snowboarding as part of her rehabilitation—and quickly fell in love with the sport. She tells us that when she first started snowboarding, she “didn’t think the Paralympics mattered” because they weren’t broadcasted and she hardly saw any Paralympic athletes portrayed in the media.

Brenna Huckaby
Brenna Huckaby / Alex Davidson/Getty Images

“ Representation was so minimal,” Huckaby reflects. “And since becoming an elite-level Paralympian, I know how much hard work and sacrifice goes into being at the level that I’m at, but I feel like there’s still such a big gap in that awareness and in the education of it.”

Culxtured’s mission is to “educate and challenge societal perceptions around disabilities” through storytelling. The brand showcases athletes who excel in para sports like snowboarding, ice hockey, soccer and basketball on its Instagram account and official website.

“We wanted to control or change the narrative around para sports—and ‘para’ meaning either Paralympic or adaptive—and then from there, it’s kind of shifted into more of a collective and how we can all work together to be a part of this mission that is bigger than just the individual athletes that started this, more of a movement of reclaiming our narratives as disabled people,” Huckaby, 28, explains.

Not only will Culxtured help para athletes reclaim their narrative, the brand also serves as a platform for amplifying the incredible stories that often don’t get told, according to Huckaby. Recently, Culxtured has highlighted pararower Gemma Wollenschlaeger and Dominican college basketball player Hansel Enmanuel, and the brand just announced an exclusive media partnership with the Para Collective.

Huckaby notes that the term “para sports” doesn’t just refer to athletes who are potentially en route to the Paralympics. “ It’s anyone who does a disabled sport because not all sports are Paralympic sports and some of those sports are really badass and they just don’t get the coverage because they’re not a sanctioned sport,” she explains of sports like surfing, adaptive rock climbing and motocross. “So we really also want to make sure that those athletes in those sports are getting the coverage they deserve.”

The future of Culxtured

The brand’s next phase, according to Huckaby, involves athlete mentorship around media and storytelling, as well as a podcast that will dive into education on para sports and the intersectionality between disabled cultured and sports, fashion and more.

Cofounders Ryan Neiswender and Dani Aravich
Cofounders Ryan Neiswender and Dani Aravich / Courtesy of Culxtured

“ I think as we grow as a collective, it’s just going to keep compounding,” Huckaby adds. “I think we’re starting a movement and a shift and I’m excited to see where it goes because I think this is the first time that there’s one place for adaptive athletes to share and to come together. We’re breaking new ground, and it’s going to be really fascinating to see what happens.”


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Cara O’Bleness
CARA O’BLENESS

Cara O’Bleness is a writer and editor on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit. Prior to joining SI Swimsuit in 2022, she worked as a writer and editor across a number of content verticals, including food, lifestyle, health and wellness, and small business and entrepreneurship. In her free time, O’Bleness loves reading, spending time with her family and making her way through Michigan’s many microbreweries. She is a graduate of Michigan State University’s School of Journalism.