Sedona Prince is tackling coffee's 'dirty not-so-little secret' and extending their advocacy to the environment

• Oregon's Sedona Prince has become as well-known for her activism as she is for her athletics.
• The Ducks player and TikTok star famously unveiled the weight room discrepancies at the 2021 NCAA tourney.

Sedona Prince is everywhere: on the court, in the classroom, at the Final Four and WNBA Draft, and on TV screens and For You Pages across the country.

But no matter where she goes, the 6-foot-7 Oregon Ducks basketball player and TikTok star puts her values at the forefront. It follows, then, that Prince — who uses she/they pronouns — would lead with their advocacy as they venture into the boardroom, too.

The 21-year-old Liberty Hill, Texas, native is teaming up with Riff — a brand reimagining coffee's environmental impact — as an equity partner and its Chief Community Officer. She'll work on building out Riff's branding alongside the likes of Super Bowl champion Vernon Davis, while furthering the Oregon-based company's goals of reducing coffee's environmental footprint and championing smallholder coffee farmers.

"I've always been very passionate about activism and advocacy, so the fact that I'm able to do that now with such a large platform and actually make a difference is really, really cool," Prince told Insider. "It's impactful. And, you know, I'm just happy that I have a space to do this and that people actually listen and respond to it because it's how we're making change."

"It's pretty dope," they added.

A relatively small company located "down the road" from campus, Riff has differentiated itself by harvesting the full coffee plant — not just the beans — to eliminate significant amounts of environmental waste. Using the beans for cold brew and the usually discarded cascara — the nutrient-rich fruit component of the plant — to create America's first carbon-neutral energy drink, Riff has managed to help the planet while creating new revenue streams for coffee farmers who often struggle to earn fair wages.

For Prince, who "always had a lot of passion for the environment" and grew up "wanting to be a zoologist," Riff's initiatives to combat climate change immediately sparked her interest. And as an outspoken champion for equality — especially after they famously shined a light on disparities between the men's and women's NCAA tournaments — Prince wanted to be part of the brand's efforts to help small farmers increase their earnings.

"Sedona obviously sent a massive wave throughout the country over the statement that she was brave enough to make [at the 2021 NCAA tournament]," Riff CEO Paul Evers told Insider. "And at Riff, our whole thing is about integrity and being willing to tell the truth about what we call 'coffee's dirty not-so-little secret'... The big coffee brands aren't willing to tell the story. So [we're] calling it out — not only the negative environmental impact, but also [the fact that] 80% of the world's coffee is grown by smallholder farmers who are struggling to make a living."

"Sedona's got such a powerful voice and is willing to challenge things," he added. "But she's also a ton of fun. It's a great fit. There's a really strong cultural alignment there."

While activism was a major force driving Prince's partnership with Riff, the opportunity to truly immerse herself on the business end helped draw her in, too.

While many college athletes have capitalized on the NCAA's loosened Name, Image, and Likeness rules by posting on social media on behalf of a brand, only a handful are "really doing things like investing and becoming a part of companies that they believe in," she said.

With Riff, Prince is one of the lucky few.

"These partnerships where I get to be a part of the company, where I get to help grow it, and they can also mentor me, was something that I really, really wanted to do," she said. "And especially for something that I had such passion in, which was environmental conservation."

"Hopefully I get to be a part of it as much as I can, and then travel around and visit these farms where we can see what's going on firsthand," Prince added.

Prince knows that, at this point, they're just as well-known for their activism as they are for their athletic prowess. She kicked off the nationwide reckoning that forced the NCAA to reevaluate its approach to gender equity, and ever since, she's been seen as a symbol of progress in the world of sports.

Just last month, while filming a video for women's sports media brand Togethxr at the Final Four in Minneapolis, Prince had an on-camera interaction that encapsulated their powerful role as a sports advocate. A father-daughter duo ran into the larger-than-life star, and the dad explained through tears that his 14-year-old daughter found the courage to come out as gay to their family after taking inspiration and comfort in the life Prince leads and the example she sets.

Prince knows that this level of influence "comes with a lot of responsibility." They view their NIL work in a similar way; partnering with purpose-driven brands is just a natural extension of their activist role.

"I try to speak up for people who can't necessarily have a voice, or their voices can't be heard," Prince said. "And so it's a big responsibility to try to be well-spoken in every single aspect of advocacy, which is not the easiest thing all the time."

"But with that, it's so cool," she added. "I get to show people that student athletes can speak up. They can use their voice on things that aren't just about sports, which is super cool. And I just want to break the barriers and help other athletes use their platforms, build their platforms and then, you know, find the best ways to use them for things that they're passionate about."