Beyond Sport and Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation Launch Collective Impact Award
PRESS RELEASE
June 24, 2019
BEYOND SPORT FOUNDATION JOINS FORCES WITH THE DICK’S SPORTING GOODS FOUNDATION TO LAUNCH $230,000 COLLECTIVE IMPACT FUND TO COMBAT INEQUALITY IN THE UNITED STATES THROUGH SPORT
New initiative will drive collaboration between multiple US-based nonprofits to exponentially increase their ability to drive social change, ensure equal opportunities and help end discrimination in their communities through sports.
NEW YORK, NY: Despite efforts to improve, inequality across sectors continues to strengthen for those at the top. To assist in combating this serious issue which impacts more than 143 million Americans, the Beyond Sport Foundation in partnership with The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation today announced a joint initiative that will see a deep financial investment made to foster collaboration among organizations using sport to promote equality across the U.S..
This monetary donation from The DICK’S Foundation will serve as the largest single-issue investment facilitated through the Beyond Sport Foundation. Its purpose is to help exponentially accelerate the impact of non-profits in local U.S. communities committed to making a difference through sport – a commonality that all can relate to and come together despite gender or economic differences.
As part of the prestigious Beyond Sport Global Awards, the new “Sport for Reduced Inequalities Collective Impact Award supported by The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation” will begin receiving nominations for applicable organizations today through July 19, 2019. Overall, four to six nonprofit groups will be chosen to work collaboratively to promote equality, increase access to sport for marginalized groups and to address social issues in their communities in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
“We are proud to partner with the Beyond Sports Foundation to provide funding that will directly combat inequality in sports in communities around the U.S,” said Lauren Hobart, President of DICK’S and The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation. “At DICK’S we believe that sports matter and that all kids deserve the chance to play.”
Over the course of 12 months, the cutting-edge program will enable selected organizations to benefit from each other’s individual expertise, increase monitoring and evaluation capacity and allow the groups to work through problems together in real time. Data collected from the program will be published in a comprehensive report summarizing the findings of the project to accelerate best practice on leveraging sport to reduce inequalities. This approach is an innovative and collaborative way to ensure that funds are being leveraged in the most impactful manner possible.
“We have been working hard to develop ways the Beyond Sport Global Awards can further support the sport and social change movement through innovation and collaboration,” said Alexandra Chalat, Managing Director, Beyond Sport. “This Collective Impact initiative is a result of our efforts to provide the best ways hard-working organizations in our sector can grow and make strides toward using sport to achieve the Global Goals. We are thrilled that The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation shares that vision for what we believe to be a truly cutting-edge initiative.”
The Award winners will be celebrated at the 2019 Beyond Sport Global Awards, an annual recognition of sport’s role in driving positive change around the world hosted by LEGENDS at One World Observatory on September 12 in New York. Shortlisted organizations will receive travel, accommodation and access to a series of “Beyond Sport House presented by SAP” events taking place September 11 – 13 ahead of the UN General Assembly.
In addition to grant funding, the groups will receive a comprehensive business support package to help them develop in areas of fundraising, monitoring and evaluation, social media and legal expertise via Beyond Sport’s partners at TrustLaw, Upshot and GivenGain.
This program is one of two new Collective Impact Awards to be launched by the Beyond Sport Foundation. The second, focusing on Climate Action, will be supported by the Swedish Postcode Foundation.
The application for the Sport for Reduced Inequalities Award supported by The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation is open now through July 19 at beyondsport.org/awards.
CONTACT:
Karen Asare, [email protected], 646-854-5535 (w)
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ABOUT THE BEYOND SPORT FOUNDATION:
The Beyond Sport Foundation celebrates, supports, raises awareness and provides funding for organizations using sport to help make the UN Sustainable Development Goals a reality. Together with our expert partners, we support inspirational people and projects that are using sport to make life-changing impact in some of the most disadvantaged and excluded populations around the world. Since 2009, the Beyond Sport Foundation has provided more than $1.5M in funds and distributed more than $8M in long-term strategic support to more than 300 organizations addressing social issues around the world. beyondsport.org